Rick's Cafe

When I was staying at the Hedonism in Jamaica back in 1985,  and if you want to check out the place you can click on the resort by clicking on the name to redirect you to it,  there was a place down the road called Rick's Café. The location of Rick's Café is known for it's spectacular sunset. One evening I had to check it out.

I do not remember the cliff diving though so I included a video of someone with a lifeguard shirt who has obviously done this before. I did a bungee jump in my last post but I couldn't do this. It has a cool Bob Marley song while you watch him climb high for the jump. The dive to the water is really fast which makes me think this was edited and no one actually does this jump but let's pretend everyone does just for now.

Jamaica is quite a place to visit. It is pretty chill there as you can imagine. Had a nice day trip and scaled up Dunn River Falls which was pretty cool as well. Other than than it was nude sunbathing. eating, drinking, and toga parties at the resort. Below is the video and some photos I snatched from the web site. Like I said I was never big into photos. I wish they had smartphones back then.                      
                                                     Diver Jumping at Rick's Cafe

        

Bungee Jumping in Phuket Thailand

One day on the ship we had a day to do something while we were in Phuket Thailand. Mickey the bartender who was from the Netherlands says to me and a few others how about doing some bungee jumping.

I looked at him and said no way! He says back it will be fun. There is one here in town not far away.  Really if you are going to do something like this you have to be impulsive and not think too long about it or your mind starts thinking what about if you are one in a 100,000 that jump and the bungee snaps. So after a quick lunch on the ship we head out to the bungee jump location. Mickey knows what he is doing because he had moved to the Philippines and was familiar with this part of the world. Although why I thought that had anything to do with bungee jumping I totally do not know. I have to admit it was comforting though.

There were about nine or ten of us which was great because you had the group force support behind every jumper.

Well when you watch the video below it was exactly how it was except for a couple of things. One was when the guy counted to three the first time I chickened out. It took me till the second count to jump. Second of all the guy said to look far ahead and spread your arms. When I was there the guy who probably after all these years is not the same one of course told me to look down. That was not a good thing to instruct when one is standing on the ledge and seeing the others sitting around having a beer looking up and laughing.

I was the second to jump because I was waiting to see if the first one would survive. I had to have proof that this thing worked. It was a big crane that made that grinding noise as it went up leaving you with a sense that perhaps I shouldn't be worried so much about the bungee cord snapping. Especially when the higher you got the more the crane started to rock a bit.

I jumped and felt nothing for a few seconds then the bungee whipped me back up and for the next two minutes while I was going up and down all I could say was the F word over and over again.

Would I do it again? Probably not now of course but I was glad I did when I did. We had a blast that day and after my jump felt like I had earned my right to sit and have a few beers and laugh at the others who had not yet jumped. We all did which was fabulous. I think it cost $50 US dollars at the time. Well worth it and a memory I will always cherish.

By the way no alligators were harmed during the jump.

                                              Bungee Jump in Phuket Thailand 1995

Hemoglobin Blues

So it is July 2018 and after having my spleen out on March 1st then having a two week vacation out West here I was now in limbo again. A disturbing report had arrived at my oncologist to inform her that what I was taking, being the methotrexate, was a waste of time. So I was told just to stop taking them and to continue with the folic acid which was beneficial anyway.

Meanwhile she was sending this report off to the hospital in Hamilton for a second opinion. Intermittently, I was still getting blood transfusions. Also beginning at this time I was on this this sort of pump to inject sporadically doses of this liquid into a fatty tissue part of my abdomen so I get rid of some very high levels of iron I had accumulated because of all the transfusions.

Initially everything seemed to be working then all of a sudden my hemoglobin began dropping to dangerously low levels.

The first time I was actually sitting at home. My wife was working so at the time it was just my younger son and I at home. Every effort I made was difficult. My heart rate was racing and I found myself really just unable to function. In fact I was sitting on the couch and I needed to go to the bathroom and I couldn't get there fast enough. To my amazement I just pooped my shorts. I hobbled to the bathroom finally and called out to my son to get a plastic bag. I took off my shorts and underwear and just put them in the bag and said to him just take this out to the garbage. The wife came home and off to the hospital I went to emergency. My hemoglobin was in the 30's. After about 6 pints of blood over a few days it was back up to 90. I came home and reattached myself to this contraption that was supposed to be taking the iron out. Well after getting six pints of blood the iron it did get out probably was replaced by the new iron my body just ingested.

The second time happened shortly thereafter when on that Sunday we had people over and as the day wore on my hemoglobin I could feel dropping. Just lifting a piece of apple crumble onto my plate was a gargantuan effort. I called 911 for the ambulance and once again my hemoglobin had dropped down into the 30's and once again had numerous pints of blood transfused in me. Now in both cases I was admitted into the local Guelph General Hospital while they kept my oncologist informed in Kitchener at Grand River Valley Hospital.

The stupid thing was she never called or asked me what was going on. It was like oh well as long as I was getting blood transfusions that was the main thing. Never mind it was all counterproductive to what I was doing which was getting the iron out. I believe I called and asked maybe a slower dose and give my body a break and give me the weekends off. Maybe doing this slower would help keep my hemoglobin at a safer level because almost being dead twice was not a trivial thing.

It is hard to explain when your hemoglobin gets that low. Your brain even begins to malfunction. One time I was being helped to the van to go to the hospital with my oldest son holding me up on one side and my wife the other. When we came to a short step in our entrance way she asked me to step forward to which I replied I was and then I looked down and I was not moving forward at all.

So the oncologist agreed with a lower dosage with weekends off and so I began again this iron chelation method. I had a bone marrow biopsy scheduled for early September. On this occasion my liver was now acting up. I had jaundice all over the place. I glowed when the sunlight shone on me. I would check my eyes in the mirror and they were yellow. My skin was yellow.

