My Battle with Merkel Cell Cancer

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of mine and St Agnes Medical Center are in a dispute. I received the subpoena Thursday
night for Monday morning. I was never deposed or given any warnings. I called the
attorney who was named on the subpoena, and after a brief conversation in which I
played the cancer card, I was told they wouldn't need me. I guess having cancer isn't all
bad.
Posted by David Shuster at 02:19PM (-07:00)
A Clarification About the Subpoena
Monday, May 23, 2011
Rereading my last post, I am afraid I may have left the wrong impression about who
issued this subpoena. It came from the attorneys representing St. Agnes Medical Center
of Fresno. It did not come from the plaintiff's attorneys.
The contact name is an associate at the law firm of Jones Day, Los Angeles office. The
letterhead lists 32 locations including Beijing, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, New York.
Posted by David Shuster at 09:20AM (-07:00)
My Follow-up Medical Appointment
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Today, I went back for my appointment. Dr Flam is out of town so I saw his assistant,
Marina.
I had labs done as per the routine. Today, I was fasting as I wanted to document a
normal blood sugar fasting. The last was 176, and fasting, it was 110. This is an
indication that I am not diabetic. Hemoglobin is 11.6, up from 11.2 two weeks ago,
platelets normal at 162,000. The interesting result is that my white count is 20.8
thousand. This is elevated and raises the possibility of a significant infection. However,
an internet search suggests that this is result of the injection of Neulasta.
I do not have symptoms of infection apart from mild sore throat and gum tenderness.
My constipation has passed, so to speak, after stopping Zofram, and there is no nausea.
My mouth is dry. Taste is diminished. We went to the salad bar last night for dinner. Most
evident is the loss of the ability to taste sweetness. The tapioca pudding, a favorite of
mine tasted like they forgot to put the sugar in it.
The mental fog and fatigue have disappeared.
My hair is still there. Perhaps I got the buzz cut prematurely. Hair growth has slowed, and
I need to shave only every 3-4 days.
I plan to return to the bridge club to play Friday afternoon.
We are invited to a wedding on Saturday and we plan to go. The bride is our son Gary's
first wife, Margaret, (Eva's Mom). They are all on good terms. I would like to see a survey
of what percentage of people are invited to their ex daughter-in-law's wedding. I would
guess not more than 15%. We were happy to be included.
Eva will be a junior bridesmaid, and I hope to grab a few photos for the blog.
Our very good friend, Andrea, sent me an email about playing the "Cancer Card". She is
a miraculous 20 year survivor of breast cancer for which she was given only a short time
to live.
"One day, when I was still in the middle of pretty heavy chemo, we decided to go to the
Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner. The place was mobbed and people were all but hanging
from the chandeliers. In horror, I mentioned to the hostess that we better not stay
because I was so fatigued from all the chemo and couldn't sit up long enough to both wait
to be seated and eat dinner. She assured me that there would be no problem, and
My Battle with Merkel Cell Cancer