It's Weekend Update

Welcome to photo Friday!  And now for the latest news on the cancer front, my latest round of test results are starting to come in (I’ve had several tests in the past few days).  The first and only result to come in is hCG.  It indicates the presence of cancer even before signs and symptoms develop.  It’s found to be elevated in all types of cancers.  The test is to monitor progress.  The higher the hCG number, the greater degree of excess cell production and therefore, the greater concern for cancer activity and severity.

My I.U. number is 52.6 and I have to say I’m very disappointed as hard as I have been working. This single number doesn’t show a degree of activity.  What Dr. Kanodia is looking for is the direction of numbers in successive tests.  If my number rises as much as 1 point Dr. Kanodia will use additional testing and tweaking of my program.  I just keep reminding myself that the key factor is DIRECTION because this is how the hCG chart breaks down:

0=Negative

1 – 49 Doubtful

50 – 400 Faintly Positive

401 – 999 Definitely Positive

And it continues to get worse from there

But the 52.6 will be used as my baseline for future testing.  Not much I can do but focus on the here and now, take care of myself, relax, have fun, eat well, and exercise.  Tomorrow night is the Columbus All Breed Training Club’s annual dinner and this year it’s at the local Racino.  The Former Boyfriend and I are really looking forward to it as we have never been to the Racino before.

And this article from USA Today doesn’t have much to do with anything other than my heart would not have withstood Tillie being out in the cold for 62 days. Her six days were plenty.

CINCINNATI — Nearly two months after he first went missing, Karson, a Wilmington Police Department K-9, has been found safe.  At 1:24 p.m. Sunday, a Facebook page set up to track sightings of Karson announced that he was found safe.  "Karson has been found," the post read. "I have him in the truck next to me. He's alive and healthy. It's all over finally ...."

Saturday's rescue took place near Interstate 71 in Wilmington, just north of State Route 68 and in a field next to Starbuck Road.  Karson, a Belgian Malinois, was first reported missing on Dec. 23, when he escaped a boarding kennel at the Clinton Animal Care Center in Wilmington. Karson was staying at the facility when his handler, Officer Jerry Popp, was on vacation.

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The dog immediately picked up a large social media following after his disappearance — the 'K9 Karson' Facebook page had more than 24,000 likes on Sunday and daily posts from his handler received thousands of interactions.  Popp, Karson's handler and the operator of the Facebook page, posted a dramatic account of the rescue Sunday evening.  It started with a phone call from police dispatchers Saturday morning.

"A dedicated Clinton [County Sheriff's Office] deputy... told me, 'Jerry, this is your dog. It's Karson,'" the post said.  Several other people joined Popp and a sergeant from the Wilmington Police Department while they set up a perimeter around the field where Karson was spotted, according to Popp.  Karson did not respond to commands from Popp, so the group planned to approach him. They eventually had no choice but to chase him through a field.

After Karson grew tired from the chase, he turned, saw Popp and jumped into a truck at the scene.  "I then proceeded to kneel in the snow and cry," Popp said in the post.
Before he was found, Karson was spotted across Clinton and Greene counties. Karson also managed to survive a week that included record-breaking low temperatures in Southern Ohio.  A $2,000 reward was being offered for the return of Karson.  "Karson is home now," Popp said on the page. "He's sleeping now and being very quiet."