May 2016 update

Sorry for the delay in posting this update… amazingly enough – I feel as though I have been busy.

Cancer Update:
Less than 2 weeks ago, I had the post surgery follow-up appointment with my Urologic Oncologist (say that 3 times fast) that was scheduled after my March surgery.  The results are – overall good news.  Short summary – things are now under control and there is no new active tumour growth.  This is great news as it means the last 2 years of 5 surgeries and 15 rounds of BCG, were effective.
Moving forward this means – that I go on 2 more years of BCG, and 3 month cystoscopies.  Then in 2018, if there has been no recurrence, I will start being monitored less frequently.  I would move to 6 months cystoscopies for a couple of years.  So – BCG will happen in Jun/Dec 2016 and 2017… 4 sessions, 3 rounds per session.
My long-term takeaway – To me this is a great thing – It now gives me a vague timeline and destination that is more than just “in the future”.  I am not running out, dancing in the streets, or betting the farm on anything, but now I can start to make some decisions and I have a target to plan towards….. specifically – in 2 years, I should get my life back, what will I do with myself?

Health update:
Weight now maintaining in the 260s, intentionally this time.  Really happy about that.  Starting to try to put some ideas to the test about rebuilding fitness levels, but most importantly this is under my control now and the wild fluctuations aren’t happening that scared me before. The fitness plan is not made yet, and I don’t have many ideas. We have a few contacts here that we might chat with to make sure that we can develop a plan that isn’t just a trainer yelling at me to push more…we both agree we might need more specialized attention than that.
Mental health wise – things have been up and down.  I will post all my newsletters in a future post this month to put all those details in one place.  Quite nervous post surgery waiting for the meeting with the doctor, then up with good news…… more about that stuff in the newsletter.  Watch for that post later this month.

Charity events:
Just did the “FUCK CANCER, Ride for Brandon” in Drumheller. It was awesome.  The charity event scene is picking up steam with rides/events more frequent, and most of the events will be motorcycle related.  I will post a specific update about the ride I just did pretty soon, and then I will mention the next charity event in that post… following that, I will give an update for a June charity event (or 2).  As things are motorcycle related, some details will be also posted this week about the ride in the 20k goal page.  So, keep an eye on multiple stages for all the information, as I will try not to post the same commentary on each page.

Motorcycle events:
Started hanging out with some motovloggers – does that make me famous?
Got to go for a ride with 1/2 (Troy) of Ride Stopngo when I was in Calgary for the “Ride for Brandon”.  More details there will be put up in the 20k goal page as I update that this week.  For those that want to know right away – 16059. Maps, photos and more coming soon.
I got to meet a couple of Edmonton motovloggers – DARTH RAM and TACMOTO.  For those that are unaware – motovlogging is all about having a camera on you while you ride, and microphone so you can talk as you ride.  These short videos cover everything from bad drivers, other vloggers, riding styles, bad drivers, group rides, politics, bad drivers, road conditions, current events, and did I mention, some bad drivers.
I have been quite remiss in updates to the 20k goal.  Sorry ’bout that – I was off riding…..   Actually the story is a little more entertaining than that – I have been trying to make some videos and the process of trial and error – is mostly error.  One example – turn microphone sensitivity to low to reduce wind noise, forget to adjust when I try to talk to it…. so weak audio.  Another example is mount camera to my helmet – forget to aim properly… I don’t find these things out until the end of a ride….

Website/blog update:
So, you may have noticed some ads have popped up.  I went through the portion of the online website building course that I am on about Google Adsense accounts…. don’t worry – they shouldn’t last… I think I will make about a penny a month(if that) with my current readership… so, this website isn’t about money (unless someone knows a company that wants to be a sponsor and buy some web space…… ).  I have learned that I need my pages and posts to get over 1000 views per week – and I am barely at 200 page views per month – before you make enough money to pay for the cost of the website(which is only 15 bucks a month).
I have some plans for some bigger program updates coming soon – so watch for those.

I have the 2 currently running YouTube channels for this website active.  I am going to post some more unrelated videos in the one that is my name, which is the channel that I put the welcome videos, and video updates on.  I have a few projects that I want to post about and I will just post them there, likely no blog mentions of those projects – leatherwork and such.  The “Cancer Sucks, Lets Ride” channel will be closely linked to the 20k riding goal, and all about motorcycle stuff.  Please check it out and subscribe for regular updates.

Upcoming stuff on the site – aka things that I am working on…(means – they are partially written on my computer)

Blog posts:
How not all cancers are created or treated equal,
Things I wish people knew about cancer patients,
What might happen as I become a Veterans Affairs problem,
Regular updates on what is going on with my cancer treatments, and
all this is in addition to charity event and motorcycle ride posts.

Online store:
Not an e-commerce thing – but for fundraisers.. I am looking at getting some stuff made that I can sell and donate the money to charity(mostly Cancer related ones). I have some ideas, just need to see if they will work.

Logo:
I still want to make one, just really short of ideas.  The logo photo for Brandon’s ride that I have posted a few times – are freakin’ awesome… but I need to be original and unique – just like me.

If you have made it this far into the post – thank you.  I appreciate that you have made it this far, and are joining me on the journey.  I don’t get much feedback, so I don’t know if anyone actually pays that much attention to this.. please spread the word to those that you think would enjoy reading the ramblings of a mid 40’s cancer patient as he tries to find his way to a “new normal”.