Prostate Biopsy

This morning I was subjected to a biopsy of my prostate gland. It has been acting up for some years, providing higher than appropriate levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) that seems to have no other function than informing oncologists that it's time to perform more DRE's or a biopsy. Now, while the prospect of a biopsy may be considered yucky, it pales in comparison to the actual experience! Dr. Prowse (shudda been Sterns, as I mentioned before) was remarkably general when he described the procedure. The 'wet room' nurse is much more forthcoming...
"Dr. Prowse will be inserting a probe. It will be stiff like this pen, only larger (As in the Titanic was larger than my canoe.) and it will provide ultrasound imaging. You need to relax; tensing up will only make it more difficult. (Okay, I'll cooperate. Do I get time off for good behaviour?) Then, he'll be inserting a smaller probe to take the six biopsy samples..."
"Six! Dr. Prowse only said four!"
"There will be six. He will fire the trigger and..."
"Fire a trigger! Am I getting shot?"
"Well, actually it will carve a small slice off the prostate. And it will sting a bit. Then you may feel nauseous or like you need to urinate or defecate. Don't worry, we're used to it. That's why this is called the 'wet room'. Then he will finish you off by giving you a needle (Did she just say he would finish me off?) with additional antibiotics—just a little boost to those pills you've been taking all week. And you will experience some blood in the urine for the next few days—nothing to be alarmed about—but if you fill the bowl with blood, better come back in. (She says it so matter-of-factly even I have difficulty feeling alarmed.) You will also have blood in the stool for a couple of days and in the ejaculate for up to six weeks. (Wonderful, now isn't that a turn-on!) And if you experience any feeling of lousiness or fever in the next few days, better come back in. (Okay, I'm officially feeling lousy—should I stay?) Oh, and by the way, here's an absorbent pad for you to wear in your underwear." (Now who would ever accept that kind of inconvenient embarrassment?!)

And that's about how it happened... results in three to four weeks.

Where the Poor People Are...

This week I drove up to Armstrong and flew into Collins. The drive was punctuated by sightings of a number of animals. We started off Monday morning with a pair of white-tails on the road. As they bounded through the ditch and into the bush, we were treated to a pair of white flags jauntily waving us good-bye. Another special treat was finding a bear with her three cubs in the highway ditch. The sow was brown, and she had one cub of each colour—black, brown & cinnamon. We sat there for some minutes watching her chase the cubs up a tree, then return to grubbing out a fallen tree. Soon the cubs returned to her and we enjoyed watching them from about ten metres. (I hope the pictures turn out.) Overall, we saw two deer, four moose and ten bears. The other fellows also caught over a dozen lake trout (about five-six pounds each), and I appreciated being given two of the tasty treats.

As we drove home I commented to my fellow travellers, "The poor people are sitting in an office tower in Toronto—you can't buy an experience like this!"

News Update

We start off the week in Dauphin, then gradually wend our way back to the shore of Lake Superior.

Sunday in Dauphin is an opportunity to refresh a lot of relationships. Thank you, Mabel for hosting us so graciously. On Monday, we pack up our dozen frozen chickens and head east. We stop in at the snake pits in Narcisse, a first for me. There are thousands of garter snakes at one of the four dens, just a few active at the others. We arrive at Kenora in time for supper with Eric/A and crew. We complete the trip to Thunder Bay on Tuesday.

Wednesday morning is used for another Acrobat Connect training session, and then I complete my preparations for a trip to Pickle Lake. Thursday and Friday find me in Pickle Lake working with one of our schools there. There is a lot to be done, but we manage to get some of it accomplished.

Saturday is spent around home. I get the lawn mowed, and practise a bit of golf. I work in the back yard in the afternoon, managing to get all the wood chips hauled around to the back of the house. Then Wendy and I check out George's work on his new project, and spend some time assisting with that.

Wendy has enjoyed the trip west a great deal, and now is trying to get caught up on things back at home. She manages to work in a few trips to the gym between getting the house back in order and the laundry done.

