December 28, 2010 - The Journey Begins

It may appear strange to have the start of a life's journey at my age. It may be better described as the start of the final leg of life's journey.

On December 13th, I was admitted to hospital with shortness of breath and a rather significant pitted edema in my lower legs. I spent four days in hospital undergoing a battery of test to determine the cause of my health issues.

On December 28th, 2010, Barb and I met with the doctor to review the information available to date. The end result of all this is a diagnosis of a disease called Systemic Amyloidosis; a disease without a known cure. My body is producing, at a "hellfire rate", Amyloid protein that is invading the organs of my body. So far, my heart is down to about 10% capacity and my kidneys are not working all that well. The standard treatment is chemo therapy, that may with luck, stop the Amyloid protein production. The bad news, the damage that has been done can't be reversed.

The long term prognosis, is in fact, quite short, perhaps in the range of 4 to 6 months.

All of this has necessitated my stepping aside as District Governor - elect for Rotary District 7010 and as District Governor for 2011 - 2012.

It is my plan to make daily posts to this blog to keep my friends up to date on my progress. Some of the posts may be as simple as "no change".