I didn't go to emergency this time as with this appointment in Kitchener coming up I wanted the oncologist to see me this time. She wasn't I thought going to brush me off and let Guelph handle it.
I went into the bone marrow biopsy yellow as a banana. My bilirubin was over 400. Bilirubin  is what they measure your liver among other things like enzymes.

She said we got to get you a room and run some tests. I said yes I think so then she is asking my wife in front of me if anything happens has she agreed to resuscitate me. I interjected immediately I am going nowhere let's fix the damn thing. Soley said on two other occasions she was asked the same. I said no more iron chelation.

I spent a week in the hospital doing CT scans, ultrasounds, and MRIs and they couldn't find anything. No blockages, nothing. I was discharged once my bilirubin got to a reasonable level. I was what you call an enigma to everyone.

Meanwhile the second opinion my oncologist was waiting for was not coming. They even sent my report to the States to Boston and they all said they thought it was what it originally was which was the Large Granular Leukemia. I was already taking the methotrexate for that but was taken off it.

I said to the oncologist can you not do something? I asked her about taking pills for the iron and she shot that down saying they are not really effective. I had another episode then she decided she had to do something so that next appointment in the office she told us I was going on the chemotherapy. A treatment every three weeks six times. This was starting the next day and finishing mid - winter.

As bad as it sounded she told us finally it was cancer and I had these T-cells from my white blood cells killing my good red blood cells as well as the bad ones. It was a rogue cell and hopefully the chemo would kill it. I thought finally something is being done after all these near death experiences.

Covid 19 and Sports Leagues - Shut Them Down!

On March 13th when Covid_19 made it's appearance in the NBA and Rudy Gobert tested positive a  torrent of players in every professional sports league followed suit and immediately all the leagues shut down. Well if I remember correctly it took a few days before major league baseball camps packed it in but they had to shut it down as well.

I must say the Toronto Maple Leafs were in a battle and had a game that night against Nashville and a couple of days later in Boston against those pesky Bruins. Without a doubt I was looking forward to it.

So I thought we got this and will contain the spread of this virus quickly then  we should all be back shortly watching hockey or any other sport we choose. After all we had other countries to learn from that already had the spread contained. Some simple rules to follow. Stay two meters distance away from everyone and self isolate as much as you can at home. Schools emptied so everyone was home.

This should end in a couple of weeks, right?

Now we are nearly into July and the same thing is happening again. The leagues are all saying now they are coming back because the fans demand it. They want to see sports again. I have not heard anyone I know mention sports since five days after all the leagues shut down. You'd think by the sport talk shows and reporters that everyone is dying to see a game on television.

Now if this shutdown lasted 2 weeks to a month maximum I think no problem we could have lived through this without facing too much hardship and we would be salivating to pick up where we left off. The truth is this has gone too long. They all should have just cancelled the season and playoffs right there and then and I know I am not the only one who feels this.

Proof in point is everyday since around April all the commissioners have talked about resuming play. They think as do the players, although I am not so sure about that because all they care about is their safety, is the public is waiting on their bended knees for them to resume play.

Let me make this perfectly care, NO ONE CARES!! That is right no one cares. In case these leagues do not know their main fan base is crippled by this pandemic. Jobs lost, income gone, mortgage in arrears, credit card debt piling up, school next year in doubt as to how it will all work out. Relatives and people getting sick or dying. Let me repeat what I said, NO ONE CARES!

What really sickened me was watching Gary Bettman the NHL commissioner come on television to make this grand announcement about phase 1,2 and 3 on how they plan on finishing the playoffs in two hub cities. Not saying it was for money, television rights, or just plain greed but because the fans demanded it. What a crock of you know what! Since this shutdown I have not met or talked to anyone who misses sports. Nobody!

Why you ask is because we are all wondering what next week is going to look like never mind watching some millionaires play in front of empty arenas and stadiums. Hockey in July forget about it.

Now all the hub cities for hockey can stay in the States for all I care. Choose Las Vegas and whoever else probably a Republican senator state where the cases are out of control. The NBA choosing Disney World in Florida. Well good luck with that although they have an idiot for a governor. Disneyland today delayed their opening in California. There will be cases with the NBA players for sure in Florida. The baseball and their plan for restarting is a disaster and they have so many cases already they should just say it and shut down. The NFL just cancelled their Hall of Fame game scheduled August 6th.

Today all I have heard from American doctors is, We are the greatest country in the world and I cannot believe we have screwed this up. Here is a heads up, if you were the greatest country in the world you would not have screwed up!

I have had enough. Keep the border closed and do not let  any of these leagues play one game here.

Better yet shut it down and plan to start training camps maybe in September. Give it a rest and do not think you are resuming play for the fans. It is totally non-sensical.

My prediction is if any of these leagues start up there will be infections and teams will probably win unfairly. If any one of these athletes get sick or worse dies it will not be Covid that killed them it will just be the greed and ego of the owners and leadership.

Free us from your babble and stay safe and shut it down. It is ridiculous!

The Old Nickel Hotel

When I was 18 years old I left school and got a job at Humpty Dumpty Potato Chip Factory as a shipper receiver. The reason why I did not continue with my schooling was my stepfather worked for Air Canada and because he did I had these air passes I wanted to use soon before they would expire when I was 21 years of age.

My friend Robert across the street also wanted to go to Europe so we decided that in June of that year which was 1977 off we would go to Europe. It turned out to be a pretty wild trip for 45 days. We rented a car in Paris and starting from there we toured France, Belgium, the Netherlands, West Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy before flying back from Paris.

Whenever we arrived to a city that we were planning to stop a while we always wanted to make sure that we located the Hauptbanhof commonly referred to as the train station. There we would pick up maps and learn of local events going on and places to see.

On this one occasion we left from Belgium and headed for the Netherlands. We drove to Amsterdam and found the train station where we parked the Renault 5 we had. Obtaining some maps and finding our way around was our goal.