Erin is back in the run of babysitting and classes. She also spends a lot of time getting photos organized and posted in Facebook. Kristian babbles on (unintelligibly most of the time) and gets involved in most everything that interests him and concerns us!

And that's the kind of week it's been!

News Update

We spend most of the week in Regina, until finally heading for Dauphin on Saturday morning in the rain. We enjoy getting a number of items cleared from the 'to do' list at DadK's place. I get the lawn mowed, the shower fan replaced, and the cedars trimmed. Wendy gets the windows washed, the recycling... ah recycled, and the bedding plants... um bedded. And she also manages to shop for Bill & grandpa.

I also get to play with the '67 Cougar all week. And I manage to get out to the golf course most days for a couple hours of practice. I'm trying to straighten out my driver... you'd think they would sell those things properly configured!

On Monday we drove the Cougar over to Moose Jaw to visit with Aunt Mary, Cousin Elvin and Grace—that was a warming occasion.

When we get to Dauphin, my golfing friends immediately demand that I go golfing, so I have to oblige them! I find my driver is now working very well indeed, but the rest of my game has gone south!! I end up with 94, and a lot more on my 'to correct' list! I am pulling and occasionally hooking my irons—usually the better part of my game. Fortunately, my short game is pretty good, or I'd have seen the dark side of 100! Anyway, I've never let the quality of my golf determine the level of my enjoyment, so it was a nice way to end the week.

Making Time Flying

I had two connections on Saturday morning of the sort the old joke was made from. I took off from Thunder Bay at 6:00 and arrived in Winnipeg at 6:15. Then I took off from Winnipeg at 9:10 and landed in Regina at 9:12. So, I’ve decided to retell the old joke in that context…

An old feller wandered into the Winnipeg airport and up to the Air Canada ticket counter. “Say, do you have any flights to Regina?” the old feller asks.
“Yes, we do,” the helpful attendant responded, “In fact, our next flight leaves here at 9:10 and lands in Regina at 9:12.” The old feller raised an eyebrow and seemed lost in thought. “Do you want me to check if there are any seats left?” the attendant inquired.
The old feller shook his head slowly and then offered, “No, but I think I might hang around a bit and watch that sucker take off!”

News Update

Another week that began on the shore of Lake Superior has ended on the shore of Lake Wascana! A week that started hectic also ended that way, but there were some moments of peace and calm in between.

Wendy worked through the night on Sunday and finished all preparatory work on the cakes on Monday afternoon. Then I commenced building accommodations for all the cakes in the three coolers. So Wendy, Erin & Kristian headed west Tuesday morning at 10:00 and arrived in Regina by midnight.

Hay fever has struck, so I spent most of Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon sleeping. Our conference started Wednesday morning and I attended a workshop on Wednesday morning on Adobe Acrobat. I had a regional Professional Network meeting all day on Thursday, and then Friday morning I had a presentation at the conference. Travis picked me up Saturday morning at 4:45, and by 6:00 I was boarding my first flight on my way to Regina. I got into Regina at 9:14, made the quick change and made it to the wedding at 10:30. The reception was in the afternoon, and extended well into the evening. It was a fine day and a beautiful wedding between two truly beautiful young people. I got to catch up with lots of people in both the Knutson and Tucker families. By that time I was pretty tired (having been up since 2:30am Regina time), and was glad to head early to bed. Unfortunately, I am unable to make connection with the rest of my siblings who are gathering in Dallas to celebrate my nephew’s graduation.

And that’s the kind of week it has been.

News Update

Another week draws to a close on the shore of Lake Superior.

I'm working out of the home office and in the backyard and on the home course! George and I get finished clearing trees from the yard; all told, we cut ten big ones and hundreds of willows. I have a tree chipper scheduled for Monday to clean up the branches, and we have many coming by to pick up firewood from our extensive collection. I'm back to the lab at the hospital on Thursday for more tests. I suspect my urologist now has the results, but I don't know if I'll hear about them before my biopsy, now scheduled for May 31st.

Wendy operated her day care section all week. She has several children each day, but seems to enjoy it all the same. She has begun work on the wedding cake, so by mid-week we were completely without dinner plates! (Each of them holding a section of cake in the freezer!) However, she has now begun assembling the cake, so our plates are returning. She, along with Erin & Kristian expect to head for Regina early next week.

