Good Morning Dear Reader
I have decided to start a new feature on my blog called....you guessed it, Monday Musings. Now, I don't promise a new entry every single Monday of the year. As a matter of fact, I promise nothing beyond this entry. What is the point of my Monday Musing? Pretty much nothing, to be honest. Once in a while, there may be a nugget of useful information, but more often than not it will be exactly what it suggests....musings. Also known as mindless ramblings.
Well then, let's begin our (drum roll please)............MONDAY MUSINGS!!!!!!
For my very first official musing, I'd like to talk about my website. Yes, I have a website. Yes, I own my own domain name. No, I am not creative in any way, shape or form, so my website most likely looks like poo. But, it is mine and it is a constantly changing work in progress. It contains an RSS feed, so you can easily keep up with the changes (Although, watching paint dry might be more exciting than waiting for me to change my site.) It also allows comments to the individual photos.Right now, it contains a boring welcome page, and another page for my photo albums (or photo album, as it were. There has only been one album posted to it so far). If you're interested in seeing it, click here. I have also just purchased the domain name www.thekokclan.ca, but as of right now, I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.
Dear reader, remember a while ago we talked about making my blog into a book? And remember how I asked you all for suggestions regarding the format of the book? I must say that the response to my query was overwhelmingly under-whelming. So, based on the feedback, I have decided what I'm going to do with it. I have not yet decided if I'm going to publish sneak previews on here....that can be determined later. Wish me luck as I forge ahead and try write this thing into some sort of entertaining and helpful form.
Ah, yes...the dentist. I get to go to the dentist tonight at 8:00PM. Yippee. One of my fillings chipped this past weekend, and now there is a very sharp piece sticking up and gouging my cheek. Good thing for benefits, because the dentist is going to see dollar bills when he / she looks in my mouth.
Speaking of music, I have finally got it figured out how to stream my own music from my own music library into Second Life. It is awesome!! My avatar can be relaxing in his house, and can listen to music that I'm playing. What's the point, you ask? Well, if my avatar has company at the house, his guests can also listen to the same music. Basically I can DJ for my guests. Which is really cool. Next step in Second Life is to become a DJ and have some fun with that.
Oooh!! Guess what!! My doctor has given me permission to consume alcoholic beverages again!! He was fairly happy with my blood sugar numbers at my last appointment. This, of course, is terrific news!! He did throw in a caveat....he says 'in everything....moderation'. In my most humble opinion, moderation is better than not at all. So I am good with that. That means wings and beer night with Sheldon can be a real wings and real beer night....not a real wings and diet coke night. Yay!!!!!
And that, dear reader, is the end of the first official Monday Musings. As always, comments are welcome. Maybe I'll even take requests. Want me to muse on a subject? Drop me a line and I'll ponder it.
Until next time, cheers.
FF
Monday, February 22, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Hump Day Ramblings
Good morning dear Reader
I hope you're ready for this, because I'm not. I have no idea how this post is going to turn out. I have no clue what I'm going to put in this. And I really don't know if you'll like it or not. And frankly, my dear, I don't give a d@mn. Let the carnage begin.
I suppose I could start off by telling you all about my struggle to get my blood sugars under control. Or I could start off on a rant about people who creep forward at a red light, and are into the intersection whilst the light is still red. Or I could not mention any of this, and go off on something completely different. It actually seems that I'm going to talk about nothing except what I could talk about. Now, don't get me wrong...I'm not ruling out the above topics. Well, actually I am ruling out the rant about people who creep forward at a red light and are into the intersection whilst the light is still red. That is an entire entry all on it's own.
Oh, I have an idea!!! How about I ask you for your advice on something. Last year, when I was blogging about Dianne's battle with cancer, it was suggested to me that I turn it into a book. Now, this idea appeals to me. The problem I have is that I don't know what format to use. I have a couple ideas, but I'm not at the point to divulge them right now. What I'd like to know is this: How do you, as my loyal (or not so loyal) readers, see a book based on the blog playing out? What format would work? It would be great if you could give me some ideas. If I use your idea you'll win a prize.