When we got back outside and looked  around we thought maybe if we just parked the car and walked in this direction there would be some cheap places to stay for a night or two. So off we went not really knowing where we were heading. Seeing a street that looked like it had some places to stay in the near distance we saw a sign saying the Old Nickel Hotel.

Okay we thought let's check it out. We entered and it was pretty clean. Greeted warmly and told of the price we grabbed the room. Pretty simple with a breakfast included. Returning back with the luggage we struggled up the stairs, as it had no elevator, and put our backpacks in the room and hurried back downstairs.

Now if anyone has heard of Amsterdam they have heard of the Red Light District. So the first question we had to ask is, "Where is the Red Light District?'

The receptionist looked at us in surprise then she answered, 'You're in it!' Then as soon as she said that we looked across the lane and there was a hooker waving at us through her window in broad daylight!

Now of course coming from Canada going to Amsterdam is a huge culture shock because everything is so liberal there. In Amsterdam everyone likes to have a good time and they all keep in shape by riding their bicycles in huge bike lanes to handle the volume. Taking in an art museum and seeing Anne Frank's house was unbelievable too.

I had the opportunity to see Amsterdam and stay with a friend in 1988. I flew in through Schiphol and stayed the night before heading to my job in Switzerland a couple of times and saw it again when I worked on the ships.

Yes I think that would be a great city to live and grow up in. The country is one of my favourites as well out of all that I have seen so far.

Below is a couple of pictures of the hotel we stayed at which by the way is still there and I will underneath that include a video of the Amsterdam nightlife where anything goes.

                                      Okay before you watch this pretend you are 18 again

Needles and Side Effects

As a bit of a break before continuing on with my 3 year trilogy of how eventually I was informed of what I had let me explain the stuff I was going through.

First of all the needles that have been poked in me countless times. You all remember my first bloodwork with the oncologist and the 16 vials of blood they took out of me. Well at least after that there has been always a minimum of two. Multiply that by 150 and there you have 300 vials of blood extracted for bloodwork. While staying overnight for up to 4 days at the hospital every morning at 6am the nurse would wake you up to take blood. Then if I needed transfusions while in the hospital there was more bloodwork to check the hemoglobin.

Now my temperature use to fluctuate wildly so while getting a transfusion they always check your blood pressure before starting, ten minutes into the transfusion, then at the end. It was the same ritual for every pint. The same time they would check my temperature. I would sometimes go up and down. When it went high they would I call panic on the side of caution and take a blood culture to check for anything amiss. This was blood taken out of each arm to fill two more vials. The three bone marrow biopsies I had is when they stick a big needle right in the hip bone area to extract bone marrow. That hurts like hell! The two liver biopsies I had they  insert this huge needle in the liver area a couple of times to freeze it before extracting what they need for study. When I was staying in the hospital the needle I hated most they would just stick in my abdomen. That unlike any other lingered for at least 5 minutes afterwards. They gave me that to prevent blood clots. Man I hated that one. Then for I think it was a abdominal CT scan a needle was used to inject fluid in my veins while they took pictures. I thought my veins were going to burst. Same for my Liver MRI. Needles, needles, needles. Of course to remove the iron which I will continue Friday I had a needle like pincer inserted in fatty part of my abdomen for 2-3 days continuously until contraption I was wearing was replaced by another.

My temperature use to drop sometimes quite a lot. There were 2-3 occasions when not even a hot shower would even warm me up so I would climb into bed with my teeth chattering and my wife would throw like 5 bedspreads on top and give me a hot flannel to rest on my forehead. Curled up under the covers finally my body temperature would rise and a crisis was averted.

On the other hand I use to get the sweats pretty bad. On most nights I was ready for bed at 9pm so I would just say good night to everyone. Off to bed I went where as soon as my head hit the pillow off to sleep I was gone. Then I would wake up. My pillow was soaked, hair wet, pyjamas drenched, my whole body was prespiring, the duvet was damp, sheets were all wet like they only got half dry after being in a wash. Everything was totally not dry. I’d look around and all the lights were on as they were, checked the time and it was only 9:30! Unbelievable!

Grabbing a towel to dry myself off I went downstairs to tell the wife what just happened. We just shook our heads because that was the way things were while we were waiting on a proper diagnosis and treatment.

Right now I am much better than those days but my chemo as you will learn about after has left my toes with no feeling. Just feel cold all the time. My feet swell a lot too.

I am 50% through my journey of experiences. I will finish retelling them in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for reading.

Aiguille du Midi

When I worked in Switzerland 1988-89 I used to work a lot of hours and days in a row but normally when I had days off it was usually a few days in a row which enabled me to go further afield and tour.

One of the places that I wanted to see was Chamonix France. Home of the first Winter Olympics in 1924 it is also the home of the Aiguille du Midi. This is part of one of the highest mountain ranges in the Alps including Mont Blanc. The cable car that takes you to the top of this 12,605 foot (3842 metres ) is in two sections. I remember the ground temperature was in the low 20's but when I got to the top it had dropped to the low single digit.

The cable car taking you up to the top was introduced in 1955. When they started filling that cable car I couldn't believe all the people it could carry. I mean we were 40 people crammed in that big telepherique and when it started it was a jolt. You had to hold on to the hand supports to keep you from falling over.

Then it was crazy steep the ascent. It still is the steepest vertical ascent in the world. When we arrived at the first stage some people chose that to disembark and check the view  but I took the second one to head straight to the top.

When we arrived at the summit the view was amazing! In the summer there is even a cable car that takes you to Italy from France traveling from peak to peak. It actually saves time by skipping the drive through the Mont Blanc tunnel.

I wanted to see more of Chamonix so I declined the ride to Italy. I went on a one day off so time was not my friend.

