1 Year | 365 Days | 52 Weeks | 12 Months | But who is counting?

 Here we are folks, no matter how you look at it it has been a year.  Perspective is everything and we just have to keep looking forward in life and progressing.  On the 28th of June I had my third surveillance appointment and my first CT since diagnosis.  As expected everything was good.  No sign of Metastasis, normal blood markers.  As far as Cancer goes we are doing as great as we can. 

It has only been 9 months since the last Chemo treatment.  What I can tell you is that my breathing is back to normal.  For several months I use to feel like I could never catch my breath.  But that has resolved itself. 

I continue to struggle with the Ringing in the Ears, it has just been a pain but the longer it goes on the less and less it bothers me.  It is always there if I just stop to listen for it.  

So for now we just keep looking forward and focusing on the future and putting this behind us.  I hope that i can continue to use this experience to bring awareness to others and help bring light to Men's Health in General.  There is nothing to be ashamed of or worried about when talking with your Healthcare Provider.  Just pay attention to your body and when you sense something is wrong investigate it. 

I am looking forward to another fantastic year and for moving to the next phase of Surveillance, which will start in T-365 Days

Count your Blessings

 Today I was given yet another reminder of how blessed I am.  Life is not fair and should not be taken for granted.  One of my interest is Real Estate.  I currently purchase rental properties as part of my retirement diversity.  The economics make sense and I love a good deal.  I get excited when I can stack a coupon at Best Buy and save $10 on something I really have zero use for.  I find it easy to spend $100 when I can get a good deal regardless if I need the product/service or not.  

I also find it really hard to spend more than $100 a times.  I should tell you about the time I bought my car.  I shopped for 9 months till I found what I wanted and I got one of those stupid deals because I searched it out.  I just ended up in a good situation and was in the right place and the right time looking for the right deal.  The other dealer told me "if you do not go buy it I will."  So even knowing how great of a deal it was, I still test drove the car 3 times, sat at the desk with the salesman, and lost 3 nights of sleep over a car.  I paid cash for the car and have no car payment.  But I found a great deal and even then I had a rough three days.  After about a week I was fine, but for that first week I had some buyers remorse, just because I had spent my hard earned money.  I can even remember a couple cars back asking if I could bring it back and get my old car the next day.  

I say all this to highlight that I love a good deal, and even then I can struggle when that money leaves my hand.  Dave Ramsey says that when you use cash it is more emotional than a credit card.  It is so true, I find that spending cash is more emotional and I spend less and keep more.   I think this is part of the reason our economy is where it is at today.   Speaking of money, you need to watch the Netflix series on Money as it relates to Student Loans.  If you didn't think they government was screwing you before watch that.  Spoiler Alert Presidential Administrations have been trying for decades to resolve this and they have only made it worse.  It's amazing to see how we got to where we are at, and the Obama Administration by far compounded our problem.  If they did forgive student loans the impact to the economy is significant.   I wish I could ask why Biden has not followed through on that.  Debtor is a servant to the lender and the US Dept of Education is the lender.  Just think about it.  

Watch the Netflix series, it comes from a more liberal point of view, but the facts are the facts, and I highly recommend it.  They even talk about how free education actually improves the GDP.  Crazy to think right, but the reality is the student loan debt in America is crazy, it is driven by For Profit Universities who graduate a very low percentage of students who use fancy marketing tactics to take advantage of individuals.  Personally I had $30K in Student Loans and Paid them off quick 10 years quick and paid back $60K.  So yeah if you can pay cash along the way do it.  

I always get so sidetracked in the post.  I could never be a writer because I do not stick to the topic.  Anyway, Real Estate can be fun and exciting.  Right now the market is beyond on fire.  Broke Dumb and Stupid are buying Real Estate as I say and something has to give.  We can get into that economic conversation later.  But one we need to have.  While I love a good deal I am too honest to be really successful in Real Estate.  There are a lot of Snake Oil Salesman out there.  They do dirty deals and simply take advantage of people.  It breaks my heart when people get taken advantage of.  In my opinion this should be considered fraudulent and should be criminal.  But as long as you are not a Real Estate Agent there is not much that can be done.  Simply stated people go out there and find people in desperate situations who are trying to navigate a complex scenario and use their largest asset, their house,  to solve the problem.  And when people get desperate they do stupid things.  

Today I went to look at a property.  The listing photos looked nice, and the location was great, and the price was reasonable.  Listing price was $145K they just bought it in February of this year for 20K less.  Once we got there to start looking at the property the owner was actually there, this rarely happens, and I learned why today.  First as I look at the property I see that I need to spend around 20K in the property to make it nice, worth living in at my standards.  I have high standards and others would have jumped at this.  The house is really worth more what they paid for it that what it is listed for.  That being said we are in an inflated market and he could get $155+ if he wanted it.   But the business person in me wanted to make a deal.  Then I started to talk to the owner.  He and his son, who was my age, bought the house just three month ago and they moved in.  He relocated from another state and they were going to live in this house as the father aged and just be happy.  

