GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS

GOOD NEWS: My last Blog entry was full of good news as far as I am concerned. My cancer is very much under control and I am in a position to have the affected part of the pancreas removed. In addition, it is GOOD NEWS as far as I am concerned that MD Anderson functions the way they do. They gave me radiation and chemotherapy up front to kill as many cancer cells as possible so cancer cells wouldn't spread when they operate. Also, I have talked to many who had surgery before chemo and radiation treatments, and they were too weak to undergo the chemo and radiation treatments after surgery. I am a tough old guy and it was difficult for me to make it through these treatments. I can't imagine doing this while trying to recuperate from surgery. Another element of GOOD NEWS once again relates to the MD Anderson method of doing business. They hold committee meetings with all the people potentially related to the problem to discuss the case. My case came up in the committee meeting, and I was told there were approximately sixteen to seventeen people involved, including five or six surgeons.

The BAD NEWS is that during the committee meeting everyone was quite excited and pleased with my progress and condition as far as the cancer issue is concerned. However, the CAT-Scan revealed that my aortic aneurysm had increased in size and there was a presence of at least one small blood clot. I was supposed to leave for Houston today to visit with the surgeon and prepare for surgery for the cancer. Obviously the trip has been cancelled and I now have an appointment on Thursday with a vascular surgeon here in Albuquerque. The aneurysm must be taken care of before the cancer surgery can be considered and I have a short window of approximately ninety days maximum to get this done.

Another piece of GOOD NEWS was a letter I received yesterday in response to the appeal I filed on the visits that Presbyterian had said they were not going to pay - because "They were not in the system". The appeals people said they were closing my case because Presbyterian had gone ahead and paid all charges. I am sure this is because of the lady who is acting as my Advocate, because Presbyterian's attitude has totally changed. Anyway - that is very good news to me also.

In addition to the GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS related to my health, I had some something else happen which I will put into the GOOD NEWS category. My cousin Bill and his wife Jean went out of their way to come through Albuquerque yesterday to pay us a short visit. Bill and I are the same age - which also means he is a young man, and we were in the same class all the way through school starting in about the third grade. They live in the state of Washington and I think I have probably only seen Bill twice in the past thirty years. It was really good to see Bill and Jean, even though the visit was short. I am afraid I wasn't much of a host because of everything else that was going through my head, but it was a good visit anyway.

Our grandfather Hurt was dead before either Bill or I was born, so neither of us knows too much about him. He was a prominent man and listed in the "Who's Who" for the state of Colorado. He was supposed to be very wealthy and lost most of his wealth on his death bed, as he died during the great depression. He owned a lot of land in Colorado and he had a ranch in New Mexico. I had planned to visit the old ranch site which is down around Elephant Butte, but never got around to doing it. Bill went on the Internet trying to locate the present owners, the location, etc. Bill discovered that the new Space Port, which is partially owned by the owner of Virgin Airlines, is located on the land that was our grandfather's ranch. Kind of interesting, but I am not going to ask for any favors - like a ticket on a space flight. On the other hand, my wife would probably be willing to pay top dollar for such a ticket - for me - as long as it was a one way ticket.

Who knows what will happen next. I suppose I could get an ingrown toe nail, or need to have my tonsils removed for a second time, or even develop hemorrhoids which would further delay my cancer surgery. I really do want to get this thing over with - it will be a year in February. But, the GOOD NEWS items in this report are far greater than the BAD NEWS items, so I think we are going to be okay.

ALBUQUERQUE AL