Les's Blog: I'm Baaaack!

Unexpected twist
We took a bit of a left turn last week with something rather unexpected. Actually, I’m at the point where just about everything is unexpected, but in this case, we had just finished an experimental treatment program that lasted 8 weeks.

Scans and MRI’s were taken to see if stopped the growth of the melanoma cancer and shrunk the tumors. It actually did a little of both but when doctor’s matched the scans with the MRI’s, they discovered several cysts of melanoma had spread to the brain

There was another experimental study being conducted that could have potentially melted those brain cysts and gone to work on the other ones in my organs. Turns out, to be eligible for this new treatment program, you have to be chemo free for 28 days, which I wasn’t,

The amazing gamma knife
So the decision was made to have immediate brain surgery using this phenomenal high tech Gamma Knife Radiation Therapy at Providence Cancer Center. It’s not really a knife but rather, carefully controlled bursts of radiation that pulverize the cysts in my brain in a very short period of time. I mean, very short.

When someone goes in for normal radiation head treatment, it’s usually 5-6 weeks long and you report to the hospital several times a day. In my case, the procedure began at 8am last Tuesday and was over by 10:30 that morning and I was home that afternoon.

They actually found 9 cysts but the number didn’t matter as much as getting rid of them all. Everyone remains confident that’s exactly what they did.

Keep on keeping on
Nevertheless, it’s brain salad surgery, and I’d be lying to you if I said it was no big deal, because it was and there were a couple of days when I sank to a depth I’d never been to before. But, here’s the deal: once again faith, support, prayers and a willingness to be patient and allow my body to heal has made all the difference in the world.

There are times, now, when I forget I even have a problem but in the process of pulling myself out of this recent setback, I came to the conclusion that we’re all limited by what we think we know and if we can somehow allow for a higher power to heal us on a scale much larger than we could ever imagine, miracles can happen all the time.

I believe this true in all walks of life, our economy, our schools, our health and everything else. Just because things look bad, doesn’t necessarily mean they are or will continue to be bad. It’s a self-fulfilling prophesy that can work against us if we don’t allow ourselves to be receptive to what we don’t know is out there.

So, what does all this mean? I’m not really sure but each day I continue to improve and now wait the final chapter which will be the final treatment of a drug called Interleukin2 where I’m in and out of the hospital for a few months and that should begin in a couple of weeks.

The best laugh in a while
I have to tell you about a quick call I received yesterday from out health insurance people. Somewhere back east. Nice lady who wondered how I was doing, showed some real compassion. Asked the latest on my condition and I told her the story, there was a long pause and then she asked me if it was serious enough to prevent me from returning to work this Friday. It had been a couple of weeks since I laughed like that and assured her if I returned to work this Friday, and the cancer didn’t kill me, my wife, Rita would!

Thank you, my friends
I continue to be blown away by the staff at Providence Cancer Center and my Chinese Doctor Mengke Kou who is helping me in ways that make it impossible to comprehend what this would be like with out him. I also continue to be blown away by your messages of hope and encouragement. It’s truly unbelievable and I am eternally grateful. I am so blessed with so many good friends over the years like Rebecca Webb, Mike Rich, Carl Widing, Lowell McGregor, Jeff Lorber, Congressman Earl Blumenaur, Paul Clithero and most importantly, YOU!

While this is something I’d rather not be going through right now, I have no regrets. There are just so many wonderful memories of all these years growing up together on KINK, that it dwarfs something as serious as cancer and I really do pray, every night that sometime soon I’ll be back on the air talking to you like this is a distant memory.

I hope I didn’t ramble on too much. But know how much I care about you and everyone at the radio station who have lifted such a heavy burden from my shoulders and treated me with respect and compassion and helped make this adventure, somewhat navigational.

I’ll check back with you next week, at this time. You take care of yourself and please don’t worry about me because, in my mind, death is not an option.

~ Best, Les.