I loved Chamonix and the cable car ride. It was amazing! Below is a picture of Chamonix and a webcam of the view from the summit. Check it out!
                                                           

                                                                   

Chamonix France

                                                             Summit view

A Turn Of Events

Okay so where we left off a few days ago we were holidaying out in Western Canada. I had the splenectomy in March and with some transfusions since then to keep the hemoglobin up I felt that I had seen the last of the tough times and things were on the up and up.

I was taking the Methotrexate chemo pill once a week to get rid of this large granular leukemia that from what I understood was not causing any great concern. I didn't really get the whole story as to how long I had to take these pills for but I thought sooner or later it would clear everything up. The real question for me though was my hemoglobin was not moving up higher away from the transfusion zone. Everything else seemed to be getting better except for this nuisance. Before we left, the hematologist had mentioned the stem cell transplant again which I thought was eliminated but was back as a possibility. That came as a shock and it made me think I wasn't out of the woods yet.

It was becoming obvious my hematologist or you could say my oncologist was searching for some final resolution to fixing my blood issue for good but her hope was shot down quickly by the doctor at Juravinski Hospital when instead of the stem cell transplant they settled on the spleen had to come out.

As soon as we returned home I received a phone call from the oncologist. She wanted to see me on short notice. We went over there and she explained that as was protocol the spleen is sent to Toronto for further examination and the results were not good. Apparently what had apparently been overlooked was that I had some T-cell fighters showing up. This all of a sudden changed the scenario. Already before the visit she told me to discontinue the methotrexate because it was not doing what it should. So now the large granular leukemia was put aside without knowing whether that had cleared up or not and the emphasis was now on what this report detailed.

The oncologist wanted a second opinion so she asked Juravinski Hospital to have a look at this report. But meanwhile no treatment was offered and all I was taking was the folic acid. What was obvious though was this was much more serious.

What was now a new concern was the levels of iron in my blood. The normal is 250 or less but my levels were up around 10,000. How did it get so high was because when we have blood transfusions there is iron in the blood. Your body does not lose the iron. Well with all these transfusions my iron levels skyrocketed. The oncologist was going to get in touch with the local health unit to see that I start getting this iron withdrawn from my body. A nurse was going to be knocking on our door shortly thereafter. Too much iron can wear on your organs especially your liver and heart. My liver was not great to begin with so I didn't need anything else to weaken it.

So the nurse made her visit and brought with her a contraption that I had to attach to an area in my lower belly with a needle looking poke that injected very slowly this fluid. It was not inserted through a vein but a fatty part of my skin. I had to run it for 12 hours straight then unhook it and with some plastic covering  the area of the insertion point rest for 12 hours then do it all over again. The iron would leave my body via my urine. Wow I had to do this not for a day or a week but what looked like months. It was July so the rest of the summer was pretty well shot but at least we got our holiday in before the real fun began. She also scheduled me for another bone marrow biopsy in September only a couple of months away.

Now it was also time to wait for what the second opinion from the hospital might be on the reports.

Meanwhile we still had no official word on whether I had cancer yet so when people would ask me what I had I held my hands up in the air not knowing what to tell them. This was now July 2018, fifteen months into it.

Frustration was getting higher...

Happy Father’s Day!

Soley my wife made this for me from our favourite show. Hope all the fathers out there have a great day!

Viareggio Italy

Okay as promised every other day will be a travel feature of somewhere I went while working on the cruise ship. Today I will feature a seaside resort in Italy named Viareggio situated on the Ligurian Sea locally referred to as the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Tyrrhenian people were a people dating back to 6 BC.

Located on the west coast of Italy in the wine growing region of Tuscany this was always a great spot. The beaches were great and the nearby streets were full of bars, restaurants, and souvenir shops for the plenty of tourists who used to flock there daily.

I use to go to the beach and take a swim but most of the time I use to grab a nice lunch because one thing I do enjoy is Italian food especially those pizzas. Then have that and down a few Peroni beers.

One thing Viareggio is famous for though is their ship yards where they built super yachts. Yachts that were bought by billionaires not just millionaires. I use to walk around where these yachts were moored and just gaze at them. I have mentioned this before but if I had to do one thing more that I didn't do was to be a waiter on one of these ships. Of course it wouldn't be just serving food as I am sure there would be other duties to fulfill as well.

I took a gander at some of these shipyards and below is a video taken of the inside of one of these super yachts. I will say this it is no wonder they needed ten staff to work on one of these. Just click on the link below where I have also included a map of where this seaside resort is. You may want to check it out if you are in Tuscany Italy one day.

Meanwhile I think I will go back to listen to my Eros Ramazotti tape while you look at this video. In fact I will even leave you a link to that as well.

Viareggio is top left where there you see an indentation

Grand Hotel in Viareggio

                                                             Super Yacht Video

                                                              Eros Ramazotti

Year Two of Three

Okay the splenectomy is done after what has been a year deciding whether I qualified for a stem cell transplant and plenty of blood transfusions. I had undergone plenty of procedures to check on my body to see if there was anything else wrong, had pneumonia a few times, and then in the end it was decided that I should get the spleen out.

Up to that time I was not taking any medication. It was basically let's get the stem cell transplant done to start all over. Anyway they still couldn't figure out what was causing my hemoglobin to drop.

The two liver biopsies showed conclusively that on my liver there was some damage so on my follow up visit with the hematologist I was prescribed Methotrexate. This was to get rid of the Large Granular Leukemia they noticed. I was to take this chemo pill once a week and the other six days take a tiny Folic acid pill. Apparently we lose a lot of Folic acid when we go through anything related to chemotherapy and it is essential.

As soon as I was discharged figuring everything was under control I planned for a two week vacation out to the West Coast. We would be staying with friends for nearly a week in Victoria BC where we could show our boys where we got married and lived etc. After Victoria we would then go to the Rockies visiting Jasper especially because I spent some time there working as a waiter.

