Well, one of my commitments was to try and exercise more while I'm on the road for work. I think this has been a contributor to my weight gain over the last 6 months. Did a good job this trip. I walked about 15-20 blocks a day to and from work, managed to hit the gym one day and also played intense squash on another, so got in 2 work-outs out of 4 days.  

Poe's Progress

It's been a while since I've been down to 165, but need to get down there. I need to do this without cutting my favorite food (ice cream) otherwise it's not worth it. So, going to rely on kicking up the exercise , trying to get more gym sessions in around the racquetball. Another big thing is, I need to exercise when I travel.

Fried foods are gone. Can't have ice cream as often, so might mix in some sherbet during the summer.

Going to track it here.

poe

Poe's Progress

I posted in the forum a bit back about a cyst that my beagle Lucky has developed on one of her pads. I brought her to our vet, (who by the way looks exactly like the pregnant cop from Fargo - Francis McDormitt?) and I guess it's even more than the cyst. It looks like the cyst has somehow ruptured into the pad itself, filling it with blood. My vet's theory is it was because of the frozen tundra my backyard has become, and the extra pressure caused it to rupture. She gave us anti-biotics to try and get the swelling down and said if it's not better in 2 weeks, we'll need to surgically remove the cyst and maybe do something with the pads.

Well, it's 2 weeks this Tuesday and poor Lucky is still limping. The swelling looks a little lower, but it's clearly still inflamed and bothering her. It's looking like we'll need to do surgery. I'm a little nervous, never having done surgery with a pet before. Hopefully this is a pretty basic surgery, but I'll know more next week.

poe

Hi,

I want to use this space to spread the word about Skin Cancer (Melanoma). I was diagnosed with Skin Cancer on my right arm when I was 32. I had skin graft surgery to remove this and have not had another instance since.

I was lucky. I want to write this so maybe one other person out there doesn't need to just be lucky to recover 100%.

I'd had a small mole on my right arm as far back as I could remember. So, of course never thought anything of it. Turns out, since I'd always had it, I didn't notice the very slow changes occurring to it. I didn't notice it getting darker, or changing shape slightly. It just always seemed like it'd been like that. It happens when things move so slow, your mind adjusts to the new reality. So, two years ago, simply sitting in my dentist's chair getting a cleaning, wearing a short sleeve shirt, my dentist mentioned that it looked dark and I should get it looked at. At first I dismissed it, figuring I'd always had it, but I happened to have my annual physical that month and while I was there I asked about it. He assured me it was probably nothing, but let's take a quick test anyway. So, he took a sample (a more or less painless process) and sent it off to the lab. Well, a week later, I had tested positive, and was scrambling to find out more about Melanoma (thanks MedHelp) and to schedule surgery with a Dermatologist to have it removed.

The key was that I caught it early. I'm not a doctor, so bear with me if some of this isn't perfect medically, but Melanoma essentially moves downward into your skin. As long as you catch it while it's in the skin you have a terrific chance of isolating it just to that location and being perfectly fine. Those chances drop significantly if it has time to get down into the blood stream. At that point it can spread easier and needless to say, this isn't good.

The advice I give all my friends, and wanted to put here is simple. If you have a mole or something irregular, in particular if it's dark in color, odd in shape or raised from the skin, have your primary care doctor check it out. It's a simple process. Doesn't involve the hospital or a specialist. Let your doctor determine if you need a test, but just ask.

Catching it early makes a world of difference.