Pete’s Musings

Terry DiMonte leaves CHOM FM, ROB KEMP from Mix96 takes over!To me, this is probably the biggest news to hit Montreal for a very long time. As a kid, the first person I listened to on the radio was Terry. As a teen, I grew up listening to Terry. When I went to college in Montreal, I listened every morning! And when I went away to the US to work on my career and got homesick for Montreal … I listened to Terry on the internet! It’s weird to say this … Terry really made me feel at home wherever I was. I can think of no greater tribute to the guy than to say that. Terry is forever in Montreal’s heart and soul, and will be missed by all. Read More »

Sometime today my website counter crossed the 4000 site hits (8500 page counts). In the grand scheme of things, I guess that’s not a lot for just under 3 years … but it’s not insignificant for sure! Works out to about 4 hits a day. No one is subscribed to my RSS feed except myself (do people actually use this? lol)

Main visitors seem to come from Read More »

Well, I’ve been sitting on this for almost a week now, guess I had better let it out. Had an incredibly discouraging visit with my Dr last thursday. After 4-5 months of my Liver function tests not budging at all, they finally moved. Unfortunately, they moved in the wrong direction. We saw a jump of 25-35% across the board. I am now back to the point where I am just a few steps away from the danger zone (which is about 2-3 times normal LFTs) where it wouldn’t take much to push me into liver failure. Really bad news. What’s worse is that my Dr doesn’t really seem to know what to do about it. The meds obviously aren’t doing the trick. Read More »

Had my monthly visit with my Liver specialist yesterday. Also had a full abdominal ultrasound. Things are looking ok. Blood work is still improving, albeit slower. My liver enzymes (ALT and AST) are still elevated, but my billirubin and INR are really close to normal. Here’s a plot of my results … Read More »

Now this is one pissed-off kitty! LoL. Took my sister’s cat, Maggie (a.k.a. Stupid Cat) to the Pet Salon earlier this week … this is the result. (she’s not smart enough to clean herself properly, so her long fur was getting all bunched up … had to be shaved off) I laugh every time I see her. Read More »

Things seems to have taken a downward turn of late. Swelling in my abdomen is getting really bad again … I think I’ve regained about half of what I lost immediately following release from my hospital stay. My feet are a mess - feels like they are on fire while taking a shower (even though the water is only warm on rest of body). Feet turn purple … seemingly at random - not due to cold, elevation, time of day. Pain around the liver area, especially along the inside of my right ribs (as if something was getting pushed against it). Yesterday I had probably the worst case of leg cramps I’ve ever had - sent me to the bed screaming (for about 5 mins) from the pain coming from both shins. And on top of that, I’m getting itchy again - which apparently is an indication that by bilirubin levels are rising. Got this gland or lump in my neck/chin area that get swollen and painful periodically - not sure why. And I’m really tired, taking naps morning, noon and evening … then waking up at 3am not able to sleep. Trip to grocery store is exhausting to me. So ya, liver is either not functioning as good as before, or is getting attacked more rigorously. Read More »

Well, it’s been a difficult couple of days for myself and my faithful furry companion of 15 and a half years. Tuesday evening I went to pick up Tiger from the vet after his day long observation, exam, and xray. As it turns out, poor little kitty had a tumour growing in one of his lungs and the other lung had started to fill up with fluid - probably related to the tumour. His bones had really become frail and decalcified also. Doctor said it’s most likely cancer of some kind and there’s really nothing we can do about it. Read More »

This keeping track of my health thing is starting to get old. lol. But little else going on around here, so WTH … I made some graphs that I’ll show you later. Had a visit with my Liver Specialist last Thursday. He lowered my Prednisone dose to 40mg/day to help with ‘the shakes’. It’s been 4 days now, and they’re still there. Guess I’m just going to have to live with them for a while because the more I lower the meds, the longer it’s going to take for my system to get back into working order. Read More »