Erin has finished exams and enjoys getting out more with Kristian. She's doing more babysitting, so she's not around much during the day. Kristian continues to amuse us with his antics and smile.

Trav & Sylvia keep busy with their work. Trav is working full-time now that school's out. We are waiting and hoping on Sylvia's job progress.

Eric & Erica are off to Niagara Falls this week so we have the boys with us. Erica has a conference there with her work, and they take the chance to enjoy the falls and visit friends in the area.

And that's the kind of week it's been.

News Update

Another week draws to a close on the shore of Lake Superior. I'm done travelling for a while, and the weather is beautiful so I spend time on golfing and yard work. Neither is problem free as my swing has not improved over the winter, and yard work proves hazardous as well. I manage to get a fair amount of clean up done in the yard, but we have a big problem on Thursday as a falling tree contacts the power line, causing a fire, and eventually burning through the line. Golf season has opened on local courses so I try to get my game back in action if not form. I visit my urologist on Tuesday, but the results are inconclusive, so I face more testing in the next month or so.

Wendy continues to operate as a day care this week. She has several children each day, but seems to enjoy it all the same. She plans another week of this yet. Then it will be time for her to head for Regina and Tamara's wedding.

Erin has finished exams and enjoys getting out more with Kristian. He really enjoys the outdoors. And he is chattering up a storm although we don't know what language he is using!

Trav has begun his summer work schedule, and is also looking at some additional contracts. Sylvia is applying on a promotion within her same area of work. We wish her well.

And that's the kind of week it's been.

Falling Trees

Springtime, and old men's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of yard work. Thus this spring finds me looking to clean about ten large trees out of the back yard. And by large I mean fifty footers! These are native spruce, balsam and other evergreens that simply do not make a good fit in a city back yard. We've had three of these monsters already fall, the most recent being last year as it crashed across our fence and across the neighbour's yard. They encourage us to find a way to eliminate the others.

So, my friend, George, and I begin the process. George is the man with the chainsaw. I used to have a chainsaw, but someone decided he needed it more than I, so I no longer have one. We find that taking down, trimming and cutting up two trees is a full day's work. We line each up carefully, use a ladder to attach a rope, and then he cuts while I pull. All goes well for a while, but then disaster strikes! As we are dropping a large spruce, it catches on a pine that refuses to let go. We begin trimming off the bottom trying to get it to fall back into the yard, but the pine irrevocably turns it away, and after a couple of cuts the tree contacts the power lines and fire breaks out.

We call the fire department and the hydro company, and retire to watch them retrieve our fat from the fire! The line eventually burns through and falls spectacularly onto the ground creating another fire in the ground cover. Over all our electricity is off for about five hours, although a much larger section of the city loses electricity only for a few minutes until switching bypasses the trouble.

Travis calls in the evening to ask how the tree falling is going. He has seen an item on the evening news about the power outage. And the morning paper finds us on the front page! We're famous! And very fortunate that there was no serious damage to either of us.

PSA, DRE, ETC

This morning I had a delight-filled half hour with my urologist, Dr. Prowse (Dr. Sterns might be a more seemly moniker!). Despite his information-gathering DRE, he emerged with a solidly inconclusive prognosis. Therefore, he has assigned me another PSA test (with more provisos and specialization ordered), and a urinalysis. Presumably I won't have to study to pass either of these. In addition he has ordered a biopsy of my prostate—"just four little nips"—as he described it in some uncomfortable detail. This will be preceded (and followed) by a course of antibiotics to ensure that no infections develop. As I've thought about his description of this wonderful event (now scheduled for May 31st), I've become more than a little concerned about just how these "little nips" are going to be accomplished!

Thus, some time later, we will get some further data, and Dr. Butts, err... Prowse will come to some conclusions about the probable causes of my elevated PSA. In this regard, I live without anticipation, but with hope!

