Round 10....

Look like this is going to go to a 15-round prize fight. Thus far...the last CEA (tumor) marker went from 25 down to 19.9. So the treatment is slowing down...bur its still working for now.

The last CT scan the doctors were playing Where's Waldo with the tumor in the liver as they can't find it. So it slowly going into remission...but we're not there yet.

But it starting to take a physical if not emotional toll. Each round is getting harder to tolerate...but we're doing whats necessary...as it beats the alternative.

In other news...I passed my Strategy and War exam for Air Command and Staff College. Not as well as I would have liked... but a pass is pass. I should hopefully graduate at the end of next month or so...finally. Just depends on how well I handle the material from here on out.

Done...finally

After two months of cajolling...arguing...yelling...ranting...and yes...even moving...

The house is finally ours.

The closing was yesterday and we have our little patch of heaven. if only for a little while...

i was eying a Ram Pickup to buy today to add a snow blade for the winters.

Iran...

I was born and raised in the U.S. and barely speak a lick of Farsi let alone speak it fluently. But like a moth to the flame, I am inexplicably drawn to the affairs of a half world away. I remember in vivid horror the events of Tianamen Square and a sole protestor facing off a tank to his demise. Now I see pictures in the news and left dumbstruck that my family...my relatives are now the ones being brutalized by two despicable despots. Khamenei and the so-called "Assembly of Experts" who rule Iran as an oligarchy with their lap dog Ahmedinejad have run that country into the ground. The students who fell under the sway of the false prophet Khomenei are now reaping what they have sown...seeing their children brutalized by the Islamic Republic. A country raped and plundered by the clergy.

Now my political beliefs have never been clearer...Iran must return to a true Constitutional Monarchy a la Edmund Burke's "Reflection's on the Revolution in France". Burke supported the American Revolution but denounced the French Revolution because the former was consistent with the history and traditions of the American colonists who lived there. Similarily...Iran's history...other than this 30 year aberration...or abomination...has been ruled by a sole autocrat. Imposing an American style presidential system would be catastrophic on the Iranian people...but a political system akin to the British parliamentary system with a constitutional monarch guiding the country would be a genuine positive step in the right direction. Now I differ from many of Persian or Iranian descent....including several members of my own family. But I'm humbly reminded that while i may pontificate from my little farm in the Midwest....people are being arrested and beaten for the liberties we passively pay lip service to here. I shudder to think of my own cousins...whom Ive never met...who are now those young students in the throngs of exerting their political will over these two despots.

Now honestly...of the presidential candidates of the Islamic Republic of Iran...i have no feeling toward Mossavi and certainly no love of Ahmedinejad....who I've studied ad nauseum over the last four years. The latter's fixation for nuclear weapons and his desire to see the return of the Mahdi...should be a cause for concern...not for the Iranian people....but for all people. But there is also a certain measure of pride seeing the Iranian people protest in front of the Federal Building in L.A. in solidarity with the Iranians in Tehran...shouting against the regime that has pushed its people too far for the last time.

Start of Round 7....just over half way done

Well...after yet another two rounds of chemotherapy...the tumor markers came back and there is another drop... from 69.9 to 40.6. Not quite the 50 percent of the last markers...so things are slowing down...but a drop nonetheless. The doctors want to continue to Round 12...but realistically....I think we're going to need to go to Round 14 and test after that...If it keeps halving...then it should be back to normal by Round 14. If we get to that point...surgery may be an option once again. You only need 10 percent of your liver to live....

In other news....read a very disturbing article today on how California has 50 days before it enters a financial meltdown. Makes me feel very secure knowing I now live in the country, have my stockpile of food and guns...because things are about to get ugly.

the sad thing is that the credit markers that the Chinese and Europeans hold for the U.S. all come due in 2011. Obama's health plan and bailout spending is going to trigger the financial nightmare everyone is dreading...I fear for this country and for us all. jon voight may be the one who gets the last laugh...

I feel like Sarah Conner..."i survive the cancer to face a new nightmare...."

So...the FOURTH time is the charm!

Ok...being the rather astute student of War that I am ( believe me on this one...) I thought that my Air Command and Staff College National Security exam should be the proverbial "walk in the park". Heck, I aced the first exam (Leadership and Command) with a 90 percent without cracking the book open. My other Professional Military Education courses (Airman Leadership School, NCO Academy, the Joint Senior NCO Academy) were passed with flying colors (with again minimal looking at the book...I retook NCO Academy because I was being a smartass and decided to go for speed...instead of accuracy) .

So everything was/is my favor to just blow through this exam right...

WRONG!

First attempt...

took it...no preparation...

Failed. (66)

Ok...no big deal...I can prepare...
no test is going to lick me...

Second attempt...Failed (68)

Grr.....grumble...grumble...grumble...
this is stupid...
I should have passed this....
Ok....no big deal....

Third Attempt...
significant studying...used highlighters....
Failed (68)

WTF Man!!!!

Took several months away from book...
disenrolled and re-enrolled in course...
Fourth Attempt....

Scheduled test...with firm test date.
Opened book...read book cover to cover...
slept with book...took copious notes of study questions
Day before test...sleep lots before test.
Day of test...final study review...read responses to questions
Took test. Grumble...grumble...grumble....aced test.

About fricking time man!

On to the next module!

Round 5...or Bill, Ted, and Bob's Excellent Adventure!

Ok...since I've gotten two pieces of excellent news this week...I felt that today was going to be the day it all came crashing down. So much so, I really didnt get any sleep last night ( which makes me a happy camper at Chemotherapy...let me tell you...). Anyways, I went to Chemo fully expecting the worst. So you can expect my surprise when the nurse told me the new marker number.

Or from our friends Bill S. Preston Esquire and Ted "Theodore" Logan, tell me a number you thinking of from 0-100 when outside the Circle K.

Bill and Ted: "69!!"

(Well 69.9...but I'm rounding down today. )

The marker is down from 356 on March 3rd to 176 in April and now down to 69(.9) today.

Strange things are definately not afoot at the Circle K today.

Promotion:

Effective 28 April 2009, I was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel...which was certainly a welcome surprise since I assumed I wasn't eligible until December. Which means I really need to get my rear in gear to get Air Command and Staff College done. Especially if I'm planning on starting Air War College in September. Should make for a fun conversation at work since I work for an AF Lt Col and his boss (the Group Commander) is also an AF Lt Col both of which are slated to start War College in the Fall. Looks like I have my own built in study group. :)