Hello, can you hear me?

Good evening everyone,

Yesterday I had an appointment with Dr. Filatov at 11:15am in Prince George.  For some unknown reason he was unable to see me yesterday.  I will now see him March 4th here in Vanderhoof and then again April 15th in PG.

At 1:00pm I had an appointment to have my hearing tested at the Costco store in PG.  Patricia Murrow, Hearing Aid Manager, administered the test.  This is a very new Department at Costco in PG only having opened for business January 19th this year.  The test took about 40 to 45 minutes and the results were somewhat startling to me.  My hearing in both ears is severely impaired especially in the higher hertz ranges.  Simply said I need hearing aids in both ears.

I received a copy on the test and she sent one to Dr. Filatov.  Ms Monrow also gave me an estimate of the cost of hearing aids for both ears.  It is her opinion that some of the hearing loss may be as a result of the radiation but she cannot say for sure.  Dr. Filatov will have to be the judge of that.  For most of you who know me my hearing has been on the slide for a number of years.  It's the severe loss that I am now experiencing which surprises me the most.

Today I called ManuLife, my supplemental health care provider, to find out what I should do now.  Since the cost of the 2 hearing aids is less than $3,000, I simply order the devices, pay for them and then submit a claim for 90% reimbursement.  My coverage allows for replacement hearing aids every three years.  Once the cost exceeds $3,000 total, I must have prescription from Dr. Filatov before I can claim reimbursement.  A pretty simple plan for sure.  There you have it.  It will take about 2 to 3 weeks to order the hearing aids and have the ear pieces made.  I will have the over the ear style as the miniature hearing aids which fit inside the ear do not have the amplification that I need.  The hearing in my right ear is 85% at 110 decibels and in the left ear slightly better where I hear 60% at 80 decibels.  So you can see that I can hear but it must be loud!

That's it for tonight folks.  I'll bring you up to date as time goes on.  On Saturday, Valentines day, it will be exactly 1 year since I was diagnosed with the cancer.  It has been an up and down year for me and not one I would wish on anyone.  On the positive side Dolores and I have lots to be thankful for and that my recovery has been steady and ongoing.

Love to all,

Rick

I'm back again

Howdy all,

I have been under the weather for the past 5 days fighting with a flu bug that has laid me low.  I have not been able to tolerate my tube feed and my appetite has gone south.  As a result I've lost 7 pounds in 5 days and I'm below 170 pounds for the first time in over a month.  Today is the first day that I have not suffered any nausea or stomach cramps since the bug set upon me on Wednesday.  I have had a terrible time sleeping at night.  The persistent cough has raked my upper chest and right shoulder so bad that I've been taking unusually large amounts of liquid T3 with Codeine which causes a whole lot of other problems as I'm sure you all know.

Today Dolores and I went and saw Jim and Vicky Ford  who introduced us to Reconnective Therapy which is a healing process developed by Dr. Eric Pearl (refer to his book The Reconnection (Heal Others, Heal Yourself).  In the simplest of terms, the process aligns the strands of our DNA to the energy of the universe and the magnetic Grid which surrounds the earth.  It is a hands off treatment and I cannot say for sure what benefit, if any, I received from the treatment today.  The easiest way to explain it is to liken it to the "Atunement" I practised while I was meeting for Sunday Services with the Emissaries of the Devine Light in Prince George.  It was a very peaceful experience.

My battle with cancer has left me very open to alternative cures and treatments which perhaps I would have pooh poohed a year ago, before this all began.  I have Dr. Pearls book and intend to read it this week to gain a better understanding of the healing process and what it involves.  I will pass on more in a later post. 

Calving season has begun.  Of the 78 pregnant cows, five new calves have been born in the last 4 days.  Not all has been this good as one cow "slipped" her calf and then she died 2 days later. Early last week another cow was in labour but the calf died during the birthing process.  When you are a farmer raising livestock, unfortunately you sometimes have dead stock and that is a fact of life.  We all hope that the remaining cows have healthy and normal calves.

I hope you are all well and in good health.  Please remember I love to hear from you.  Please send me your thoughts etc. at rdhoney@tlpg.com or call me at 250-567-9516.

Until later, love to everyone,

Rick, formerly known as Lumpy