At this point, I guess I will throw in some useful info. If any of you are wondering about my struggle with diabetes, read on. If you don't care, don't read. For the most part, things are going ok. Between the meds and diet and excercise, my blood sugars are coming down. Over the past week and a half, we have been aggressively increasing the dosage of Metformin...and this has not been fun. It has hit me real hard, but as my body gets used to the high concentrations of the drug, the side effects are not as noticeable. My mmol/L is not where the Dr. wants it yet, but it's getting there. It fluctuates quite a bit, but we're starting to get a grip on what makes it do that. I go for a diabetes training course in March, so hopefully that will give us some useful information.
Hmm...now what. Is there anything you'd like to talk about, dear reader? I know I can make you want to talk about stuff, but I'm trying to be nice and giving you the opportunity to be heard. No? Well then, it's still up to me to direct this conversation.
And I direct it to end.......until next time when you'll hear about the drivers who creep forward at red lights and are into the intersection whilst the light is still red.
Cheers,
FF
PS: I have added an RSS feed to the blog, so you can now follow it that way as well. Thanks to my brother for the idea.
I hope you're ready for this, because I'm not. I have no idea how this post is going to turn out. I have no clue what I'm going to put in this. And I really don't know if you'll like it or not. And frankly, my dear, I don't give a d@mn. Let the carnage begin.
I suppose I could start off by telling you all about my struggle to get my blood sugars under control. Or I could start off on a rant about people who creep forward at a red light, and are into the intersection whilst the light is still red. Or I could not mention any of this, and go off on something completely different. It actually seems that I'm going to talk about nothing except what I could talk about. Now, don't get me wrong...I'm not ruling out the above topics. Well, actually I am ruling out the rant about people who creep forward at a red light and are into the intersection whilst the light is still red. That is an entire entry all on it's own.
Oh, I have an idea!!! How about I ask you for your advice on something. Last year, when I was blogging about Dianne's battle with cancer, it was suggested to me that I turn it into a book. Now, this idea appeals to me. The problem I have is that I don't know what format to use. I have a couple ideas, but I'm not at the point to divulge them right now. What I'd like to know is this: How do you, as my loyal (or not so loyal) readers, see a book based on the blog playing out? What format would work? It would be great if you could give me some ideas. If I use your idea you'll win a prize.
At this point, I guess I will throw in some useful info. If any of you are wondering about my struggle with diabetes, read on. If you don't care, don't read. For the most part, things are going ok. Between the meds and diet and excercise, my blood sugars are coming down. Over the past week and a half, we have been aggressively increasing the dosage of Metformin...and this has not been fun. It has hit me real hard, but as my body gets used to the high concentrations of the drug, the side effects are not as noticeable. My mmol/L is not where the Dr. wants it yet, but it's getting there. It fluctuates quite a bit, but we're starting to get a grip on what makes it do that. I go for a diabetes training course in March, so hopefully that will give us some useful information.
Hmm...now what. Is there anything you'd like to talk about, dear reader? I know I can make you want to talk about stuff, but I'm trying to be nice and giving you the opportunity to be heard. No? Well then, it's still up to me to direct this conversation.
And I direct it to end.......until next time when you'll hear about the drivers who creep forward at red lights and are into the intersection whilst the light is still red.
Cheers,
FF
PS: I have added an RSS feed to the blog, so you can now follow it that way as well. Thanks to my brother for the idea.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Strong like Athlete and Sweet like Sugah!!!!!
Happy Monday, dear reader.
I cannot begin to describe how thrilled I am that you've joined me this morning. After all, a writer needs an audience....and so do wannabe writers like me. The whole purpose of writing is to convey a message to the readers, or to entertain the masses. I too, write for these purposes. I want to entertain you, make you chortle and maybe even force you to guffaw. And, at the very least, I want to convey messages. That then, dear reader, brings us to the crux of this post. I have a message.
