Check out the HD Journals online journal. Glenn..is a 40 year old Hodgkin's Disease survivor who lives in New York, NY. In the introduction of his journal he writes:

These journals are here for fellow cancer patients perhaps only to fill a moment of doubt, fear or curiosity, or to inspire those thoughts to become expression. Hopefully more cancer patients will publish their journals online to help dispel the many myths and metaphors that usually accompany an uncertain and demoralizing disease.

He is a great writer and has an incredible story.

I'm still wearing a brace.....and I now have a cane...and am able to drive.......but it's not enough. I want to be able to run...and jump......and not worry about the pain in my leg...or have fear that it will break again. Walking down the street is scary...I have this fear if tripping over my own feet. It has taken me three months to get where I am today. Dr. Chaglassian says I will be cane and brace free in a month.....three weeks and one day to be exact..........and I find it hard to believe that I will be ready to climb a mountain by then.

My mom didn't go to work yesterday. I cannot remember when she went in last. Just to give you an update....the gas like pains in her abdomen have gone away....now she has chronic loose stool. The opium whatever it is called medicine is working a little bit...but not enough where she feels confident enough to ride the T. They found a spot on her lung while doing an abdominal x-ray a few months ago. They noted it again on another x-ray she recently had and it appears to have grown. They are saying it is probably nothing......she is going in for a ct scan on Thursday to make sure. I stopped in to see her yesterday. She seems down...I don't blame her.

My mom and I have gone to the Christmas Festival at the World Trade Center in Boston for the past ten years or so. I called her recently to see if she wanted to go...she seemed excited about going. We made a conditional plan to go based on how we both feel. She might be having colostomy bag issues.....my leg might not be working the way I want it to. I hope we will both feel like going...it would be nice to eat dips....and check out the crafts....and hang out with my mom.

My friend over at Sigh Club invited me to be a guest writer. You might be able to check me out over at the Friend Blog once in a while. It was super nice of her to include me.

I went to see Mystic River the other day. I liked it.....but did not love it. The acting was good......the story interesting..........and it was filmed in Boston.....but something about it did not strike me as being great. Not sure why.......but that's the way I feel.

What I did figure out after watching the movie....is my six degress of Kevin Bacon.

I grew up across the street from a guy named Kevin.....who is friends with Dennis Lehane........Dennis Lehane wrote Mystic River.....Kevin Bacon was in Mystic River.

Another one....My friend Elke had a friend in high school named Kara....Kara dated this guy named Shawn Fitzgibbon......Shawn Fitzgibbon is in Mystic River with Kevin Bacon.

My mother grew up with this guy named Kenny Fitzgibbon....Kenny had a son named Shawn Fitzgibbon.......Shawn was in Mystic River with Kevin Bacon.

So there you have it......I'm almost famous.

Good news....good news..........I went to see the doctor today. I am down to using a cane......I can drive....and I only need to go to pt twice a week. This will go on for a month....and then I will be free. He said my bone is healing quite nicely. Yee haw!

My friend over at Sigh Club asked me to be a guest writer. I finally came up with a topic.....Tchotchkes...check it out.

My Mom is on opium. Yup....just spoke with her......the doctor gave her a prescription for a drug that has opium in it. She told me that she had to sign her life away to pick it up at the drug store. She told me that it tastes bad. She also has a bloodclot. BUT...they say it is only a surface clot and nto to worry. She is to take aspirin and apply heat.

Today was the last day of the conference. I went to a session on the records of the "Big Dig"...........website appraisal and preservation....and instant messenger (IM). I learned that IM is a big security risk because file transfer can happen with IM....and most times you wouldn't even know you were downloading something....and that those files don't download to your desktop...but to a separate folder specifically for IM file transfer...very interesting. I also learned that those files coming through IM as attachments get through without going through the normal virus scanning process. Even more interesting.

The Ride picked me up to bring me home today. My driver was a young man who is originally from a small town (11,000 people) outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was very nice and told me all about Voodoo. He told me that he himself identifies as a Christian.......BUT...that many people in Haiti practice Voodoo. He said that Voodoo was not bad, but that some people chose to do bad with it. He compared it to going out and making money with the bible. You can use the bible's teaching to do good...or you can use it to steal lots of money off people. You can do good...or you can do bad with it.