It is funny to note but shortly after the operation we had an appointment with the surgeon to have him check me out and remove the staples. He removed most of them but then said there were four he did not want to take out. So he asked Soley if she would mind to save us a trip pulling them out herself. It was a staple remover that was specially designed for such a task. She said yes she would do it and so he gave us the stapler and we said goodbye. Four days later she removed the last four staples.

The only problem was that after about a month my improved blood results took a turn for the worst and with the hemoglobin hovering up and down it seemed every couple of weeks I had to get another blood transfusion. So that was disappointing. It wasn't over as it appeared at least to me the spleen had been left there too long and now the pains of neglect were taking over. My bone marrow appeared to not be up to full force. My liver was not great either. So I was just hoping that time would straighten this out.

Before our trip out west the hematologist advised me to get a top up with a blood transfusion just before we departed. Then she brought up the stem cell transplant again. I replied that I just had my spleen out to which she replied I could still get one with or without the spleen.

I shook my head. This was becoming her dream now not mine. I was psyched up for it the first time around but again I thought. It had definitely lost it's shine by this time.

Off we flew out West. Had a great time and spared no expense. Seeing our good friends again after 18 years was fabulous and we had planned our trip perfectly. I was taking the chemo pill and Folic acid.

The only thing I couldn't do was walk fast enough to keep up with the others. We skipped breakfast to go straight to the airport on departure day

and my only episode was while in line I started to get queasy and funny looking. The security saw that and allowed me to jump the queue and find a seat in the terminal. After a couple of hours nap I was better again but the skipping of breakfast was not a good move.

When we got back I went in for blood work and my hemoglobin was down but only to 72. So I was not surprised it was down but it was not tragic. When people have lower hemoglobin they say the body fights through it and manages to get use to it. Well after climbing hills and driving a lot of kilometers I guess my body was getting used to it.

I got the transfusion again then I got a call from the hematologist...

The Wife Enjoying Jasper

Makassar now but formerly Ujung Pandang

To take a break from my lengthy 3 year recounting of what exactly where I was till now I have decided every other day to post a place where I have been.

As you may have noticed on the right hand side of the page there is a book in which I recount some of the experiences over my youthful years. All these places I saw were not all expense paid vacations but simply a reward for doing something I loved. I never thought I would be able to see such places at any time and certainly not now as I approach the golden years. Having a family kind of puts an end to thinking about going to places like Ujung Pandang now called Makassar.

It was 1995 on New Year's Day I landed in Singapore to work with Renaissance Cruises as a Captain in the dining room. It was my fifth contract with them and I was having a good time. We were scheduled to do 10 day cruises between Singapore and Bali. Usually the stops were all the same but on this contract rather than see the well known places I got the opportunity to catch a glimpse of some others that I never heard of like this one.

Indonesia was pretty cool but some of these out of the way places really gave the tourist a different prospective. There was less commercial spots around where tourists would go to buy souvenirs. Even though this was a port city the locals couldn't care less about the tourists which made it all the better. Although right now I see there are close to two million people who live there and has a bit of tourism going but 25 years ago on that day anyway it seemed pretty quiet. It is a big city in the south of the island of Sulawesi.

In fact all the passengers went on a tour taking them to somewhere else so it was free time for us during lunch. This gave us a chance to check it out.

I never took photos which I sort of regret but a lot of our travels and memories we saved on CD Rom downloaded from our video camera thanks mainly to my wife. She was never with me at this place though to take a photo.

What I can tell you are two things. One is I had my first and only ride in a rickshaw. A bunch of us did that. The second was when we were walking around we saw an outdoor classroom with primary age school students in it. When they saw us walking by they started laughing and pointing their finger at me. The teacher waved me over and explained they thought I looked like a giant. Now it's pretty rare you see a tall Indonesian from what I noticed. I think I looked like a basketball player to them.

Anyway I played the part and signed a few autographs for the kids who were holding out a pen and paper. I think I said make sure you listen to the teacher and do good in school!

That was February 7th of that year. My 36th birthday!

Operation Day

I think I was not quite over the pneumonia but here it was March 1st. We set the alarm to wake us up at 5AM and in the shower I went to give myself a good wash for the second time with this sponge that had I guess this special soap to disinfect the area of my spleen that was going to be cut.

Fasting for 12 hours now I couldn't eat which was pretty standard before submitting to an operation. Arriving to register at 7AM they led us to a room where the stretcher was situated and a chair for the wife. I took a seat on the stretcher after changing into the gown and they took my blood work as usual. I recognized the nurse and we chatted a bit and laughed because usually he is doing my blood work to match for the transfusions I often took.

We were hoping that the removal of the spleen would solve my blood issues because I honestly felt that the enlarged spleen was the reason my hemoglobin, white blood cells and platelets were so low.

At 9Am a nurse came in and led us to the operating table. My wife Soley was given a number to watch a television monitor in the waiting area updating her as to when the operation was over. She wished me luck and I was sped off to the operating room. I didn't know what to expect but I did not expect a big room with many operations going on at the same time.

I transferred myself to the operating table. There were a couple of assistants around me then I saw the surgeon arrive all dressed up looking at the blood work. I saw his face and he sort of had a funny look when he turned to one of his assistants and murmured something about the platelet count. They were making sure that there were some spare pints in the blood bank if I needed them. He came over and said hello with a grin. I asked about the platelets and he turned serious right away so I decided this was not a time to crack a joke. I kept my mouth shut after that.

The anesthesiologist  arrived as they were strapping me down to restrict any movement so as not to interfere with the operation. I felt all secure like I was an astronaut before take off.

I was told that she would be putting me under very quickly timed to last for the time needed but if there was something wrong  I would need to go to ICU and be put under for 24 hours. Not sure why that was but I thought it would have to be pretty serious for that to occur.

