British Columbia Welcome U

written by \\ tags: official travel

Today the kids and I are going on a Photo Safari. I’m not sure if that’s the right wording, but we are going to Point Lobos (just south of Carmel) for a photo contest. Just the three of us.

I set this up at the beginning of the summer, but we haven’t had a chance to go and do this until now. I think it will be fun. There are several different categories that we have to take pictures of:

• Scenery
• Flowers
• Animals
• Bugs
• Trees
• Leaves
• Rocks

Daddy will be our official judge. He will announce the winners on Friday, and prizes will be given in each of the categories. (shhhh… it’s just dollar store prizes) I told him to make sure that all of us get prizes.

I will post the official winning photos on Saturday.

~dawn

written by \\ tags: official travel

The Big Apple offers so many places to stay and in New York City Kevin likes to hang his hat at these three hotels. The Hotel Giraffe offers comfort with style and grace while the Doubletree Guest Suites in Times Square puts you right in the center of the action. The Holiday Inn Midtown is the place to be for something familiar in the City That Never Sleeps.

The Big Apple offers so many places to stay and in New York City Kevin likes to hang his hat at these three hotels. The Hotel Giraffe offers comfort with style and grace while the Doubletree Guest Suites in Times Square puts you right in the center of the action. The Holiday Inn Midtown is the place to be for something familiar in the City That Never Sleeps.

written by \\ tags: official travel

All of this excitement has made you hungry and it should. You’re in New York City! Kevin will give you the inside scoop on where to go. If you’re in New York City start your day with a bagel at H&H Bagel. Then grab a slice for lunch at Famous Original Ray’s Pizza and for those with a sweet tooth, go to Serendipity 3. Do you like steak? Well so does Kevin. Sammy’s Roumanian is always a party with some of the best steaks around.

All of this excitement has made you hungry and it should. You’re in New York City! Kevin will give you the inside scoop on where to go. If you’re in New York City start your day with a bagel at H&H Bagel. Then grab a slice for lunch at Famous Original Ray’s Pizza and for those with a sweet tooth, go to Serendipity 3. Do you like steak? Well so does Kevin. Sammy’s Roumanian is always a party with some of the best steaks around.

written by \\ tags: official travel

Where do you go to play in the greatest of playgrounds? When Kevin is in New York, these are some of his favorite hangouts. Chelsea Piers has every kind of fun a family could want under one roof and if dinosaurs and earth science is your bag, check out the American Museum of Natural History. And an absolute must in the Big Apple is a stroll through Central Park.

Where do you go to play in the greatest of playgrounds? When Kevin is in New York, these are some of his favorite hangouts. Chelsea Piers has every kind of fun a family could want under one roof and if dinosaurs and earth science is your bag, check out the American Museum of Natural History. And an absolute must in the Big Apple is a stroll through Central Park.

written by \\ tags: official travel

Our trip to Disneyland was okay. Max was so tired all the time and a bit sour thanks to the decadron (steriod) that we decided to take him off it slowly while we were there. This only made his pain increase which was worse for his mood. He spent all of his time outside the room in a jogging stroller because his legs hurt so much - and he was tired.

He did have some wonderful moments during his brief times in the park. His favorite rides are Star Tours and Soaring Over California, which we frequented and used the “Max Pass” - a pass similar to a fast-pass but you can use it on any ride at anytime. He also enjoyed a few rides early one morning in Fantasyland and of course the Autopia.

Max mostly wanted to sleep.

He was happy to be home Friday afternoon and couldn’t wait to see Naboo, whom he thought must have missed us terribly. The cat was indeed very happy to see the kids.

Saturday morning he had an apopintment to go the oncology ward for platelets: he was critically low: 4 — ouch. Monday found him in clinic to start a new chemo cycle. The same that Andy mentioned in the last post: temador and irinotecan. He also needed another platelet transfusion as he was at 3! (Just two days after getting platelets. sigh…) So Monday started a new treatment cycle that will find Max in the clinic every weekday for two weeks getting IV chemo in addition to the platelets and red blood he’s going to need even more now that we’ve had to start him on some kind of toxic treatment.