I feel like I haven't posted in ages. It has only been since Friday.....but I feel like it has been forever. Last Friday my friend Carolyn came to stay with us for the night. Carolyn, Stephanie, and I met for dinner.

Saturday she left. We went out for brunch on Saturday and then went to see Kris Delmhorst. It was a great show.

Sunday I went to the ARMA meeting at the Hynes Convention Center. I am enjoying the conference.....but my broken leg hurts from hopping around the building.

I'm off to see Dr. Chaglassian on Thursday.....I hope he will have good news for me.

I went to J. Jill after the meeting today. I had some time to kill before my ride came to get me. I love their stuff...and attempted to try something on. This was a struggle...with my leg...and my brace...and my bag. Two bad things happened. I noticed that my wool pants were being worn down in certain parts by my leg brace. SHITE! I also noticed that I did not fit into my usual size pants! SHITE again! Argh! Not only have I had my life slowed down as a result of this injury....but I have also had a jacket, and a pair of pants ruined......and....I've gained weight...SHITE....SHITE......SHITE!

A friend recently asked a few people in her life to guest write on her blog. I was among those people. I was honored that she asked me to be one of those people....but I'm having a hard time thinking of a topic to write about. She said that part of the assignment is to write about something I don't usually write about. The problem....this blog is primarily about the health problems of my family......but a lot of it is about how I see the world in general......so..if this blog is about how I see the world....then what shall I write about..........what I don't see? I'm still thinking...can you smell the wood burning?

Mom was supposed to start back at work this week. She went into work on Monday.....but not on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. She had chemo yesterday. They think she might have a bacterial infection that is causing all of her discomfort. She has lost seven pounds in the last week. Yikes!

I work with someone whose mother was diagnosed with colorectal cancer this week. That's the third person in my office who has had a parent diagnosed with colon cancer in the list six months.

The Colossal Colon is in Boston this weekend. Yee haw...to Colon Health!

I'm coordinating the charity fundraiser for my building this year. We are having a speaker from the American Liver Foundation come and speak during our kick off.

My co-worker Kathi was driving me home from work today.....and we were having a conversation about Chelsea, MA. I had this Dr. Paul Farmer memory. I hear I have a good memory, by the way. Ok so I remember being in the Brigham and Womens Hospital 10 years ago....and they would come and do these neuro checks. See you can get this thing call encepholopathy (sp?) when you get liver disease...it's an excess of iron or something in your brain...and it makes you act crazy. So they would ask me the day of the week...which I felt was an unfair question because I had been in the hospital so long that I lost track. Or they would ask me other questions like.......who is the President of the United States..........what city do you live in....etc. etc.? One day he proceeds to ask me if I know the name of the Presidents daughter. And for the life of me I could not remember Chelsea Clinton's name. I remember him giving me hints....like....."it's a city north of Boston." Eventually I remembered when he gave me that one. I had this feeling that he found this amusing.......I know I did.

I was "googling" people today and I ran across someone I knew a long time ago......like 16 years ago. So...I emailed her...and she actually emailed me back...fortunately she didn't think I was a freak. I have been thinking about her lately because I have been watching more baseball....yee haw Red Sox! We used to play on the same intramural softball team when we were kids. She was a pitcher....and everytime I would get up to bat...and she was the pitcher...I would strike out....because for some reason we could not keep a serious face throughout this batting process. We would just look at eahc other and laugh. I don't know why I remember this.....but I do. It was great to hear from her today. I'm looking forward to hearing more about what she has been doing for the last 16 years.

Went to see the Jane Goodall Chimp imax movie the other day. It made me want to move to Africa to live with the chimps. It was WAY cool.

I went to PT today....I did a new exercise. It was fun...I got to sit in a rolly chair and roll myself around the office. They had closed off the main entrance to the hospital. I was very lucky however...I had avery nice ride driver who came looking for me. They were also nice to me at the hospital grille today. I had a little bit of time left before my ride was supposed to come...so I went and got coffee and a bagel in the grille. They brought it to me even though they had no server service today. She said..."we aren't doing it today, but I will do it for you." I felt so special.

