Thu Feb 04, 2010 4:52 pm
Thanks for asking! Things are moving along. I had a recent colonoscopy and MRI of my liver. The main tumor is shrinking, there's only one visible and very small tumor left on my liver. I was told I need 12 total rounds of chemo before they will perform the surgery to remove about a foot of colon and sort of whittle the spots off my liver. This coming monday will be round number 9. Been having a bad reaction to one of my chemo drugs, so that's making it really difficult. By the end of treatment I pretty much pass out. But what the hell, only 4 to go. My CEA count (tumor marker in the blood) has gone from a 26 to 2.9! The average non smoker has a 2.5, so I'm almost there. It's been a tough journey, but the support from everyone here has made it easier to deal with. I cannot express enough how much it means to me to have complete strangers care about my condition. Thank you all. By the way, I took Tavish's suggestion and made a Belgian Strong Dark-10 gallons. Half fermented on its own, the other half is in secondary with tart cherries! Gonna let this age for a few months, then bottle and lay it down. I'll be sending some your way brotha! You'll need to drink one on Oct. 8th (my diagnosis day) and again on March 22nd, 2011 (one year after my last treatment). This thing is HUGE, so it should age quite well. Thanks again to everyone for your support!
On Deck: Brown Porter for Souring in Oak Barrel
Primary: Air
Secondary: Carcinoma Quad
Bottled: 10g Berliner Weiss, Sour Wit, Smoked Hefeweizen
Aging in Oak Barrel: Flanders Red, soon to be bottled, replaced with Porter