We also took an xray of his lungs and left knee. He’s been coughing and complaining constantly about the knee. The xray results had him in for an immediate CTscan: His lungs appeared to have extensive disease throughout. However, they couldn’t rule out an infection, pneumonia, or bleeding and so a bronchoscopy was scheduled for Wednesday morning. A bronchoscopy is a simple outpatient procedure where the doc runs a camera down Max’s windpipe to the lungs, looks around, squirts a little saline in there and sucks it back out to grow cultures. Because Max’s platelets are questionable he had to spend the night Tuesday to get a fresh load of platelets prior to the morning procedure - just in case.

Andy brought Hannah & Nicky down in the morning before Max went in for the bronchoscopy. He was so happy to see them, he smiled and chatted. It was a nice scene. The bronchoscopy took all of 10 mintues and the doc reported back that she saw no evidence of disease inside. His upper right lung appeared to be squished by something on the outside - probably the nodules that have grown - and she said this could cause him to cough because he’d be unable to clear that part of his lung of gunk when he needed to. It looked irritated and bled a little when she flushed it. (We’ll have an official report soon and will post any other findings as they become available.)

So not as scary as we had originally thought; but obviously far from being out of the woods.

written by \\ tags: official travel

These are the official reads of Max’s CT, MIBG & MRI scans last week.

CT HEAD w/ CONTRAST: volume scanning was performed through the entire brain after intravenous contrast adminsitration. Image data were displayed in the axial, sagittal and coronal planes. Comparison is made with examination of 06/10/08. Comparison is also made with non-contrast head CT of 7/14/08. Ventricles remain normal in size. The calcified midline frontal epidural mass consistent with metastic disease to the skull has decreased in size since the examination of 06/10/08 and does not appear to be significantly changed since the more-recent exam. The mass now measures approx 2.6cm in maximum dimension. Appearance of the brain is unchanged. No new intra-axial or extra-axial masses or areas of abnormal contrast enhancement are identified. No abnormality of the brainstem or cerebellum is noted. IMPRESSION: decreased size of frontal epidural mass consistent with metastic disease to the skull. Findings are otherwise unchanged since the previous exam.

CT CHEST w/ CONTRAST: Volume scanning was performed through the entire thorax after intravenous contrast administration. Image data were displayed in the axial, agaittal and coronal planes. Comparision made with exam of 06/10/08. A port-a-cath remains in place with the tip in the right atrium. Previously identified right hilar mass which demonstrates relatively low density has decreased in size. The mass mow measures slightly greater than 1cm in maximum dimension. Calcifications may be present in the right hilar region. No new mediastinal masses are idenitified. Previously identified low-density mass adjacent to the left hemidiaphragm appears to be slightly smaller. However, its location makes direct comparison with the previous exam difficult. An area of increasing atelectasis or air space consolidation is present posteriorly within the right upper lobe. Muliple nodular densities are again noted throughout both lungs which are increased in size since the previous exam and are consistent with metastic lesions. These lesions appear to be slightly increased in size and number since the previous exam. The largest lesion now measure greater than 5mm in diameter. Mulitple sclerotic vertebral lesions are again identified which are consistent with metastic disease and do not appear to be significantly changed. Decreased stature of a mid thoracic vertebral body is again noted. IMPRESSION: increased size and number of pulmonary nodules consistent with increas in metastic disease. Right hilar and left diaphragmatic masses appear to be slightly decreased in size. Multiple thoracic metastases are not obviously changed.

MIBG - A total of 3.1 mCi of iodine 123 MIBG was injected intravenously without complications. This exam is compared to the MIBG exam from 6/11/08. Once again, muliple areas of abnormal uptake are seen indicating metastases. In the skull, the lesion seen in the midline anteriorly has decreased significantly since the previous study. Foci of uptade in the left humerous are somewhat less apparent, however, the focus of abnormal uptake in the right humerous is probably unchanged. Further areas of abnormal uptake are seen in the upper chest, probably in posterior ribs. These are unchanged. In the pelvis continued abnormal uptake is seen in muliple locations in the pelvis fairly diffusely. I do not see any significant changes compared to the previous study. The left proximal tibia is once again hot although it does seem to be somewhat less extensive than previously. There is, however, somewhat more prominent uptake in the right proximal tibia and the proximal right tibial shaft. In the distal femurs bilaterally, there is also somewhat increased uptake compared with the previous study as well. Some abnormal vertebral body uptake is also present. This is essentially unchanged since the previous study. It is somewhat spotty and includes areas of abnormality probably at the level of T11 or T12 and probably in the lower lumbar spine. The whole body images also suggest areas of uptake posteriorly in the skull which are unchanged although, again, the area anteriorly is diminished. Some areas of abnormal uptake have decreased, expecially in the anterior skull. There are, however, increasing areas of uptake particularly around the knees. This probably indicates further metastic disease. Once again noted are abnormal areas of uptake in the left proximal tibia. Additional areas of abnormal uptake are seen in both proximal femurs.