It sounded so nice, and then the owner told us that his son, who happen to also have my name, had a stroke two weeks ago and last week they removed him from life support.  Now he is in a position where he has to sell the house, he stood there and cried and so did I.  Such a sad story.  While I think that there is great potential in the property I just could not bring myself to try and make a deal.  This guy is in a bad spot, and needs every dollar he can get.  While I am a business person I am also a Human.  I almost want to buy it just so I can make sure he gets what he needs from it.  It just breaks my heart.  I thought I would buy it just so he could rent it from me and stay there, but he can not live independently which is why he and the son bought it to begin with.  

So as I try to lay here and go to sleep I can not help but count my blessings in life.  I am blessed I know it.  I am equally a hard worker and know the value of investing in yourself and others.  I can only hope that this guy gets a great deal out of his transaction.  It was a clear reminder that there is always someone, somewhere who has it worse off than you do.  Life it not as hard as we think.  

I started this post just to say, enjoy life because you never know what is coming your way.  Remember that we are all human and what goes around comes around.  Never forget that the other party in a situation is just that another party comprised of other Humans.  

"Start Kits"

Friends and Family still want to know how they can help support me.  I am asking that everyone do just 1 Random Act of Kindness this April.  Pay it Forward somehow and put a little positivity into our world.  So from this GoodMan go forward and DO GOOD.  

For those of us who work in Healthcare a "Start Kit" has a different meaning.  For my oncology nurses a "Start Kit" is all about the patient.  

When I started Chemo I got a Small Cooler with a hand written note of encouragement and some goodies that came to be important throughout my treatment.  Before you start Chemo you do everything you can to find out what to expect and it really is different for everyone. These Kits have things for both the patient and the care giver.  Honestly I watched Netflix and slept the majority of the time.  But it was nice to have the lotion, hand sanitizer, Chapstick, etc.  

I made some of these kits back around Christmas and took up there, they are all gone now.  So I want to make more.  

Each kit comes in a nice box and I put the following in:

• -Lotion
• -Hand Sanitizer
• -Coloring Book
• -Notepad
• -Snacks that they DON'T have at the Cancer Center
• -Playing Cards
• -Hard Candy
• -Chapstick
• -Color Pencils
• -Pencil Sharpener
• -Note of Encouragement
• -Letter about how awesome the nurses are there

Each kit cost me roughly $20.  I know that I appreciated it when I was going through treatment and I want to return the favor. If you want to help I created a wish list at Amazon you can shop from.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1DR06YRJ6K0Z7?ref_=wl_share

But honestly I find that the bulk of this is at the Dollar Store and that is where I got most of the items last time.  If you and your family want to make hand written cards with words of encouragement that would be awesome.  

I have always loved serving others and giving back to my community.  All I ask this year is that you take the time to talk to your loved ones about the importance of knowing your body and speaking up when you think something is wrong.  And for everyone to do 1 random act of kindness in April, the dividends of that will last way past this month.  

Consciousness | Awareness Around April

Well Hello World !

It has been about 6 months since you have heard from me here.  I have hit the ground running to say the least.  Work is busy, very busy for me.  I have been working 10-12 hours a day 6 days a week.  I am pushing myself mentally and physically harder than I have in a long time.  Maybe it is so I can forget about the last 6 months of life for a moment.  

Once if the most interesting things I have done recently is to work in the community at the Mass Vaccination Clinic.  I hope that this is a once in a lifetime experience.  I worry the reality is this is just the first.  I have always enjoyed volunteering and working in the community around large events that make a difference.  I received my first vaccine on December 28th 2020 just after my first Quarterly Oncology Visit.  I have never looked back.  Getting Vaccinated is a personal decision, all I can do it encourage you to get it.  It is science and it works.  I had minimal side effects with the first Dose.  I did Moderna and had a sore arm.  The second dose was not too bad.  I got a fever for about 12 hours and it was gone as quick as it came.  I wanted to sleep the next day, but I was okay with that.  

 

I have also been doing tax returns on top of all of this. So that has been a regular stressful blast.  It is truly and love hate relationship.  

April is an important month for Testicular Cancer (TC).  It is Awareness Month.  So I want to do my part.  I am making boxes with T-Shirts, a little update and a bracelet and sending to those who supported me along the way.  

I asked everyone to post a add the hashtag #foulball to their post so be sure to look for them.  As I find them I will post them here. 

Here is a progress photo for your pleasure.  Yes I found 20 pounds laying around.  And yes my hair is long.  It is so so so soft.  Baby Soft and it is more gray and I do not want to cut it.  I am glad it is back and I know once I cut it that baby soft texture is GONE.  So I am holding out.  I did get the edges trimmed for a video at work so it has a regular texture now and is curly.  So I guess I will have to embrace the curls.  But I will NOT embrace this weight and will get on that ASAP.  

 

Visit the Testicular Awareness Foundations website for more ways on how to spread awareness.  

https://www.testicularcancerawarenessfoundation.org/