I was having one of those days. I worked from home. I spent the first part of the day checking voicemail/email and responding. I spent the middle of the day working on something...but not feeling like I was getting anywhere. Finally the last part of the day...it seemed to all come together. yee haw!

I'm watching th Red Sox play the Yankees. What is going with the Red Sox Offense? I don't really know much about it...but I heard someone say that on the radio. At least we are seeing some runs come in on this game. We are currently trailing behind the Yankees by one run......5 to 6. Go Red Sox!

We had a nice time at the hockey game last night. The former Boston Bruins won. I even got my picture take with my mom...and two of the former bruins...Ken Hodge...and Johnny McKenzie.

Mom had good news. She got some bloodwork back and they say she is doing well. They told her that most people's bloodwork does not come back as good as hers....this is a relief. Hope her recovery stays on this path.

Going to Honey Pot Hill Orchards today.

I reformatted and reloaded all the software onto our computer last night. I am pretty proud of myself. The only glitch I have encountered is that everytime I log off of AOL it starts to download a bunch of crap.....and I can't seem to get the screen saver to actually kick in. Aside from that.....it is all working. Maybe I have a career in computers in my future.

We are going to a former Boston Bruins vs. Cambridge Police All Stars Hockey game tonight with my Mom. I think it will be fun. I haven't seen my Mom in a while. I'm still not driving...she's not driving...etc., etc.

I think we are going to check out one of the local farms with some friends tomorrow. I cannot wait to eat caramel apples.........and apple cider donuts.....yummy. It will be fun to see the animals too. I do love autumn in new england.

Way to go Red Sox!

I was a little confused yesterday. Mom didn't start back to work yesterday.......she is going back next week.

I cannot believe Arnold Schwarzenegger won the election in California.

Mom started back to work today. I haven't heard from her. I hope she is doing well.

Looks like my Mom definately had her last radiation appointment last Thursday. She is going back to work on Wednesday, I believe. I'm glad that that part of her treatment is finished.....I'm sure she is too. I hear they went out to dinner to celebrate.

It was a folk music weekend. Friday night we went to an "Evening of Acoustic Music" at the Wang Center. This included Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin, and Dar Williams. It was a great show. Sunday I took a cab to Harvard Square.......hopped around.........and went to see Ferron at Club Passim. This was a nice show too.

Aren't you proud of me for getting myself to Harvard Square and enjoying the day? This is not always easy with crutches.

The strangest small world thing happended to me yesterday. I was walking through The Coop and I noticed that Tracy Kidder had a new book out called Mountains Beyond Mountains. I started to read the description and had to buy it. I read inside the front cover and it said this:

At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard Professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life's calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer - brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti - blasts through convention to get results.

I could not believe this............Paul Farmer had been my resident when I was in the Brigham and Women's the summer of 1993. I knew he had won the MacArthur grant..........and that he was a great guy who brought me a rose one day....and offered to bring me People Magazine. He would come into my room every morning and I would say...."so...Doctor Farmer.......what's wrong with me?" He would always smile....and say...."You have Hepatitis!" I would always smile back because we both knew that I was looking for an answer as to why I had hepatitis.....what was causing my hepatitis...and that hepatitis was a generic term for inflamation of the liver. I had one other resident while I was in the hospital.........but Paul Farmer is the one I remember the most. I am glad that he is being recognized for his work in Haiti and around the world with TB and HIV. You can learn more about what he is doing at the Partners in Health website.

Spoke with Mom last night. The ct scan she had was inconclusive. Looks like she has some inflamation in her abdomen....but hey are not sure why. It could be the radiation....it could be the antibiotics she was taking. We are hoping it will go away when she stops the radiation. They are saying today is her last radiation appointment. She thinks Monday should be her last. We'll see.

My home computer has a bug on it...I'm really annoyed. Looks like some asshole put a trojan horse on my computer. We need to re-format.....and re-load windows all over again.......argh! What a hassle! I'm a little overwhelmed with this whole process.