MRI Entire Spine w/and w/o contrast. Comparison to 06/16/08 scan. Technique: Sagittal and axial T1-weighted images, sagittal and axial T2 fat saturated images, and sagittal and axial postcontrast T1-weighted images were obtained. FINDINGS: The bone marrow signal is diffusely abnormal. All levels of the vertebral column appear involved with the exception of the sacrum which may be spared vs. partially involved. Of note, there is no intraspinal abnormality. The spinal cord signal is intact. There are no enhancing masses within the canal. There are no paraspinal soft tissue masses. Of note, many of the vertebral bodies are slightly bowed compared to the prior study which represents multiple vertebral body mild compression not unexpected given the diffuse infiltrative involement of the bone marrow. IMPRESSION: Compared to the prior study, there has been interval onset of multiple vertebral body endplate bowing consistent with mild compression fractures, not unexpected given the diffuse bone marrow infiltration of the vertebral column related to the bone marrow infiltration. There is no obvious interval change in the degree of infiltration compared to the prior study.

written by \\ tags: official travel

Let’s start post-Star Wars. Sunday night max woke up 11:00pm screaming and clutching his head/forehead/eyes in pain. This went on for 20-30 minutes with a minute or two of “calm” here and there. It was horrendous. The pain was so bad he eventually threw-up several times. Andy & I didn’t know what to do except give him lortab and wait. We phoned the doc on-call, got his opinion, and drove Max to the ER at midnight for a three hour tour. By the time we were half way there his headache had subsided and he was just sleepy. The next three hours were pretty much a waste of time. Andy and I got a great three hours of sleep that night. Ah… refreshing!

Monday found Max & me at clinic to talk to one of the oncology docs about the previous nights’ ER visit. Decided to get a quick CTscan of Max’s noggin to see what may have sparked the headache. He continued to have two more headaches during the day – not as bad though. He also needed his weekly platelet transfusion which took all day… Beth! Just kidding – I was too tired to be upset. (The joke here is that one of Max’s nurses misplaced his platelet order and we discovered the error…oh, about four hours later. You can see I was really on the ball, too, letting so many hours pass without noticing.) I think Max was comfy hanging in a bed all day after his ER visit. **Max’s CT showed that the skull mass has decreased. Good news. Headache may have been caused by one of his meds.

Tuesday Max went for a physical therapy appointment in the morning, cancer camp from 11:00-3:00, and an MIBG injection at 3:30.

Wednesday was huge scan day: MIBG, CTscan of the head and chest w/ and w/o contrast, and an MRI of his entire spine. Andy & I get to watch the MIBG as it appears on the computer screens and get instant feedback. Max’s skull definitely had less uptake in the area that was radiated. His thighs looked a little less bright as did the iliac crests. Other areas looked the same as the previous scan, with a little more enhancement in his tibia (shins). So from the parent-reading-the-scan-perspective, some things looked better and others looked a little worse. From my perspective, I was somewhat surprised that the whole scan wasn’t riddled with neuroblastoma and that there were spots that had improvement. We’ll have an official reading hopefully Thursday where all the scans are looked at together and compared to old scans.

Thursday will find Max at cancer camp from 9:00-2:00 (hopefully) and back to clinic in the afternoon for vinblastine.

Friday may be the only day Max gets to spend the whole day at camp 9:00-3:00.

