Such a tough blog to write.  I have left you all in the dark for these past couple of days because I just could not bring myself to put this to print.  I have had so many emails of concern over the past couple of days though I decided I would just bite the bullet.  At least this way I only have to send it out once and for those of you that are still reading this, you can pass it on to those who have tired of it.

Yesterday I had my meeting at the Tom Baker with my oncologist.  He shared the results of my PET scan which were very bad.  The cancer has spread.  On top of this I have developed some other issues that need to be dealt with before I can consider starting another round of chemo.  Also on the PET scan it indicated I have developed a pneumonia.  I was starting to suspect this myself as the amount of coughing up horrible ugly stuff is non-stop.  Just didn't seem normal.  My surgeon was very unconcerned about it but it has steadily gotten worse.  They did some extensive blood work on me yesterday and found my potassium to be low, my hemoglobin to be low and many other things also out of whack.  I spent a couple of hours at the Foothills yesterday having a potassium infusion which did not work so they now have me on four doses of it a day to try to bring it up to a reasonable level.  Had a chest x-ray.  I wish I had counted the number of X-rays I have had since this all started.
Today I was back at the Tom Baker for a blood transfusion which definitely has perked me up a little.
Then over to the Peter Lougheed for the scope which came back normal.  The pneumonia may be a contributing factor in my problems with all the gunk in my stomach but the doctor did give me a prescription for a drug which will help speed up the motility of my stomach.  I'm trying it out tonight on my  slices of banana and my half a glass of mango juice.

Tomorrow I'm back at the Foothills for rehydration....not sure what that's about.

On top of this I'm on an antibiotic for the pneumonia.  If all goes well he is hopeful I'll be back on my feet by next week so I can give the chemo a go.  It is an even more aggressive form than I had before and I am not nearly as robust so don't anticipate I will be so cheeky about how easy it is.  But it is my shot and I'm going to take it.  My hope is to go into remission and have some more time....much more time.  As Monica has said to me....you hit this with the biggest bat you have in the early stages.  That is what I'm doing.

In closing I will share with you my Uncle George's favourite quote...."The difficult takes awhile, the impossible, a little longer."