What I did on my summer vacation

[mrfixitchapman]

I got my butt kicked. Some of my Conch peeps have been wondering why I've been so quiet lately. Man, I haven't got a post in or a PM out for almost two months. Condensed version of events: I had a lump removed from under the skin on my left leg approximately 4 1/2 inches below the knee halfway around from the tibia on the inboard front of the calf muscle. Turns out to be a very rare thing called a malignant eccrine spirademona. A sweat gland turned into a tumor. July 23, 2007 I underwent a procedure called a wide excision. Visualize a tennis ball. Cut it half. Take a chunk the size and volume of that tennis ball half out of my leg. Some fun, huh? But wait! A week later I get the same procedure again because the pathology lab spotted some stray tumor cells in the hide they cut off the first time. Now Pathology is happy and I get to concentrate on healing. Oh, and the surgeon, Dr. Woman With Sharp Knives, also took out three lymph nodes from the front of my left thigh and 'borrowed' skin for a graft from the front of my right thigh. The excision site feels like an ice-cream headache, the lymph node site feels like a toothache and the skin graft donor site feels like a bad sunburn. Lately, being me kinda sucks, but the good news is I get more birthdays. You can't believe the number of times in the last month and a half that I've been laying on a gurney in a dark room somewhere breathing deeply and regularly and visualizing my favorite dives. Man, I'm telling you, those reef dives in the Bahamas, The Keys and St. Croix have come in handy!
As things stand right now I am not eligible for radiation or chemo, Everybody on the team tells me I'm a guy who used to have a tumor.
So, in a couple paragraphs that's why I've been quieter than usual.
Now I'm seeing a Physical Terrorist three or four times a week making sure the damned thing heals without causing future mobility problems.
Last year I missed my Annual Warm Saltwater Treatment. Not this time! I get off work noon on Friday December 21, 2007. Me and my wife, Margaret, will be driving toward Florida at 12:01 that day. Should put us at the AL/FL border Saturday night. I seriously want to do the Weeki Watchee New Year's gig on my way back home, (Should be a good way to get a thorough fresh-water rinse, no?) Anybody want conspire with me for trips and non-diving things for Margaret and me to do in the Conchosphere? We have some friends in WPB And Tampa, and we need to spend some quality time at SailRite in FTL, (new sewing machine and supplies for our sailboat). Post back or PM me, let's conspire!