ANTHONY R. VIZZARI | ARCHTOGRAPHIST

From the collection: 1908: I found this glass negative at a local fair. It's one of Chicago's first fireboats, sunk in 1908 at 16th & Canal. This was a great little score and piece of Chicago history! 03/22/2010: CT Left & X-Ray Right. Note the size of the liver in the CT and the 3 white areas in the X-Ray. Those 3 white spots are the wires used to clog the veins... (AKA - PVE) 03/22/2010: 3 CT sections. In the first image, you can see some growth of the left lobe. Note the center of the large tumor in the 2nd and 3rd images. You can see a bit more necrosis forming... at least, that's what I'm told it is. This could be via PRRT killing NET cells, or from the right lobe & tumor having a decreased blood supply? Or, both? The blog has been SILENT this week… That is not surprising, since all I’ve been doing is trying to get some rest (Spending a lot of time catching up on bad TV). I can’t stand it… If I have not returned your calls or emails, it’s because I j

I found this photo postcard a few weeks ago at a local shop... I have no idea what this woman is doing. Circa 1915 -1920. Sunday was turning out to be a good day. Andrea and I were able to escape for a few hours to an Antique Fair (where I found some great glass negatives). After which, we went out for an early dinner (Indian food with lots of good veggies!!). When we got back home, I resumed some work at the computer. -I started to feel a pain in my side. Within a few hours, the pain had grown into an excruciating stabbing that radiated into my neck and shoulder. It got so bad that I couldn’t breathe, or, find a position that didn’t hurt. Even lying down was next to impossible. We contacted the on-call interventional radiology (IR) doctor Sunday night. He instructed us to contact them in the morning if the problem persisted. Well, after a nearly impossible night in bed, I woke up early and spoke with IR. The head nurse told me to proceed to the Northwestern ER. I was quickly admitte

Today the scale is 8. I reserve 10 for trauma and crushed bones. I've been having severe pains for the last 16hrs around my liver, so currently at the Northwestern ER to figure things out. It hurts when I breathe or move. This sucks. More to follow.

Mold-A-Rama "Miniature Plastic Factory": Don't think I haven't already looked into buying one! I have leads and a potential location already. These things rule! We'll see what pans out? Alex using the Mold-A-Rama... Andrea and I (Circus Exhibit - Museum of Science & Industry). Moose? Field Museum Display... Goats? Field Museum Display... I've been away from the blog since my PVE because I've been both busy...and tired. I've started to bounce back and I'm getting things in gear prior to the big surgery. The date has been scheduled (tentatively per scan results) for April 21st (pre-operation stuff) and actual cutting on the 22nd. My next scan will be April 15th. On the work front, things have been VERY busy. Some new digital projects are in the works which are exciting prospects. Also, we have two new locations about to be installed, one digital and one chemical. In addition, there are a few international and domestic sales in the mix, for bo

My Search: "What to do...with old Olympus lenses..." My Search: "Is it.... bad to do an international wire transfer..." My Search: "Is it dangerous.... to do an international wire transfer..." Ok, so life and the Internet are indeed interesting. Some folks out there probably want to know how I'm doing. The answer is, fine. I feel a little tired much quicker lately, not sure why... and still a little achy, but otherwise normal and doing the regular stuff that I do. But for me, the more pressing question is... What the hell are people searching for on Google??? I had a few questions of my own this week, and I was amazed to learn that others did too! When you type a question or search term into Google, it often automatically populates popular terms or phrases that others have entered. This is not news and I often ignore it... but after these last few entries, I was perplexed and could not keep my silence any longer! So, here is how we arrived at this.

A bull fight...a found photo, from the collection. Today was much better... The Fentanyl (pain drug) they gave me yesterday made me sick with vomiting and a nasty headache. It was like I drank a liter of Vodka. -And it was not fun. The only thing that seemed to help was mint chocolate chip ice cream. The mint and cold helped with the nausea. and of course, it's easier to throw up, since it melts on the way down. (nice visual, right?) When the drug subsided, it left me with a good amount of pain in the middle of the night. This morning I was sluggish, the pain has started to subside a bit. I got a good deal of work done via email, etc. so the day was not lost. I have a few meetings and obligations this week, but for the most part, I'm going to try and take it easy. I'm working to confirm the surgery date, which is now tentative sometime between April 19th - 23rd. I'll have to have a scan first to assess the liver growth. Hopefully 6 weeks will yeild enough growth for s

My favorite hand port! I love these things... Procedure was longer than anticipated, but it's done. I'm back home and the pain meds were strong.., I threw up as soon as I got home. I am having some abdo pains but I think that will eventually end. More later as I feel better...

I've just updated my personal web site anthonyvizzari.com , which needed a face lift big time (finally). Now, If I could just get around to sprucing up the others (AA, G.O.M.P, Polaroid Epitaphs, MoMP, Photostruct, the A&A Store... etc...). This new version is sparse right now, and, it back-links to some of the old galleries, old resume, etc. In the coming weeks / months, I'll be updating those sections as well. I also need to post a ton of new work. I suspect I'll have PLENTY of time during recovery. Tomorrow morning... PVE. ...GAME ON!!!!

My portal vein embolization (PVE) is set and ready for this coming Monday morning at Northwestern. It took a little wrangling to get it coordinated between UNMC and the IR team in Chicago, but it's done. Hopefully all will go well because there IS NO TURNING BACK after the PVE procedure. (That is, after PVE, the right lobe is pretty much being set-up for ultimate destruction!!) After the PVE in, 6 weeks, there will be a CT scan to assess liver growth. After that, I will have the right hepatic lobectomy. My recovery will be long, at least 2-3 weeks of it will be in Omaha. And when I say no turning back, I mean it! Check out these videos of right lobe resections and NOTE the nasty cut they put in your abdomen. These surgeries are for different diseases, but the idea is pretty much the same... freaking nasty and scary stuff. I ain't no tough guy, believe me, I'm more than nervous... frankly, this sucks. I've been talking with another well know NET specialist in Iowa (Dr. O