ANTHONY R. VIZZARI | ARCHTOGRAPHIST

Scrapbook Studies: The Burn Series: "Lipstick, Smoke Stacks & Pearls" : 8"x10" ( 1 of 1) Silver Halide Print/s; 2011 Scrapbook Studies: The Burn Series: "Yosemite": 5"x7" (1 of 1) Silver Halide Print/s; 2011 After a long break from the blog, an entry is surely due. The business has been going well. We hired a new group of employees this summer and they are fabulous. The new crew is great, all of whom are excited and working hard. Our in-house shop in Wisconsin is manufacturing booths at break-neck speed (thanks to our skilled and dedicated guys). We have recently had sales to England, Hong Kong, Spain, Texas, Alabama, North Carolina, D.C., and New York... to name just a few. I also just refurbished some more classic chemical photobooths...bringing them back from the dead. We also acquired 30 more photobooths this summer (including 9 Polaroid booths secured for our friends at The Impossible Project). All these units and a TON of parts are no...

I'm not a religious person (at all).... but I love folk art and iconography. I hung these pieces at the highland house this weekend. Both are from thrift stores, of course! We had some workers take up some of the flooring to do a plumbing repair, before we came up (long story). We found out that the main part of the house is one of the oldest homes built in Highland. There are layers of flooring built up, for which this was one... I wish it wasn't covered. I love this design! (Also, part of the house is built on unmilled log timber joists... very cool.) UPDATE: The results of my recent MRI were not exactly what I wanted... it was what I had expected, but hoped would not be the case. My liver seems to be stable, which is the good news (i.e. tumors same size). However, the epicardial lymph node tumor, which became cause for concern in December, is very much progressive. From December to March, the tumor has increased in size from 0.9 x 1.6 to 2.4 x 2.9cm. Therefore, the node ha...

This is a slice from my FDG PET showing one of the tumors in question. It doesn't look like much, but it's something! These fused scans kind of remind me of Francis Bacon paintings... I've always been a big fan. I guess that's a plus? We had a very long day (13hrs) at the Hospital in Bad Berka. I underwent a number of scans, and labs, followed by a consult by Dr. Baum. The meeting with Dr. Baum was indeed illuminating. For a more accurate recap, it would be too complicated and a bit long winded for a blog post. In layman's terms, it looks like my disease is a more extensive than the new nodes seen on recent MRI and FDG PET (there are also a few hot spots in the liver). PRRT is not an option per Dr. Baum, since these tumors are much more aggressive and will not respond to PRRT (receptor negative on Ga-68, but very hot on FDG PET, if I have that right). Dr. Baum thinks surgery would only be a temporary measure and is suggesting I investigate various inhibitors wit...

Some recent "poses" in a photobooth (testing for an event...) I rock a mean ukulele... The beautiful Andrea... after the show, looking majestic as ever... Me at a show...scowling as usual. Andrea at the camera... These recent photos are proof that we are still alive...and, looking good! I’ve been laying low, avoiding the blog, phone calls and email…not in any particular order. I just haven’t had much to say and needed a good rest. At just about 7 weeks post-surgery, I’m moving around and back to work. I’ve lost about 10-12lbs, which I don’t really mind…. I’m still a little slow and limited to lifting 25lbs or less, but I’m feeling well. Andrea’s back is doing better too. I haven’t gotten out much since returning home after surgery. I’ve made it out a few times for social engagements, and a few times for work. Last week, Andrea and I went to the Museum on a whim, which was great. And lately, we’ve been watching the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup finals. Admittedly, I’m not a...