All this was new for me having a major operation. Just another life experience I thought to myself. This is interesting to read for those who have never had an operation so I will detail for you now what happened afterwards.

The operation lasted longer than expected and fortunately did not need to use to extra blood that was put aside in case it was needed. I was wheeled out and Soley was last left in the waiting room getting kind of worried as time crept on. It was a big incision closed up by 26 staples right up the center of my stomach.

I waited for a room to be available when the surgeon came over and said that no one could tell me that they had a bigger spleen than I did. He also added that no matter what happens from then on the spleen had to come out.

Soley had to head back to work and after she left shortly thereafter I was sent to a room shared by three others. Water was the only beverage I was allowed to drink. No food even though I was getting hungry. Took it easy the rest of the day. I had a catheter up you know what and another tube stuck on the far  left side of my belly for drainage I guess. I was able to walk around but with that catheter it was kind of funny when I felt like to pee it would come through this hose.

The next day the surgeon came to check on how I was doing. I complained I needed some food. He looked back at me with shock. He asked if I was really hungry and I quickly replied that I was. Usually people suffer nausea a lot after this type of operation so with some trepidation he gave permission for a liquid diet. So that consisted of some soup, jello, and a juice really.

When the nurse pulled that catheter out of my you know what before she did she asked me to take a bit of a deep breath while she did it. Well I did and was amazed how long this hose was inserted in me. I gasped a bit and blurted out, "Holy cow." Then she said be glad you are under when they put this in. Yes no kidding! The other hose on my left side was pulled out but that was a bit weird because all that was left was a flap of skin that didn't look like it was attached to my body.

Now my oxygen showed it was low probably because of the pneumonia I had that was hanging around from before. On the 5th day I was discharged and happy to be home where I could eat to my hearts content.

So that was the operation. Was it over now? I thought so when the surgeon came in one day and relayed to me that my blood work had improved too. Awesome I thought. I have to be home free now.

Such Fucking Positivity!

Picking up where I left off yesterday my hematologist set up an appointment with the surgeon who had lots of experience removing spleens I was told. That is always comforting when you hear that because who wants someone who has performed a few.

So we go to this appointment and the surgeon starts looking at my spleen x-ray and latest bloodwork then he starts talking about my case in sort of a funny way. He is looking at my platelet count and it is really low with a reading of 70. The normal reading should be anywhere from 150 on the low end to 400. Now the platelets are necessary because that is what clots the blood when you start to bleed. His concern was excessive bleeding that would take place during the operation that would cause a big loss of blood. He explained my spleen was very big and that he would have to cut to get it out. Sort of unlucky but no surprise that an arthroscopic removal could not be done just like the hernia.

In fact low platelet counts contribute to mouth sores. They used to drive me crazy in the restaurant because it was hard to speak to the guests when your tongue was hurting from one of these and my face actually looked twisted trying to talk around the pain.

So back to the surgeon. So talking about the operation  he says yes when he sees the hematologist he will ask her in passing what are you doing Janet and she will know exactly what I am talking about.
Like what? Like my splenectomy is going to be difficult or some sort of huge risk that shouldn't be taken?

Then wrapping up he starts telling the story of how he lost a patient that everything seemed to be fine during the operation but complications arose maybe cause of his platelets and this person passed shortly thereafter. Soley and I left shaking our heads. What did this surgeon know and was not telling us?

We saw him in December and before leaving we picked a day in January. Operation days were Wednesdays so we picked the second Wednesday to go in and get it out. The hospital called and set up a pre-op appointment to just do some tests, sign the all important waiver, and just go over a few things. They gave me two sponges. One to clean the area that was going to be operated on the evening before and the other for the morning of the splenectomy.

January came and I could feel worse and worse. Just going for transfusions, battling with frequent cold sores, and always had lots of mucous in my nose and chest.

The day is drawing near and then we get a phone call to say my operation is postponed a week. What! Someone else needed a splenectomy more than I did basically was the reason. Then the following week it was postponed again. We got into February and it was delayed again. Then I had a day at the end of February booked and it was a go but then I got pneumonia again. I went  to Guelph General Hospital here in town and had to cancel my blood transfusion in Kitchener. I said I was home with pneumonia what was I supposed to do infect everyone getting a transfusion? So I got on some antibiotics and because I missed the transfusion the next time around my hemoglobin had dropped just below 60. I remember this time I went alone and it was cold. Walking across the street from the parking lot was like lifting two sledgehammers for feet. When it gets low like that funny things start to happen to your body.

I got a couple of pints of blood. The operation was now for March 1st 2018. I went for two transfusions the week before. One because the hemoglobin was low and the second one was the day before the operation because the hematologist wanted me to be stocked up.

While there the day before I saw the assistant of the hematologist walking through and I know she saw me so I got her attention and asked her if she wished me luck for the next day. She said to me she has seen too many things and never wished anyone luck but the way she said it was bizarre. Finally I got a good luck out of her.

Well that might be half true what she said as I was to find out later on from the hematologist that she thought I wouldn't survive the splenectomy.

Such fucking positivity!

Young People are Getting Infected More

A CBC News Report citing this new phenomena on Covid 19

Researchers at the University of Guelph studying the impact of the COVID-19 caseload on the medical system in Canada have found the number of new cases continue to climb among people under the age of 20 in Ontario.

Ed McBean, a professor and the lead researcher, said as of mid-May, infection curves were flattening for other age groups in the province but numbers of daily new cases for people under 20 were still rising, especially in the Toronto and Peel regions.

"It was very surprising — a significant increase. They are not the biggest caseload at this point, but they are increasing at the highest rate," McBean told CBC News on Monday. "This was very unusual, especially given that daycares and schools are closed."

