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Showing posts from December, 2009

Bad Berka Scan

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(A cropped image from our photobooth at "Berlin" Nightclub in Chicago. I thought is was fitting for the post... You know, Germany and all! Note the "Crazy Eyes...") I have an appointment for the 68 ga scan & consult with Dr. Baum in Bad Berka, Germany for February. We're looking for tickets now... I think we'll try to fly into Frankfurt and out of Berlin. This way, we can see the city, and the trip will feel a little less "Cancer-y" My informal budget calculates that the trip will cost about $9,000. Ouch! This includes the scan ($4,300), airfare ($1,600), trains, food, lodging, and a modest photo budget (of course). Another patient told me that the scan was 1,800 EUR, which is closer to $2,700. I'm still waiting on the exact amount from the finance department. The number they gave me, initially, was a loose figure of 3000 EUR. So, -TBD. Read this... Changing role of somatostatin receptor targeted drugs in NET: Nuclear Medicine’s view

Learning to cook...

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If you know me, I'm not one for cooking but I'm starting to learn! It's not too bad, or hard to get into... Tonight, I made tofu, lentils, broccoli, tomato, carrots, spinach and onions, in a nice turmeric sauce with plenty of spices. -organic mostly. Washed it down with some blueberry juice. For desert, dark chocolate and green tea. Not too shabby... Eyh ?

Xmas eve dinner...

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back from Omaha, again...

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Circled is the left lobe of the liver. This piece would eventually grow to become a full sized organ, if all goes to plan. It has a few tumors throughout, but manageable via wedge resections. Here you will see my largest tumor, outlined in red. 6-7CM. Note the IVC (inferior vena cava), and next to it, the 2CM tumor outlined in red. This needs to be dealt with before it grows into the IVC . UPDATE: 1 year of scans was "officially" reviewed. It appears as though the tumor growth is stable in the liver, that is, minimal. So, that's good. Also, another NET patient asked me about the possibility for future resections after the liver takes its new form (post 2nd surgery). The answer, from what I have been told: You are limited in some cases, but you can still resect if necessary. RFA, Spheres, etc. is a more likely option though... Also, if all goes to plan, the liver grows back to its full size and you have a 100% functional liver & tissue. Dr. Botha showed me an exampl

store window...

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After getting back to Omaha, we visited the Market District again. Found this in a store window... Ruff!!

Casino...

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On the way back from Walnut we stopped at a casino... 4th rate for sure. We spent about $20 on slots between us... It was fun, but also a little depressing... watching suckers glued to the slots pumping the machines while exhaling mass amounts of smoke. No glory or glitz.

Liberty Gal...

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WW1 Litho at a shop in Walnut, IA.

Walnut, Iowa... Antiques Capital of IA

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We spent most of the day in Walnut, IA. We back tracked 60 miles from Omaha... Antiques Capital of Iowa. Not bad!

Made it to Omaha...

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We made it to Omaha and beat the snow. My battery of tests start on Monday. We managed to stop off and see one of Louis Sullivan's banks, which is a true gem. So, it was worth the drive... Which was actually quite easy and only 7 hours. The time passed while listening to the "Anti-Cancer" book on CD.

Clean clean clean?

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This is the most disgusting Taco Bell / KFC joint I've ever entered. It's off I-88 in Grinell, Iowa. Ironically, note the sign over the sink... "clean clean clean". We got a kick out of that... The unconcerned staff didnt seem to mind the stench and soil. If you're going through here, keep driving!!!!

better shoes for less...

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I love this... Irving Park just west of Kedzie

people in front of houses...

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I've been meaning to post some of the images I found in Omaha during our last trip. This is a great albumin piece, about 6x10 mounted on board. I've been slowly amassing a new sub-collection of photographs of "people in front of their homes..." I think it's a great little window into how we use the camera, pose, and link our property with identity . I'll be writing and posting more about this later... but for now, just absorbing it.

things are happening... with photobooths

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The last crate of paper being taken off the truck today! Digital-Retro Model-002: Built by 312photobooth for UK Client ("Snaparazzi") That's right, today we finally got our shipment of film for our vintage photobooths! Sales are off to a great start and we're already planning a new order.... Also, we finished the Digital-Retro booth for our UK client, and, picked up two really beautiful Model-14's last week. We also came into a sweet stash of parts and other sweet deals. So, that's right, things are happeing. I put together a little demo of our digital retro photobooth. It's for marketing, but really is a work in progress. I'm going to change the audio and add in a few things. Also, it only takes 20 seconds for the photos to print, but the sign says 2.5 minutes... yeah, I know... the sign is more for aesthetics than anything else. We've also started working on the A&A Studios web store ... it's still in progress, but you can buy the paper

Photobooth settling in...

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Photobooth homecoming

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highland, wisconsin

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A distant view over farmland in Highland, Wisconsin... sometimes, when I look over this landscape I get a feeling and I understand what "yearning for the land" means... sometimes, you want something around your feet, your head, your eyes, so big you can scream and there is no echo, just space...

...ouch... that's my finger!

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Ouch, yes...that is my finger and typing is not so easy! Andrea and I went up to our house in WI over the weekend to do some work. On the way there, I checked the oil on the van only to have the latch spring back and close on my finger. That wasn't so bad becuase the skin was still covering the wound. So, I grabbed some bandages and went on our way... but later in the evening, it got worse. I was installing a new door and jamb, with my father-in-law, into a masonry opening. We needed to install a new door leading into the furnace / utility room under the house... otherwise, the cold air would leach in and burst the pipes, etc. That required building a new custom jamb into the opening... which means Tap-Con masonry screws... as I was driving one of the screws into the jamb, I took my eyes away from the bit to say something to Andrea and presto!! The bandaid got stuck in the drill bit and ripped the skin off the top of my finger.... Awesome! Being about 20 degrees where we were worki

All my jeans have holes in the right knee...

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Order....

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It doesn't look like much, but this is a clean shop... Albeit full, clean nonetheless! And warm... I have a few heaters going and I'm all toasty! And now that I have a desktop in the shop, I can blog from here too... Now I just need a couch... Or a little futon for naps!!! Or, not....?

Dr. Baum: Bad Berka, Germany

I have scheduled my Octreoscans (OTS) and MRI for December 21st. It's 3 days of scans, which means 3 days in Omaha again. The OTS scanner / method is supposed to be better at UNMC. This time I think we'll drive to take advantage of the antiques! We saw some great furniture there last time that we would have loved to take home for the Wisconsin house. I have also recently been in touch with Dr. Baum in Bad Berka, Germany. I'm sending them my files for review. Dr. Baum thinks I might be a candidate for PRRT. (watch the videos... an hour total...but full of amazing info once you get past the history in the beginning.) Their scanners are amazing. If nothing else, I think I should go there for a scan to get a better picture of what is happening. From what other patients have told me, a treatment package is about 10,500 EUR (about $17,000 USD). Of course, there is also lodging and airfare. I think the scan alone is about $3000 USD. So, I need to start saving my pennies now, espec