Andrea and Sylvie in the living room... note the couches from our Oak Park living room... not the best photo of the space, but you get the idea... we're getting there. We came up to our house in Wisconsin for the weekend to do some spring work before my surgery. There's still PLENTY to do... but at least for now, it's habitable. Slowly, it's getting better. The bathroom is pretty much done (minus paint) and looks great, but alas, one of the coils on the water heater went bad. So, we can't enjoy that new spa tub! Everything is closed for Easter, which means no hot water until next time. The furnace here annoys me a sucks down oil, so we're going to switch to gas at the end of the summer. And finally, we bought some used appliances, a stove and refrigerator , refurbished from a local old school appliance place, for $350. Score! We also picked up a coffee pot, panini grill for a fully functional kitchen. There is still a good deal of painting, floor work and gen...

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...

The "kidney protection" drip... this thing lasts forever! The beautiful adornment... My hospital room in the ward... not too bad. After a relaxing day with Andrea (fueled by room service and general doing-nothingness), I checked into the hospital on Sunday afternoon. At which point, Andrea and I were eventually forced to part ways. I am not allowed visitors in the hospital ward, be it before, during, or after treatment. On Monday, I started a battery of different tests which consisted of much poking of needles. One test was to examine kidney function. At around noon, after a physical examination, my treatment began with an IV drip of “kidney protection” medicine. After about 45 minutes, the PRRT treatment was started. The treatment was short, maybe 30 minutes or so? I felt ok during treatment, but right after I started to feel very anxious, had a headache, was kind of dizzy and generally irritated all over. It was as if I could just not stay still or get comfortable (I beli...

My 68-ga Scans: the full disk is amazing... note the bottom row. See that the large tumor is not illuminated. More to follow. UPDATED (Q/A with Dr. Baum via Email - at end of post) 02/10.2010: Disclaimer: Trying to get to Berlin, so please excuse the typos: Yesterday I had my visit with Dr. Baum and the (68ga PET/CT scan) here in Germany. The results were interesting! After over a year of searching in the US, the primary tumor was found here in Germany in the tail of the pancreas. It is very small, around 1CM in dia. Also, Dr. Baum believes that the largest tumor in the dome of my liver (6.5CM) is actually 90% benign with a metastasis (NET / cancer) growing in the center and edge. This is very rare and Baum has only seen it one other patient in over 4200 cases. We will do more tests (FDG PET Scan) to confirm next week, but it makes a lot of sense. This conclusion was made by how that tumor reads on the scan. It has to do with receptor uptake, etc. Others could probably explain it bett...

Me in the photobooth with "Baby Lee" and my Voightlander Rangefinder. Andrea and "Baby Lucie" Courtney, Jay, Andrea, "Baby Lee" and me, in the photobooth. Jay, Courtney & "Baby Lee" Yet another year has gone by. -too fast. Our friends from Los Angeles, Courtney and Jay, came out to visit with us over the New Year. ...and they brought their adorable little baby Lee. At just under 6 months, this little guy is awesome... and of course, my new best friend. It was nice to spend some real quality time with our friends, since we rarely get to see them. Unfortunately, we ended up all coming down with a NASTY stomach flu which really took us by storm. (Vomiting, fever, chills, stomach pains, & the works...). We sat around eating toast, sleeping, and watching bad Lifetime Network movies. In a funny way, it was actually an interesting bonding experience. When we felt a little better today, we grabbed a nice brunch and came back to the house for ...

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...

We close on this property on Friday in Highland, Wi . Cross your fingers that it happens without a hitch. See that little garage addition to the right, yeah, well that's going to be a nice little studio! As is typical, things have been fast paced with contacting various doctors, methods for treatment, etc. I'm about to cancel my surgery in NYC with Dr. Shafir . This does not mean that I will not get treatment, I just won't get that treatment. I could go into all the details, but they are many. Really, I just can't stomach a full recap. The IR team at Northwestern wants to watch and wait for a few more months, then go in for some type of embilization therapy. I've been talking with a great Oncologist at Sloan ( MSK ) in NYC, and she feels strongly that the hunt for the primary tumor is not all that important right now...and that I should default to Northwestern's course. However, she noted that if Dr. Chen at the University of Wisconsin thinks surgery is a go...