McBean analyzed data from Ontario public health units alongside University of Guelph engineering professor Andrew Gadsden, PhD student Brett Snider and John Yawney, chief analytic officer with Adastra Corp., an information management and data science firm in Markham, Ont.

• Toronto, Peel region have more than half of Ontario's new COVID-19 infections

Under federal funding last month from the Alliance COVID-19 grant program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the team uses artificial intelligence models to collect and analyze data on regional coronavirus infection levels, along with demographic and behavioural information.

Key findings of the study

The study found that for people under 20:

• Outside of Toronto and Peel, there were about eight cases of COVID-19 reported each day through the first half of April. That number declined to about six per day by the end of May.

• In both Peel and Toronto, cases continued to climb. In Peel, cases rose from about two per day in mid-April to about nine by the end of May. Over the same period, Toronto cases have risen from about four per day to more than 10.

For people between the ages of 20 and 29, the study found:

• Public health units outside of Toronto and Peel recorded a rapid increase in cases through early March, reaching nearly 30 per day by mid-April. Daily cases then declined to about 20 by the end of May.

• In Toronto, cases in this age group rose more gradually, to about 20 per day by May 1. Cases levelled off slightly to about 18 by the end of May. Peel region saw an even more gradual increase since March, as numbers of daily cases reached more than 20 and continued to rise at the end of May.

McBean hopes to analyze similar data from other provinces.

He said he doesn't know why the under-20 results differ, although he suspects frustration over lockdown measures is rising among children and teens as well as their parents.

University of Guelph professor Ed McBean says COVID-19 cases are still increasing in Ontario’s under-20 population. (Submitted by Ed McBean)

Schools remain closed

In May, the Ontario government announced that schools will not reopen this spring and McBean said the results support their continued closure.

• Ontario government set to provide funding to child-care centres across the province

While schools have been cancelled for the rest of this spring, daycare centres face more pressure to reopen, particularly as parents look to return to work.

"All of the modelling we do says, 'Gee, that's going to be a problem,' because while the very young don't typically get catastrophic impacts [from COVID-19], they have the ability to bring it into the environment of the home, where children of that age are then able to pass it on to the older generations … so that's the fear," McBean said.

"The biggest problem going forward is: how are daycare and summer day camps going to function ... because it's all to do with contact between individuals. That's the key and this is such an incredibly transmissible virus.

"Our suggestion is proceed very carefully and focus on the high-density areas and try to get a better understanding of how daycares might operate. They're chaos … everybody shares toys and everything else. There's only so much disinfection that you can actually create," McBean said.

• More Ontario regions to enter next phase of reopening, province reports 181 new COVID-19 cases

Quebec saw an increase in cases after some students returned to school on May 11.

Between May 11 and May 31, 78 cases were confirmed among students and staff across multiple schools in Quebec.

Back to where it all began

Waterloo Region Public Health's acting medical officer of health, Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, said her office will be taking a closer look at the trends now that there has been expanded testing and the economy has started to reopen.

"It is likely to look different because before, our numbers were very much influenced by what was happening in the long-term care homes and retirement homes," Wang said.

• Here's what Ontario child-care centres must do to reopen Friday

"We could see what we saw in the beginning of the COVID pandemic in our region, which was oftentimes, it was people that weren't in the older age groups that were getting infected. That was at the beginning and we could be returning to that now."

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang is Waterloo region's acting medical officer of health. (Carmen Groleau/CBC)

Calls to continue physical distancing

Wang is urging people not to let their guard down when it comes to COVID-19.

"We are always worried about people sort of feeling that, 'OK, it's safe now and I don't really have to follow the recommendations,'" she said.

"Continue to practise physical distancing, stay at home if you're sick. I think people have to remember that this virus has not gone away, that it's still circulating in our community, we still have cases and we are still at risk of very quickly having a resurgence of cases if we're not careful."

Things Take a Strange Turn

To continue on from the summer of 2017 forward into the Fall I am going to try to describe what was going on leading up to a supposed stem cell transplant that I was taking all these tests for to make sure the rest of my body was running like it should leading into this major life change.

Still taking transfusions I was noting that my hemoglobin was dropping quicker. My white blood cells were really low. One of the immune fighting white blood cells is the Neutrophils. The minimum reading is 2.0 to 7.5. My reading jumped between 0.1 and 0.2 only with some bloodwork results showing 0. Yes just 0 and my total WBC was below 2.0  when it should have been at least 4.0 to 11.0.

So with the constant sniffles I was getting those soon spread to my chest. I had pneumonia in September and ended up in the hospital for the first time of what was many visits over the next couple of years. Walking around with an oxygen tank was a new thing for me. I had another bone marrow biopsy to bring things up to date as to my condition heading into the stem cell transplant which looked like it was going to take place in the New Year now.

Meanwhile my gut seemed to be getting bigger and because I was afraid to catch a germ and get sick spent my whole time looking out the window day after day.

Then in late October we went to Juravinski Hospital to visit the doctor in charge of getting me a stem cell transplant. She came in and broke the news. Now I was not going to have a stem cell transplant because my blood results did not call for it. I couldn't be diagnosed with anything that would warrant one. In other words no transplant because without a firm diagnosis the board would not pass it. I guess it was not urgent enough either. There were others who were more serious than I was and had maybe a few weeks or even days left to get their transplant before it was too late. That I understood but why couldn't they just decide on this outcome sooner?

She said she would pass on the news to the hematologist in Kitchener and then added what she was confused about and did not understand was with my immunity as low as it was usually people normally catch a germ and get sick and die within 3 months! With me she said it was strange that my body fought off colds etc. and bounced back. There had to be something working but wasn't sure what it was. That was sort of like hearing I had 5 years to live from my hematologist on my first visit unless I had a stem cell transplant. So what now?

So here I was with that to think about then she added the spleen has to come out.

