lew

Thanks once again everyone and this will be my final update but I just wanted to let everyone know that Diane is now home from the hospital and feeling pretty darned good. I find it absolutely amazing that a person can have a major surgery on Tuesday and be home on Friday afternoon and it says a whole bunch about the wonderful health care system we have in the country. Lakeridge Health in Oshawa is a fantastic hospital and everyone from the surgeon to the cleaning staff and everyone in between was great and they all treated Diane like she was the most important person in the building. She was in Critical Care the whole time and the nursing staff that work there are absolutely top notch and I can't praise them enough. And finally, thanks to all on this board that have supported us thru this lousy time.

That's exactly what Diane and I did this week Cliff and it all turned out well and it will for you & yours too.

As mentioned in another thread I've been staying in an Oshawa hotel while my wife undergoes surgery and I'm checking out today so they slipped my bill under the door thru the night. Looking at the itemized bill I see 3 charges for $2.83, one for each night I've been here, for a total of $8.49 for something called Direct Marketing Fee. I don't stay in hotels too often and have never seen it before so I went to the front desk to inquire and was told it's a fee some hotel chains charge and they use the $$$$ to promote tourism. I told the front desk clerk I agreed on a price when I booked the room a few weeks ago and this wasn't included and I had no intention of paying it so it was removed from my bill. I'm far from cheap and certainly not a trouble maker but it sure pi$$es me off when companies try and slip something thru to get money that I haven't agreed on. It's only $8.49 per room but it must be a huge amount of money collected if everyone lets it go. Anyhoo, that's my little mini rant for a Thursday morning and my apologies for wasting your time.

Best of luck with your families health issues Cliff.

Morning everyone and thanks for all the good wishes for my wife. It sure was nice waking up this morning knowing this lousy stuff is behind us now and hopefully forever. One of the 1st things Diane said in the recovery room yesterday was how happy she was to be rid of the cancer and I could really see it in her smile. It's a horrible disease that has taken too many of mine and your friends and family over the years and hopefully they'll come up with a full cure someday.

Hi guys I hadn't planned on bumping this post to the top again but we've received so many emails, phone calls and PM's since I told about my wife's cancer that I just can't reply to everyone individually. The surgery was performed at Lakeridge Hospital in Oshawa this morning and the surgeon says it was a complete and total success. Part of her left lung was removed in a 3 hour operation along with the cancerous tumor and she is now completely cancer free. Diane is in the Critical Care Unit for a couple days then will move to a regular room for a couple days more then she heads home. The doctor says after a bit of recuperation she'll be nearly as good as ever and will lose a bit of lung function but not enough to even really notice. She walks 3 miles almost every day and the doc says that'll continue with no problems. He said she wouldn't be able to climb a mountain but Diane said that's not a big deal because she couldn't climb a mountain before the surgery LOL It's been a very tough couple months for my family and friends but as I type this I feel like a hundred pounds has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm staying in an Oshawa hotel close to the hospital but it'll sure be nice to get home in a few days and Diane starting to enjoy life again. Thank you VERY much to all that have emailed, phoned, PMed and in general just really helped my wonderful wife get through a tough couple months. Your really a great group.

I have a cousin about 70 years old who was born in Canada, has been on welfare her entire life and has never worked a single day since the day she was born. She was never married yet had 6 kids by 6 different men. She told me I was a sucker & a complete idiot for working hard. I'll take just about any immigrant over this lazy piece of garbage.

I've got a 150 Yammie 4 stroke and it costs me about $85 for fluids and parts and an hour of my time. Very simple to do and leaves a bunch of $$$$ in my pocket.

Very nice fish Matt, and I agree with you 100% about the moon phases.

Congrats on some very nice fish, that part of the river is always a good producer this time of year.

My guess is the shooting in Ottawa is getting the most attention simply because of where it took place, right at the Cenotaph, a place so sacred to most Canadians, while the soldier in Quebec was just in a parking lot. I also think it's the same with the Sergeant at Arms being hailed as a hero for killing the punk, while the cop who killed the Quebec coward doesn't even have his name mentioned by the press. It's unfortunate things happen this way, but it is what it is. This is all just my opinion though.

