What the....................

It just snowed 3 inches. What the f%#K.

Carpe Diem.

GlobalGiving challenge

Once again, to all those incredibly generous family members and friends, a million heartfelt thank yous. We did quite well on the latest GlobalGiving challenge ending up in 4th place. Our results were:

177 unique donors
US$24,085 in donations
US$10,860 in GlobalGiving matching funds
US$1,000 in GlobalGiving bonus funds
US$35,945 raised in total

These funds should really help us with the content and quality of the meals the kids are currently getting and help with medical expenses. Hopefully, we will be able to get a small second hand truck. This would be a tremendous asset for us. Eventually, these funds will also help with adding to the number of kids we already assist.

Carpe Diem.

The Power Port

Sounds like something you would find on a computer. Well, not quite. I had my power port "re-installed" yesterday. They tried to use the original site in my left upper chest but the veins were not cooperating so they had to go with the right upper chest. The post op pain is a little rough but as my son says "man up sissy". So I did "man up". Except I used pain meds. I'm looking forward to giving my arms a rest from all the needle poking and prodding.

Carpe Diem.

Thanksgiving

Belated happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating or enjoying the day. We had a really nice day as we had guests from Connecticut. Yes, the Trapplers made the alternate yearly trip to the Suskins. I say alternate, as we go there every other year. Huh! Does that make sense? They arrived Wednesday evening and left Friday morning.

The dinner was fantastic. Thanks Diana and Donna. Oh yea, I am still very thankful and grateful to still be here surrounded by such incredible family and friends.

Carpe Diem.

A note to the Grim Reaper

Dear Grim Reaper,
So far this year you have taken away my favourite dancer Michael Jackson,

My favourite actor Patrick Swayze,

My favourite actress Farrah Fawcett and

my favourite singer Stephen Gatelly.

Just so you know, my favourite politician is Robert Mugabe!!!

Carpe Diem.

Watch out for SCAMS

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck then it's a duck. If emails look or feel suspicious then go with your gut and delete or report them. I have reprinted the email below, verbatim, allegedly from Dennis Gaboury, The founder of ZimKids. What do you think?


"Hope you get this on time,sorry I didn't inform you about my trip in UK for a programm in , I'm presently in UK and am having some difficulties here because i misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept. presently i have limited access to internet,I will like you to assist me with a loan of 1500$ to sort-out my hotel bills and to get myself back home.

i have spoken to the embassy here but they are not responding to the matter effectively,I will appreciate whatever you can afford to assist me with,I'll Refund the money back to you as soon as i return,let me know if you can be of any help.I don't have a phone where i can be reached.

Please let me know immediately."

Let me say first and foremost that the reason I got involved with ZimKids was because of Dennis and the wonderful work he was doing with kids in Bulawayo. Dennis Gaboury is an incredibly honest, decent and generous individual. Secondly , and just as important, at no time were any funds or donations compromised at ZimKids or GlogalGiving. They just hijacked Dennis's email and tried this idiotic scam that no one fell for. Dennis has since changed his email and has been in touch with Yahoo security.

Once again, to all you wonderful and generous donors out there, thank you. Just be careful!

Carpe Diem.

The Doctors visits

Both went well. The infectious diseases Doc wants to keep me on the antibiotics until May 2010. It's basically cheap insurance to fend off any recurrence of MRSA.

The heart Doc was very pleased with the results of the 24 hour heart monitor that I wore last week. He has cut back on one of the two meds I'm taking now (the tougher of the two) and I'm also on a minimal dose for both. I could be off both meds in about 4 months. Yea ha ole.

Both Docs have also cleared me to have the port reinserted. I will probably be doing it before my next chemo on December 7th.

Max and I are now on our best behaviour as Diana came back from London this past Monday evening. She had a really nice time except for a couple of days of gale force winds. Alas, no tennis!

Carpe Diem.

Chemo 8 (Round 6)

Aah, a morning with Katie (Jen was away). Kind of sounds like an expensive bordello. I got "poked" and prodded, was asked tons of medical questions and then given drugs. This all took about 5 hours and for that I was charged lots of thousands of $$$.

It took this long because my veins were not cooperating and I had to get "poked" 5 times. Sometimes the veins behave and sometimes they act like fishing worms about to get baited. Mine were fishing worms on steroids.

Something about 5's today!

The blood work was fine, the checkup was good and I'm feeling OK and I put on a couple of lbs. Just full of holes. I am contemplating having the latest and greatest portacath reinstalled. Here is the info about the portacath:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In medicine, a port (or portacath) is a small medical appliance that is installed beneath the skin. A catheter connects the port to a vein. Under the skin, the port has a septum through which drugs can be injected and blood samples can be drawn many times, usually with less discomfort for the patient than a more typical "needle stick".

Ports are used mostly to treat hematology and oncology patients, but recently ports have been adapted also for hemodialysis patients.

The port is usually inserted in the upper chest, just below the clavicle or collar bone, leaving the patient's hands free.

Carpe Diem.

Escape from the "Madness Of King Luca"

After spending a really nice 2 days with the Polskin family it was time for Trechtobal Gomez (Max) and me to head back to Baltimore. It was a relatively ok drive back. Max was exhausted from his playtime with King Luca the Bazooka so I had to do all the driving. Thanks Phil and How for the always wonderful time spent with you. I think my Oncologist may have to put me on a diet soon!!!

Carpe Diem.

T.I.A.

This Is Africa. To anyone that has grown up or lived in Africa you either know or are aware of this expression. It was made somewhat understandable by Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond. There are two meanings to this acronym.

Quite simply put, it explains the beauty, simplicity and tranquility of Africa. Well, most of it. You can gaze at sights like Victoria Falls or Kilimanjaro and say "ooo This is Africa". You can spend time amongst the people and say, "wow, This Is Africa". You can watch lion bring down and eat a buffalo and say "geez This Is Africa".

Consequently, you can listen to the politicians of Africa and exclaim "now This Is Africa". You can go to the store to get milk and only have two choices. Milk or nothing. "This Is Africa". Or you could deal with the bureaucracy and corruption and say "s#!t This Is Africa".

This leads to my next point. Some of you have voiced concern about using credit cards to make donations because it seems that there are an abnormal amount of internet scams that seem to originate out of Africa. Please do what makes you comfortable. If that means not donating because of your concern for internet scams then I fully understand. Please also understand that GlobalGiving is a Virginia, USA based organization. Our link with them is purely to give us global exposure. We can still accept donations the old fashioned way (not trying to be condescending) by sending the check donation directly to me and I will forward the funds in their entirety to our people in Zim. If you are considering this method then make the checks out to Adrian Suskin with a memo note "For ZimKids". Thank you all.

Carpe Diem.