News Update

Another week draws to a close on the shore of Lake Superior. This was my final week of travelling for a while, and I'm glad of that. I just feel exhausted. So a few weeks closer to home with yard work and golf should put be therapeutic ('bring me around' or 'put me to rights' as the English might say). The weather is beautiful, the covers are off the greens and the fairways are drying up.

This week I was off through Upsala on Monday and on to Savant Lake for Monday night. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Savant Lake, and then began the way back, spending Wednesday night in Ignace. Then we worked Upsala again on Thursday before completing the trip on Thursday evening. A bit of office work (even filing) on Friday completed the work week. Today, we're out a Gord & Nora's for a day of work on the Strategic Plan update for the church. This is the first update since we made the plan a year and a half ago, so there's more than usual to work through. It goes quite well.

Wendy has been operating a segment of Karen's day care all week. She has up to five children on any given day, but reports that she enjoys the work just fine.

Erin has been writing exams and finished that on Friday. She is glad to be through that. Kristian loves the out doors and becomes anxious when he notices any one getting ready to go outside.

Trav & Sylvia are also through exams, with Trav writing his last one today. He begins work on expanded summer hours on Monday.

I am off to see my urologist on Tuesday morning...

And that's the kind of week it's been.

News Update

We're back into Spring here on the shore of Lake Superior. Once again, the snow has disappeared and golfers' hearts anticipate the joy (as opposed to the actual frustrating experience) of that first round!

Easter Monday is a holiday here, so I begin my road trip on Tuesday. We go out to Atikokan and Mine Centre this week. I am currently concentrating on installing Library automation programs, while concurrently continuing to work on any problems in the Student Management System (SMS). As usual, OnSIS (the Ministry reporting system) continues to confuddle and befuse our best efforts. I don't know who is responsible for building the OnSIS database, but they are doing a bad job! This week we are trying, in both schools, to send batch files of data to update the ministry on our new students as well as any changes in programming for our continuing students. Imagine our dismay when all updates are rejected because "a record already exists" for that student! The issue remains outstanding; clearly, nothing that basic can be overcome easily! More success is achieved in the library installations, and both schools are ready to roll with library automation. We are able to send in the old library records and have them converted into the new system, so that helps a great deal. More work is still needed on the set up for OPAC (online searching) in the new system.

Wendy has been running a daycare most of the week to assist with our friends who operate the daycare, but needed some assistance. I think she has decided that it wouldn't be her first choice of occupation!

Erin has been busy completing her set of courses as the term runs out. She should complete all exams in the coming week. Trav writes his last exam a week from today.

Kristian enjoys getting out on his tricycle and riding the roads. He also enjoys just walking/running outside whenever he gets a chance. Inside, he prefers climbing, and will haul access gear (stools, chairs, boxes) around to assist his climbs onto cupboards, pianos, bureaus... what a rascal!

An Apple a Day!

I haven't eaten an apple in about twenty-two years. That dates back to when I had mycoplasmic pneumonia and many food allergies developed. I remember that month, but not fondly! I only made it to school for one and a half days for the month of June that year. And later I found out that one of the side effects from either the mycoplasma or the e-mycin (antibiotic) was a range of allergies to a sweet protein found in may kinds of fruit. I have also experienced seasonal hay fever since then. It was very distressing to discover that I couldn't eat apples, pears, peaches... and one of my greatest chagrins was when I discovered that I couldn't eat Saskatoons!

Well, my doctor in Yellowknife advised that I should try a series of injections to build up my tolerance for the allergens that were causing my hay fever due to my susceptibility to developing pneumonia. That worked pretty well as long as we lived in Yellowknife, and now I've decided to give it another try. I got my allergy tests a week ago, and now I'm considering whether to begin another series of needles, but a side benefit was some startling advice from my allergy doctor. When he took my story and saw my results, he suggested that I was probably experiencing problems with certain fresh fruit. I assured him that this was the case. I was surprised to hear his promise that he might be able to help me! He suggested that if I wanted to eat an apple, I should microwave it for possibly as long as a minute and then return it to the fridge. When it had cooled I could try to eat it! I'm still testing to get it just right without producing soft spots, but I have been able to eat apples again! What a pleasure!