The message I have is two-fold. One part (and the first part) of the message is concerning my dear wife. But, hold on whilst I switch the font color......
Ah, there we go. And welcome to part two, dear reader. This part of the message concerns myself. For further information, please read on. If you have no interest whatsoever, please click the 'home' button on your browser or the little red x on the top right of your monitor (or top left if you're on a MAC).
Right then...me. For those of you who haven't heard yet, I have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. My first clue that something was wrong revealed itself in my great thirst. For quite some time now, I have not been able to get enough liquids in me to quench my thirst. My second clue was my great weight loss. I have dropped 55 pounds in 4 1/2 months...and not intentionally. Dear reader, there is no denying that dropping a few pounds is not a bad thing, but let me just make it clear that my diabetes was NOT triggered by obesity or too much weight. A person my height and my build can easily carry the amount of weight I was carrying. Most people have not even noticed that the weight is gone, for goodness sake. There...I just needed to get that off my chest (sad attempt at a funny).
Some of you may be wondering what my blood / sugar levels are at? Let me give you some information on that. My initial test (official test) which was done after a 12 hour fast was between 16 mmol/L and 18 mmol/L. A normal person should be around 6, and no higher than 8. My blood is sweet like sugah!!!! Since diagnosis, I have been been monitoring my blood / sugar 4 times per day, and my levels have been anywhere from 22 mmol/L down to 11 mmol/L.
Just what does mmol/L mean? Basically it is the world's standard for measuring the amount of glucose in the blood. It stands for millimoles/liter. A mole is about 6*10^23 molecules. Which honestly, dear reader, is all greek to me. I don't have a clue what any of that means. What I do know is that the whole world uses this method of measuring...except the US. (This next sentence is for Emma in Oklahoma) - the backwards, non-conforming Americans measure completely differently. But I won't go into that LOL.
Dear reader, you're probably wondering what the prognosis is going forward. And if you're not wondering, please refer to my previous post in which I explained about how I can make you ask, think and do anything I want. Anyways, moving forward.
Right now, I am less than a week removed from my diagnosis. My Dr has determined that we will try for 2 weeks to get my blood / sugar levels under control with the use of Metformin, a drug made for this purpose. If after 2 weeks, my numbers are not within an acceptable level, I will be started on Insulin shots. I really hope it doesn't come to that.....the thought of jabbing a needle into myself is daunting.
Along with the pills being used to get my levels back down is the obvious dietary changes. The nice thing with this is that my meals don't have to change a whole lot. We eat healthy to begin with, so some minor adjustments will bring that in line. The big thing is my snacking. I love snacking. I love eating potato chips, chocolate, candy......*sigh*. No more. Now I have to eat at regular times, snack at regular times (watch me bust out a banana in church!!!!) and control what I snack on. Fruit, vegetables, cheese and the like are part of my regular diet now. Hopefully someday I can have potato chips again...even just a few.
And that, dear reader, brings you up to date. Once again, we are faced with a challenge..and once again, we know that our Lord is with us, and will never let a hair fall from our heads without His will. Is it frustrating? Yes it is. I will not sit here and tell you all is ok....because it is frustrating. But, on the other hand, it is what it is.....our family has gotten through an awful lot, and we will manage this as well....but not alone.
Dear Reader....thanks for reading. See you soon.
Cheers.
I cannot begin to describe how thrilled I am that you've joined me this morning. After all, a writer needs an audience....and so do wannabe writers like me. The whole purpose of writing is to convey a message to the readers, or to entertain the masses. I too, write for these purposes. I want to entertain you, make you chortle and maybe even force you to guffaw. And, at the very least, I want to convey messages. That then, dear reader, brings us to the crux of this post. I have a message.
The message I have is two-fold. One part (and the first part) of the message is concerning my dear wife. But, hold on whilst I switch the font color......