My daughter was eastbound on the 401 yesterday when she met up with the motorcade coming towards her and pulled over to the side of the highway along with everyone else. She said it was unbelievably touching to see the respect being shown to the fallen soldier from so many hundreds of total strangers and is something she'll never forget. Our Remembrance Day services in a couple weeks will be a little bit different this year. I've always been extremely proud to be a Canadian and even more so when the country comes together like it has this week to honor our military. I just hope the soldier that was murdered in Quebec the day before is receiving the same type of recognition as the one that died in Ottawa, but for some reason I'm just not hearing much about him on the news.

Here's hoping things get much better after this episode Wayne, Jen's been through an awful lot these last few years.

I served in the Navy in the 60's then when I left the service I joined the fire department in Toronto and spent the next 32 years there. I retired at 53 and for the last 14 years have never regretted packing it in early for even one minute. I do what I want, when I want and don't have to answer to a single person other than my wife. We live a fabulous life in the country and life is great. The old saying that once you retire you don't have enough hours in the day to do everything you want is absolutely true. I've had too many friends and family die before they even had a chance to enjoy life and I have absolutely no intention of being one of them. When your retired, every day is Saturday morning.

The man got himself a tattoo that's he's happy with and decided to share it with everyone. He didn't ask anyone if they liked tattoo's or not but that didn't stop a few from voicing their opinions that they don't like them. If you don't like tattoo's, don't get one, simple as that. Looks real nice worm dangler.

Very Nice Regan, she's a beaut for sure.

Hello everyone, this is Lew's better half Diane . I would like to thank everyone for all the good wishes & hoping that everything goes well.

Thanks for the offer Gerritt but I've pretty well got it all covered. I'm only 30 minutes north east of Havelock though if you ever want to stop buy for a java.

Thanks very much Pete & Dave, the words of encouragment mean a lot to Diane

Thanks once again boys !!

Thanks manjo, and funny how we feel like we know folks around here even though we've never met. Good to hear of your dad's full recovery and we're hoping for likewise.

Thanks for all the good wishes folks, it means a lot to both of us. And Cliff, thanks for the offer of a place to stay during Diane's time in hospital, it's much appreciated, but it's already covered. It's been a scary time around here for the last couple months but we're both feeling pretty confident now after talking with the doctor. This is evidently the most common type of lung cancer and this is the surgery that's normally used and with good success, specially when it's caught early like this. We host a big Christmas party every year and Diane always goes overboard making it nice for everyone, but now between myself and some friends we've convinced her to cancel it this year and I think that's got her more upset than the illness LOL

Bad news is my wife developed a cold awhile back that lingered so our doctor decided to take an X-ray and when they looked at it a spot appeared in the picture by her left lung. Another picture was taken and it was still there so they did a Cat-scan and the darned spot was still there. Diane was sent to a cancer surgeon and he thought it looked like it could be cancer, infact he was kinda sure it was so he set up a whole bunch of tests for confirmation.. The last month or so we've been travelling between Peterboro, Oshawa & Toronto hospitals where my wife has undergone more tests then you would believe. Now the good news. We had another meeting with the surgeon yesterday and it turns out it's a small early stage cancer and hasn't spread anywhere else and is confined to the upper lobe of her left lung. Diane's scheduled for surgery November 4th where a section of her upper lung will be removed along with all the cancer. The surgeon will make 3 small (ish) incisions and will remove it through them. There'll be a couple days in intensive care, then a few more days in a regular room and if all goes well, she'll be home in less than a week. We'll be needing some crossed fingers when the time comes, but I've got a lot of faith in this doctor and everybody feels this will all have a happy ending. Our 48th wedding anniversary is coming up in a couple weeks and I've already told her I'm counting on another 48. I'm only posting this because we've made alot of friends on this board in the last 12 years and many know about this and I just wanted everyone to know things are now looking up. All prayers will be gratefully received though.

As mentioned above, forget the glove as they can be more trouble than anything. Muskies are very strong and un-believably fast when they start thrashing around as your trying to get the hooks out. Be VERY careful and use the long nosed pliers and hook cutters, and when you feel the fish start to tighten up...and you will...it means she's about to thrash so get your hands away from her mouth. Good luck and let's see the pictures of your trip.

You've got an awful lot of water to cover with a 14' & 9.9, hope you've got a game plan LOL