News Update

And another pretty spectacular week draws to a close here on the shore of Lake Superior. We started off the week in springtime with April showers falling on our heads, and end the week in the grips of winter!! It seems that since we had a green Christmas, we are now forced to suffer a white Easter!

I head out to Red Lake on Monday morning, and by the time Tuesday evening comes around we are in a blizzard. Our flight back to Thunder Bay is cancelled, so we stay one extra day in Red Lake. We finally make it back Wednesday evening. Of course this messes up the rest of our weekly travel schedule, so that is postponed and will need to be rescheduled much later. We continue to have travel plans for the next two weeks, and then we'll see how other events tie in.

Since I am back in the office for Thursday, I manage to complete my financial report on year two and send that out for signatures. I still have to complete two other progress reports on the MISA program. Then I will need to build a set of proposals for year three, which has, in fact, already begun!

The driveway is full of heavy, wet snow when I get home Wednesday evening, so that requires a long day of shovelling, scraping and chipping on Thursday. Wendy and I are both pretty exhausted from the effort. Kristian loves playing in all the snow for over an hour while grandma shovells. The sun cleans off the remnants of the driveway, but I expect the lawn will take another week to clear.

Erin, Travis & Sylvia are completing a term of classes with final assignments and exams due. Travis & Sylvia are also highly involved in preparing multimedia presentations for Good Friday and Easter services.

And that's the kind of week it's been. Happy Easter! He's alive!

News Update

Another week has passed here on the shore of Lake Superior. We started off with excellent weather (+20, sunny) and ran down hill all week! Here we are on Saturday about +5 and rainy. April showers shouldn't be allowed to start until tomorrow!

I have been working around the home office this week; I get back on the road next week. I get a bit more work done on the renovations downstairs. I get the new screen and projector installed at the church. I get finalization on the project budget in time for the government fiscal year end. I finally manage to get settled on a appointment with my urologist. He has another clinic elsewhere for about a week every month, so with my travelling, it hasn't been easy to make the connection. However, we now have a date of April 24th. I have an appointment on Friday with an allergy doctor. He recommends getting a series of needles to try to alleviate my seasonal hay fever. I'll make a decision on that this coming week.

Wendy is busy with her startup on the church finances, having budget meetings, and getting her operational protocols in order.

Erin is completing another term of work on her courses, so spends some extra time on assignments and exams. Kristian has a sick day, throwing up spontaneously from time to time, but mostly carrying on as if nothing is the matter. He'll just be playing along, stop to throw up, and then continue playing. The only telling characteristic of his illness appears to be his loss of appetite.

Travis & Sylvia are also completing a semester of work and classes. Trav is looking toward his summer work and is also doing more website work on the side. They are over for supper one evening—we're all just too busy, I guess.

And that's the kind of week it's been.

News Update

We've had a strange week of weather here on the shore of Lake Superior. We started off the week with a snow storm that interrupted the homeward trip of Eric and the boys to Kenora. Then that melted off and by this weekend we're back in the teens and the snow is but a memory.

Erica stayed with us for the first few days of the week as she tried to complete some business here in TBay after celebrating her birthday on Sunday. However, all did not go well. Apparently some bug is making the rounds, and after celebrating with Trav & Syl Sunday evening, they got sick and then on Tuesday Erica was sick. Wendy came down with it on Wednesday and I did on Thursday. I didn't get the full double-edged force of the bug, so I was still able to head to TO for Thursday and Friday.

Our MISA meeting was okay, although I was a little under the weather. There has started to be talk of a fourth year of MISA, so that was interesting.

Erin & Kristian managed to escape the flu bug, and continue to recover from coughs. Kristian is doing well, and moved up to a tricycle this weekend; he really enjoys it. We enjoy watching him.

And that's the kind of week we've had here in TBay.

News Update

Another week sails by here on Lake Superior. The weather is stunningly beautiful and warm at the start of the week and our snow melts away. Then colder weather descends for a couple of days, and finally the week ends at expected temperatures around melting.