Alright then....moving right along. This past week, my wife had to go for her regular heart test. She gets these tests in order to make sure her heart is good, and that she is still able to receive the Herceptin. Well, as it turns out, based on this heart test, she cannot receive the next 2 scheduled doses of Herceptin. Now, before you go off and panic, hear me out. The data that came back from the heart test show that her numbers have dropped by 10 points (please don't ask what that means, because I don't have a clue). This does NOT mean that Dianne's heart is bad....as a matter of fact, she has been told she has the heart of an athlete. But it is the rule (written in stone type of rule) that if the numbers drop by that much, then Herceptin is delayed for at least a month.
So dear reader, there is nothing to panic about. This is merely a safety measure. Towards the end of February, Dianne will go for another heart test, and after that it will be determined what will happen in regards to the Herceptin. As always, I will keep you up to date. Now, let me switch back to a normal font color and proceed to part two of my two-fold message.
Ah, there we go. And welcome to part two, dear reader. This part of the message concerns myself. For further information, please read on. If you have no interest whatsoever, please click the 'home' button on your browser or the little red x on the top right of your monitor (or top left if you're on a MAC).
Right then...me. For those of you who haven't heard yet, I have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. My first clue that something was wrong revealed itself in my great thirst. For quite some time now, I have not been able to get enough liquids in me to quench my thirst. My second clue was my great weight loss. I have dropped 55 pounds in 4 1/2 months...and not intentionally. Dear reader, there is no denying that dropping a few pounds is not a bad thing, but let me just make it clear that my diabetes was NOT triggered by obesity or too much weight. A person my height and my build can easily carry the amount of weight I was carrying. Most people have not even noticed that the weight is gone, for goodness sake. There...I just needed to get that off my chest (sad attempt at a funny).
Some of you may be wondering what my blood / sugar levels are at? Let me give you some information on that. My initial test (official test) which was done after a 12 hour fast was between 16 mmol/L and 18 mmol/L. A normal person should be around 6, and no higher than 8. My blood is sweet like sugah!!!! Since diagnosis, I have been been monitoring my blood / sugar 4 times per day, and my levels have been anywhere from 22 mmol/L down to 11 mmol/L.
Just what does mmol/L mean? Basically it is the world's standard for measuring the amount of glucose in the blood. It stands for millimoles/liter. A mole is about 6*10^23 molecules. Which honestly, dear reader, is all greek to me. I don't have a clue what any of that means. What I do know is that the whole world uses this method of measuring...except the US. (This next sentence is for Emma in Oklahoma) - the backwards, non-conforming Americans measure completely differently. But I won't go into that LOL.
Dear reader, you're probably wondering what the prognosis is going forward. And if you're not wondering, please refer to my previous post in which I explained about how I can make you ask, think and do anything I want. Anyways, moving forward.
Right now, I am less than a week removed from my diagnosis. My Dr has determined that we will try for 2 weeks to get my blood / sugar levels under control with the use of Metformin, a drug made for this purpose. If after 2 weeks, my numbers are not within an acceptable level, I will be started on Insulin shots. I really hope it doesn't come to that.....the thought of jabbing a needle into myself is daunting.
Along with the pills being used to get my levels back down is the obvious dietary changes. The nice thing with this is that my meals don't have to change a whole lot. We eat healthy to begin with, so some minor adjustments will bring that in line. The big thing is my snacking. I love snacking. I love eating potato chips, chocolate, candy......*sigh*. No more. Now I have to eat at regular times, snack at regular times (watch me bust out a banana in church!!!!) and control what I snack on. Fruit, vegetables, cheese and the like are part of my regular diet now. Hopefully someday I can have potato chips again...even just a few.
And that, dear reader, brings you up to date. Once again, we are faced with a challenge..and once again, we know that our Lord is with us, and will never let a hair fall from our heads without His will. Is it frustrating? Yes it is. I will not sit here and tell you all is ok....because it is frustrating. But, on the other hand, it is what it is.....our family has gotten through an awful lot, and we will manage this as well....but not alone.