So how’s Max feeling? He is constantly nauseated. He carries his barf-bin around like a security blanket and appreciates quiet. His nausea and diarrhea have been going on for weeks. Leg pain persists. Walking is difficult and painful. Decadron, one of the meds Max takes for pain is a steroid and makes being around him like walking on pins and needles… his mood can change from great to crying or angry in a heartbeat. He notices his own uncontrollable moodiness, too, and it makes him sad.

written by \\ tags: official travel

Microsoft firması ve ürünleri hakkındaki kesin ve değişmez düşüncelerimi, buraya yazmaya başladığım ilk zamanlarda ortaya koymuştum: Bkz. Microsoft ve onun en meşhur ürünü Windows.

Yanlış anımsamıyorsam, ilk defa Doctus‘da bahsedildiğini gördüğüm [linkini bulamadım, başka bir yerde de görmüş olabilirim], MICROSOFT EMAIL PROMO:OFFICIAL PRIZE NOTIFICATION konulu spam mail; nihayet benim de gmail adresimin spam filtresine takıldı.

MICROSOFT EMAIL PROMO:OFFICIAL PRIZE NOTIFICATION

The MICROSOFT EMAIL PROMO TEAM is glad to announce that after a successful completion of the PROMO DRAWS on the 17th July 2008, your e-mail address,attached to winning numbers:(55) (73) (14) (41) (36) (29) won in the Tenth lottery category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £150,000,00 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand British Pounds Sterling) in cash credited to file REF NO:MSW-L/008-28793, BATCH NO:2008MJL-05, this is from a total prize money of £3,750,000 (Three Million,Seven hundred and Fifty Thousand British Pounds Sterling), shared among the Twenty five (25) international winners in this category.

All participants were selected through our Microsoft computer ballot system drawn form 167,000 Names, as part of our International \”E-MAIL”\ Promotion Program for our prominent MS-WORD users all over the world and for the continuous use of the internet. You are adviced to contact the claims processor with the details below via his e-mail address :

NAME: Marvin Cunningham
EMAIL: mrmarvcunn@yahoo.com.hk
TEL: +44 703 5902789

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE TO SEND THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO CLAIM YOUR WINNINGS:

1.Full Name………………………………
2.Address:………………………………
3.Phone:……………Fax:……………….
4.Country:………………………………
5.Sex/Gender……………………………..

In order to avoid unnecessary delay and complications, please remember to quote your reference and winning ticket number in all correspondence with your claims officer. Your secret pin code is ML0757985. Be warned that cases of double claims and unwarranted abuse of this program will be legally pursued.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,
MRS. MARTHA TAYLOR

Bu saçma sapan, komik, acınası e-mail; gerçekten de Microsoft’un yeni bir pazarlama taktiği olmasın sakın?

Her halükarda, Microsoft’a dair, son zamanlarda gördüğüm en güzel tepki/yorum Bobiler.org‘daydı:

Tüm dünyaya, Microsoft’tan arındırılmış ve aydınlık yarınlar dilerim! ;o)

written by \\ tags: official travel

In two speeches on his trip to the Beijing Olympics, resident George W. Bush has criticized China’s policies on human rights and religious freedom. In a lengthy speech yesterday (full text) at a stop in Bangkok, Thailand, after talking about US-China cooperation, Bush said:

I have spoken clearly and candidly and consistently with China’s leaders about our deep concerns over religious freedom and human rights. I have met repeatedly with Chinese dissidents and religious believers. The United States believes the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings. So America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents and human rights advocates and religious activists. We speak out … not to antagonize China’s leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential.

According to AGI, the Chinese foreign ministry immediately responded, emphasizing the good relationships of the two countries but rejecting U.S. use of human rights or religion to interfere in the internal affairs of China.

Inside China, Bush, speaking at the dedication today of the U.S. embassy building in Beijing (full text of remarks), again brought up the topic, though more briefly. He said that the U.S. would “continue to be candid about our belief that all people should have the freedom to say what they think and worship as they choose.” Reuters reports that Chinese officials at the ceremony sat expressionless.

UPDATE: Countering somewhat the image created by President Bush’s criticism of religious freedom in China, Cox New Service today published an article profiling Nanjing Amity Printing Co., the official publisher of Bibles in China. Last year the company produced 6.7 million Bibles, 3 million of which were for distribution in China. It has printed 50,000 copies of the New Testament for free distribution at various sites during the Olympics.

written by \\ tags: official travel