The schools are closed this week, so I take care of a little business around the home office and do a little bit of renovation downstairs here in the house. I am redoing the closets in the large bedroom downstairs to make the room more useful. I also add an electric baseboard heater to the room along with its own thermostat. There is always much more time needed for finishing on any project like this, so it moves forward slowly. I'm off to Toronto next week, but I hope to get some of the drywalling done as time permits.

Eric, Erica and the boys arrive Thursday evening for the weekend. We celebrate Erica's birthday on Saturday evening. She will be thirty-three tomorrow! I am reminded of my last visit with mom on this day thirty-three years ago.

Kristian has recovered from his cold and is a going concern once again. Erin gradually improves throughout the week and is pretty much over the coughing now.

Wendy has kept busy with both Mary Kay and Party-Lite, and is also applying for other jobs.

And that's the kind of week it's been.

The Brier

The men's curling championship of Canada ends today with Glen Howard and his Ontario team defeating Brad Gushue and his Newfoundland team. It's been a fun week of curling, although the ice conditions have not been good.

My guy, Kevin Martin, lost in the first round of the playoffs, but I was impressed with the new team he has put together—three new players and they managed to win Alberta and tie for second at the Brier. Jeff Stoughton of Manitoba has also rebuilt his team with two new players, and was similarly successful. In fact, it seems likely that but for two poor strategy decisions he could have been in the final against Gushue. Then there is my sentimental favourites from Saskatchewan, Pat Simmons and his team. They also achieved a good result, but ended up one game short of the playoffs. The Territories team from Yellowknife also did well, ending up with a winning record of 6-5, but were two games out of the playoffs.

All competitive teams are pointing toward the Olympics in 2010 where Canada will be a strong favourite to repeat as Gold Medalists.

News Update

It looks like winter came and went last weekend, and now spring is here. We are experiencing above zero temperatures each day, and the snow is disappearing. Daylight saving time comes tonight; it's time to dust off the golf clubs!

I work around the home office the first couple of days, and then I head up to Armstrong on Wednesday. I'm working on the library program and the report card program with the student management system. That all goes well. The library tech is particularly amusing—she's been doing circulation by recording (longhand) all transactions for the students. She is just tickled with this 'scan the kid's barcode, scan the book barcode, next...' process. We drive back to TBay on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, I have a meeting with the Supervisory Officers. That also goes well as they approve the spending plans.

Friday brings a special day as we celebrate Wendy's birthday. She is once again a year older than I—and I don't let her forget it! It seems to make her look forward to my birthday in July! We go out with Erin & Kristian and Travis & Sylvia for Chinese food. It's very good! Then we retire to the house for ice cream cake—also very good!

Erin has the week off babysitting and is catching up on homework. Kristian is getting over his cold, having passed it along to his mother!

I have completed my course of antibiotics and had more blood work done. My PSA level is still elevated, so I'm headed for a highly anticipated appointment with my urologist! We'll see what he has next on my agenda.

And that's the kind of week it's been.

News Update

We start off the week by heading east on Sunday afternoon. As we leave Regina it is starting to snow, and soon we are in a full-fledged winter storm that has the highway heavy in drifted snow and many vehicles in the ditches. By the time we get to Winnipeg it is improving so we carry on to Kenora and spend the night there with Eric and the boys (Erica is off to Toronto for a conference.). And the week ends with our most significant snowfall of the winter, so finds us busily engaged in shovelling snow today!

I get some good news on Tuesday as the Ministry confirms that we qualify for the full bonus funding for having 100% completion on OnSIS reporting. Now I need to work with the schools to find a way to spend the additional 25% to the annual budget. They start off by giving me 13% extra, so that's nice! Now I have to decide if that should include a new laptop or golf membership, or both!!

I take a five-hour drive to Hornepayne (one of my schools) on Wednesday afternoon and spend Thursday and Friday working there before driving home in a snowstorm on Friday afternoon.

Erin is doing fine, babysitting and working on her courses. She's particularly enjoying one on taxation this term! Kristian is suffering with a cold and thus is not sleeping well. He still seems quite energetic every day! His mother—slightly less so!

And that's the kind of week it's been.