Dear Reader....thanks for reading. See you soon.
Cheers.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
So, what's new?
Belated Happy New Year, Dear Reader!! I have been remarkably absent from these pages, and recently have started to feel remarkably bad about it. So, here I am. And there you are....I think.
/me peers out into the interwebz to see if he can see u
So, what's going on, you ask? And if you didn't ask that, then I just put words in your mouth. I'm a (wannabe) writer, I can do that, you know. I can make you ask questions you never thought you'd want to know the answer too. And because I have the power to do that, I will do that.
/me laughs an evil laugh.
Now, to answer the question. What's going on? What's new? What's happening? The long and the short of it is this: lots. Oh wait, that's just the short of it. Read on, dear reader, to get the long of it. (I think grammar wise, this paragraph is an epic fail.)
I suppose that some of you are getting curiouser and curiouser about Dianne. How's she doing? How's the recovery going? Things are going well, dear reader, things are going well. Recovering her strength and energy is a long tedious process, but this is very understandable in light of what she's been through in the past year. She works hard to do things, and to not let the after effects drag her down...and she does an amazing job of it. Dear reader, we are so blessed that Dianne is able to do the things she does, and we thank our Lord for being with her.
Dianne now has more hair than I do. Of course, mine has remained off by choice, and I steadfastly continue to shave it off. And at this point, I am determined that it will remain like this for a long long time. Dianne, however, has different opinions...she wants her hair to grow back...and it is. I figure we could have remained bald together forever, but I couldn't find it in our wedding vows anywhere. Thus, her hair groweth. And it looks very nice, I must say.
What's in the future for Dianne? I don't know if we've covered this before, so I'll go over a few things again. Dianne will continue to get Herceptin IV's until at least May, 2010. This drug works against the protein factor which made her cancer so aggressive. So, if there is any cancer left, it won't be affected by the HER2+ disease. She also is on Tamoxifen for the next 5 years. Tamoxifen "prevents estrogen from binding to its receptor. Hence breast cancer cell growth is blocked." (the text in " " is a direct quote from Wikipedia).
Dianne has also had a visit to the plastic surgeon in light of reconstruction. I am not going to go into any details at this point, because a decision has not been made as to what's going to happen. I just wanted you to know that the initial consultation has taken place.
Believe it or not, dear reader, Dianne's 6 month checkup is scheduled for February 4, 2010. This, of course, is 6 months after the last chemo. But it seemed to have arrived very quickly. I am hoping to attend this with her, and and soon as we know something, I will let you know.
And that, dear reader, is what's new. I was nice, and didn't make you answer any questions you didn't want to know the answer to. I make no guarantees that this will happen again. Know this: the desire to write again is coming back after a short hiatus. Thus, I hope to see you again soon.
(Updates on myself will be in a separate entry)
(Updates on myself will be in a separate entry)
Cheers.
RK
Monday, November 16, 2009
Just what is the point exactly?
Just the other day, dear reader, I was wondering what the point of crosswalks are. I mean, it's not like people stop for them. Let me explain why I was pondering this. We (that is, my family and I) had just got back from a day up in Barrhead / Neerlandia, and were wondering what to do for supper. Since Dianne and I weren't hungry, I decided that I would walk to Burger King and pick up a couple burgers and some fries for the kids. Healthy? No. Quick and easy? Yes. But, I digress.
So, I walk to BK. Now, from my place, I have to cross a really busy avenue. There is a controlled crosswalk about a block from where BK is, and there is also an uncontrolled crosswalk leading right to BK. Normally, I would cross at the controlled one, but I chose to try the uncontrolled one. Getting to BK was easy...there was no traffic and I ran like the wind. Getting home was another story. Traffic was whipping along the busy avenue, seemingly unaware of the lone pedestrian waiting to cross. Several of the drivers even gave me a dirty look, as if it's my fault that they almost decided to stop. I gave them dirty looks back...after all, the burgers and fries were getting cold!!