Well at least that was a decision finally made to do something. After all these years hearing that my spleen was enlarged it was a logical way to go I thought. So we said goodbye and walked out thinking that was our last trip there.

We saw the hematologist shortly thereafter and you could see the bewilderment in her eyes. She was convinced this was a slam dunk. She said she would be contacting a surgeon who would discuss the splenectomy with us. She didn't really agree with this decision thinking that the transplant would have cured everything. But I sensed the spleen was no good and was causing the problems. I thought it was a good call. The spleen is like an oil filter on a car. It is for cleaning the impurities in the blood before it hits the liver but non-essential. Although it was better to have one as opposed to not having one.

Tomorrow I talk about the splenectomy and the infamous meeting with the surgeon before the big day.

About 3 Weeks Ago My Book Was Given a Great Review

This review was actually done by a doctor that was on duty for the few days I was in the hospital last September. We kept in touch on Facebook since that time and asked to read my book. I had one handy so he bought it for $20. He said he is an avid reader and likes stories of adventure that others experience. Well it was only about a week later he put one on Amazon. Here it is below. Thank you Marcel!

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a lot more than being a travelling bartender!

Reviewed in Canada on May 27, 2020

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this autobiographical account of the author's 17 years travelling around the world while experiencing adventure, successes and disappointments throughout that time. Reading about his many exploits, the main theme that resounded was that of the effect of having a positive and optimistic attitude. Each described experience could be viewed through a different lens. Was the author just "stubborn", with inevitable repeated setbacks - or was he "persistent" in turning a negative experience into a positive one, learning as he went along? Was he "impulsively" making bad decisions and suffering consequences - or was he "adventurous" and tackling any situation that came along with a desire for growth? The author seems to travel through so many countries and so many situations, many negative experiences and many positive ones. In the end, we get to ride along and enjoy the anecdotes, ride the ups and downs, see a young man develop into an older adult with confidence and experience. One ultimately realizes, that despite all the negative experiences, the author has also, at the same time, developed a tremendous amount of expertise in his chosen field. Without spoiling the ending (the end of the beginning), one can truly say, this man has lived!

Don't Catch a Cold

I recall one of the co-owners of the Keg telling me that he had a bone marrow transplant over 20 years ago. Back then the bone marrow transplant more referred to nowadays as a stem cell transplant or one kind of a stem cell transplant was in it's infancy. Back then you needed a sibling really or Mom or Dad's blood cell to perform the transplant. The science was not advanced as of that time to take on a blood cell from someone outside your immediate family. In fact this person was telling me that they took his own blood cells and repaired them then reintegrated them into his body. That is done a lot nowadays if it can be successfully done. It saves looking for a donor.

Well I was having a conversation with him on what it was like when he had it. He said he spent two months in the hospital then had to stay in a lodging close by the hospital to do bloodwork daily and so the doctors could monitor his progress for another three months.

I gasped hearing this as I wondered how we were going to manage if I had to stay that long in a lodging close to the hospital which was close to an hour from our place or would I be able to make the daily commute from home instead. One thing is for sure is everything had to be germ free.

He ended by saying, "just do not catch a cold or you will die."

So what happens during a bone marrow transplant is you are in the hospital a couple of weeks before this procedure takes place. You are in a room by yourself that is absolutely germ free. The idea for going in so early is that for first of all they will do a lot of tests to check you are good to go. Second of all they want to make sure you stay well for the transplant meaning have no sniffles or feeling under the weather. This is important.

Before the transplant what happens is you get chemotherapy to literally kill the blood cells in your body. In other words your whole blood gets a cleansing meaning that the Red Blood Cells and White Blood Cells are destroyed. Your body has nothing to fight germs that we run into everyday. When the ensuing bloodwork shows that the old cells are gone then they give you a blood transfusion.

In this blood transfusion are the donor's cells. Now from what I read during that summer from this book that was written by someone who went through this the recipient only receives a couple of cells to start with, not a whole bunch as you might expect.

Now if the donor is not a member of the family usually the new cells get into their new environment and begin wondering what the hell is this! The hope is they settle in nicely and begin to replicate. In some cases though they begin to act like they do not want to do this and fight. This can cause a lot of pain and anguish to the patient and concern for the doctors. From what I gathered getting through this can be super difficult. This is why they only give you a couple of cells to begin so they can see how they will react to their new environment. Quite simply if there is something wrong going into this with your other organs or these cells do not want to replicate and your body rejects them death can occur. Fortunately the success rate is now much higher than it used to be.

If all goes well though I heard it is in the hospital for six weeks or more depending on your body's recovery then as I mentioned before at home. Until they know that your blood cells and immune system are up and running staying in as close to a germ free environment is mandatory.

Now going into this my blood type is O+ but the new cells may be O- or type A for example. It doesn't matter because it is like you are a new born now. Like when we were kids we had to go get our vaccinations I would have to do that all over again.

From what I read and heard from the hematologist I could live on for another thirty years after undergoing a stem cell transplant. From the time you get the transplant it takes up to a year until you no longer need to see a doctor and get bloodwork done. You are all healed. Just regular check ups afterwards like everyone else who is healthy.

So knowing all this I got on the disability as quick as I could so our income would not drop like a stone. Also got on the free prescriptions through our provincial government.

We went on the overnight accommodation that I won with the wine contest and had a good time but my stomach was acting up and didn't feel right. At this juncture my body was changing a lot. Feet swelling and my low immunity I felt like I was always battling something and feeling fatigued.

It was a couple of weeks after I left my job that we were expecting family to stay with us from Iceland so in meantime it was regular trips to Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton while the hematologist in Kitchener I saw on the rare occasion. They were both in touch with one another regularly so it was no use seeing both. During this time every two weeks I was getting a blood transfusion and getting myself psyched up for this transplant.

Tomorrow we will start at the Fall of 2016 when things start approaching that time and a things start getting weird.