Well, if your still flowing me, we're both surprised! It's been some time since I've written here and so much has happened in the last 10 months. Where to begin is daunting on my part. Here go's.....

The spring and summer have whizzed past in a blur, more so now because of some health issues (more on that later).

 Janet and I celebrated out 25th wedding anniversary in May. I totally caught her off guard by getting some slightly Boudoir pic's of myself done, to say the lest, NOT what she expected. Well done I think. Everyone had a good laugh about the shots, including me.

Here is one:

 

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Photography:

The old D90 workhorse has worked it's charm again and again. We captured some great shots this summer in places like Waterton National Park, Creston, Ab and Dakota Dunes fireworks display. However, it's time to put her it someone else's hands and move on up as it were. Janet has been using the D5000, which is a great camera, but knobs and menus were a bit different compared to the D90. I was always flubbing my way through to get it to do what I wanted, my fault, not the cameras.

After some careful thought, Janet and I decided to pick up two D7000's. This way we both have the same camera and accessories. I think the shooting side will work much better than before. The great thing is that allot of the controls are not that much different than the D90, so the learning curve won't be a big issue for either of us.

We did one of the two wedding's I limit myself to, in Sept. The day was a bit rainy, but we pulled it off and the couple we're fantastic to work with. The final product is just days away from there hands. So far the teaser shot's they have seen have made they teary eyed, so that's a good sign. Congrats to Elaine and Sheldon.

A group of photographers I hang with are going to be publishing a photo book, more for family, friends and us really, but It should be available for sale as well before Christmas, we'll keep you posted on that.

Family:

Well we're going to be grandparents again!!!! A new one is one the way and should be here in late December, I can't wait, I'm much better prepared this time. Marcus is growing into a fine young man with a great curiosity, something I can work with. Congrats to Angela and Robert.

 

Alan is doing good, learning fast about how credit works and how fast it can become a BIG hole that is hard to climb out of. He'll make it out of that pit and do fine, a lesson we all have to learn I guess. More in that out is the way to live.

 

OK, as promised, more on the health issue:

Back in the spring I had a lymph node go crazy on me and by May the Doc decided to biopsy it. After three such events, two came back cancerous and one benign. I had a neck dissection to remove it and another 100+ lymph nodes, only one came back with cancer, which is good, so the doctors say. Some radiation and all will be good again. Not really that simple, but for the blog we'll leave it like that. My personal opinion is that they missed something and it's a much bigger problem than they can see right now, their fix is a band aid and to be honest, my feeling is that it's much worse that they know or have figured out yet, but I'm not a doctor, so I hope like hell their right.

The 1st, 2nd, 3rd time you hear someone say cancer is WTF?? Me, really... now what. Natural in today's world is to hit the net and find a pill you can take to make it all go away, sorry folks, it don't work that way. You can try the natural cures that are out there, go with what the Dr's are telling you or do nothing. A combination of the both is what I'm trying, it's just really hard to stay up on the regime.

I've had a couple of more biopsy's, one on the tongue and another on some Lymph nodes in the right side of the chest. The tongue came back clean and we're still waiting to hear about the chest, fingers crossed.

After I had an aneurysm a few years ago I realized, with Janet's help, that I am a bit claustrophobic . Never really thought about it until the first MRI scan without taking something before I got in. They had to pull me out and give me a pill, so now every year I take a pill and slide in, all go's well.

 

With this new health problem, I've had some more scans on both machines, CT & MRI. Most went well. They made a hard mask so when radiation starts, I can't move my head and the treatments go to the exact point they want it to, fair enough. So one more CT scan and the treatments can start, good news, except that Bruce does not take a magic pill before hand. Bad plan! The CT I think I could handle without the pill anyway, however, with the mask on and your face bolted down to the table, it's very different feeling. To be honest, I have never been that scared in my life....ever! So, we had to put off the scan for a week and try it again, but with pill's to take me to my happy place. I'm up at 2:30 in the morning writing because, as I was crawling into bed hours ago, I thought about the upcoming scan and literally started shaking again. We'll relax a bit and hit the hay soon.

Janet has been amazing through all of this. Hanging out at appointment's and hospitals, all day in some cases. There are no words to describe her dedication to us has we go through this journey together. I do know for sure that I would be lost in a hospital somewhere, crying like a baby, and not having a clue when or where I have to be next if it was not for this fine lady. Pat her on the back, buy her a coffee, give her a hug whenever you see her, she deserves it. I can never say thank-you enough, I love you enough, ever.

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Well, that's it for now, and as I always seem to say, I try and keep on this blog and let you folks know what's happening. 10 months was a bit long, but we'll chat soon.

Take care and we'll chat soon,

Bruce  www.leddycreekphoto.com

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