So, there I stand. The traffic is less now, but there is a little blue car coming down the lane....so I step out boldly. Again, I got a dirty look, but at least the lady stopped. So, I walked across the first lane...and had to stop again because dip-turd honky tonk man in his big Silverado decided not to stop. As tempting as it was to flip him off, that would not be the proper thing to do. So I waved at him....and he flipped me off. It was at this point that I figured maybe I should have gone to the controlled crosswalk. But, I trudged on. I made it to the meridian safely and let out a big sigh of relief. But, I still had 3 lanes to cross. And about 24 cars were coming. So...I ran. Like the wind. Whew, back on the right side of the avenue.
Now, all of this lead me to thinking...what is the purpose of this crosswalk? Oh, most of you will say that it is so pedestrians can cross the street. I don't believe a word of it. I believe that the purpose of the crosswalk is so that potential crossers can make drivers angry. I mean, why should a lowly pedestrian have the power to stop hundreds of tons of metal to stop? It is not right!! After all, in our busy world, who has time to stop for someone wanting to cross the street?
Don't get me wrong, dear reader...I can understand not stopping for jay-walkers. But if someone is at a crosswalk that is clearly lit and labelled? Come on...slow down, take a deep breath and think about it. Stop for the person wanting to cross. Show a bit of courtesy. Quit being a mong. Don't let the burgers get cold for the poor walker. I hope I see you trying to cross at a crosswalk someday....for I will stop. And you will not know how to react, because you have never done it yourself. And you will feel shame....and I will laugh.
And now, I go eat my kids burgers. It took so long to cross the road, the kids were in bed by the time I got home. Thanks dear driver....thanks.
So, I walk to BK. Now, from my place, I have to cross a really busy avenue. There is a controlled crosswalk about a block from where BK is, and there is also an uncontrolled crosswalk leading right to BK. Normally, I would cross at the controlled one, but I chose to try the uncontrolled one. Getting to BK was easy...there was no traffic and I ran like the wind. Getting home was another story. Traffic was whipping along the busy avenue, seemingly unaware of the lone pedestrian waiting to cross. Several of the drivers even gave me a dirty look, as if it's my fault that they almost decided to stop. I gave them dirty looks back...after all, the burgers and fries were getting cold!!
So, there I stand. The traffic is less now, but there is a little blue car coming down the lane....so I step out boldly. Again, I got a dirty look, but at least the lady stopped. So, I walked across the first lane...and had to stop again because dip-turd honky tonk man in his big Silverado decided not to stop. As tempting as it was to flip him off, that would not be the proper thing to do. So I waved at him....and he flipped me off. It was at this point that I figured maybe I should have gone to the controlled crosswalk. But, I trudged on. I made it to the meridian safely and let out a big sigh of relief. But, I still had 3 lanes to cross. And about 24 cars were coming. So...I ran. Like the wind. Whew, back on the right side of the avenue.
Now, all of this lead me to thinking...what is the purpose of this crosswalk? Oh, most of you will say that it is so pedestrians can cross the street. I don't believe a word of it. I believe that the purpose of the crosswalk is so that potential crossers can make drivers angry. I mean, why should a lowly pedestrian have the power to stop hundreds of tons of metal to stop? It is not right!! After all, in our busy world, who has time to stop for someone wanting to cross the street?
Don't get me wrong, dear reader...I can understand not stopping for jay-walkers. But if someone is at a crosswalk that is clearly lit and labelled? Come on...slow down, take a deep breath and think about it. Stop for the person wanting to cross. Show a bit of courtesy. Quit being a mong. Don't let the burgers get cold for the poor walker. I hope I see you trying to cross at a crosswalk someday....for I will stop. And you will not know how to react, because you have never done it yourself. And you will feel shame....and I will laugh.
And now, I go eat my kids burgers. It took so long to cross the road, the kids were in bed by the time I got home. Thanks dear driver....thanks.
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