2010
The big stories of 2010 is the passing of my Mom on October 9, 2010, at age 90. You may view her memorial page by clicking on Mom here or on the links at the bottom of every page.
The other great thing for the year was the realization of the benefits of treatment that I had to under go or are still engaged due to sleep apnea and HEP C treatment.
In late 2007 I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. Beneficial treatment does not begin to relieve the symptoms of sleep apnea until at least three months of steady use with an effective mask. Although I did have three months before Hep C treatment would begin, it was not with the an effective mask for me. That would not come until early in 2009, well into my Hep C treatment, which is generally known as being very nasty. Thus my physical condition going into Hep C treatment, which was rather low made going through treatment and recovery that much more challenging. It wasn't until six months after finishing a successful treatment of Hep C before I starting feeling my old self again. Then to my surprise I gained weight and kept on feeling better and better than I had for years.
So, towards the end of 2010, and unbeknownst to me I started growing a tumor, which would not be discovered until 2011 which makes that year's story quite clear.
2011
The big story is course my cancer. And while it begins at least as early as February, it wasn't until mid year before I would seek treatment and successfully, which I was recently encourage to believe, although it won't be known until early 2012. However, about the time the cancer was becoming an issue I had been looking for a support group, something I've never done, in part because I went through Kaiser's pain management treatment for neuropathy, but was most helpful because it helped get back into the landing of the living as it well and is of course its own story, after the HEP C treatment which had taken allot out of me.
So, I found one that I felt was comfortable and that was with Kaiser's HIV Support group which meets every Tuesday at Kaiser's SF Medical Center. It was there before the cancer issue emerged that I had offered to write for Kaiser's HIV Newsletter if they so needed. So the cancer emerged it seemed as if an article with one foot on my experience oriented towards getting those with HIV to begin using Kaiser's new treatment protocol that is designed to detect anal cancer early, before one has a tumor.
Thus was born an article and I used the chance to write up an experience that could be used by Kaiser's as they saw fit. Unfortunately, from the newsletter perspective I wrote a rather long article of nearly 3,500 words but was able to edit it into a more inspirational letter to other persons infected with HIV to seek this new treatment protocol. You can read the article as edited for the HIV newsletter or you may read a pdf of the my whole experience. This article can be assessed through any link listed as 2011. It certainly gives a good view of life from diagnosis through the end of the chemo and radiation treatment. Of course the real ending has yet to written and won't appear until my PET scan on December 29. On December 30th I hear whether the cancer has been eliminated for now.
Also, this year's letter to family and friends can be found at December letter.
