Hi all!  I updated the hairstory slideshow with some pictures from the "lost years".  One of them's pretty gruesome, so be careful.  Two of them are not really me.  

My skull is healing in earnest.  So it hurts more than it used to, at least more than it did since when I figured I was ok to stop the prescription pain meds.  I've been able to get by with advil, but the other day I did take a half of one of the pain pills.  I've been trying to lay low and it's been backfiring.  I've been getting out of the house a little too much.  So, tonight I'm staying in.   In good news:  My sleep last night was as close to normal as I've had since the surgery.  I slept for 4 hours, then up for about 45 minutes playing guitar, then down for another 4 hours, then a false start at getting up which procured another two hours of sleep for me.  Apparently I'm not behaving myself.  

I've been trying to help with the April 7th fundraiser, since it's right around the corner.  I was feeling the cabin fever pretty hard the other day when it was nice and sunny, so I went to some music stores that like and wanted to mention that two of the silent auction items came from Normandy Guitars in Salem, OR.  Jim, the CEO and president donated some sweet bling (a beanie with strings and a cool t-shirt).  I also went to my friends in McMinnvile at Double D Music on Third Street by the bike store.

If you have stuff, services, etc. that you'd like to donate for the auction, please click the contact form in the upper right of this page.  You can either email me with questions or you can call the phone number that's at the bottom of the page.  Again, if you want to help but haven't much in the way of resources, poster plastering is always helpful.  Here is the information sheet about what the benefit is for.  And, here is the pdf of the flyer for the show.  I've also put an event on facebook out if you want to spread the word that way.  This should be a great time for everyone involved. 

Again, it's impossible to adequately express my gratitude in words.  The amount of support I've gotten from people has been wonderful and profound.  Thank you.  >---HUGS---<

Today was a great day.  I have felt really strong all day.  A couple of friends came over and we watched a movie that was really great called Valentin, an Argentinian movie that was really well done.  I got a call from another friend admonishing me to not be quite so active.  After hearing the message, I did indeed take a nap.  I spent the evening playing some guitar and then watched some stuff on Netflix to educate myself about some side effects of some medication I'm on.  I'm taking a steroid to quell some inflammation from the surgery.  The side effect is high blood sugar.  I'm going to two of my docs tomorrow and I'm guessing they're both going to go for temporary use of insulin.  So I've been watching some shows about diabetes and managing and preventing (lifestyle change stuff) the disease.  This led to some yoga stuff which just watching through it and not really participating was quite calming.  So today was a good day.  I started learning a new song today.  Here's the originator of the tune - nearly my namesake, Keb' Mo', short for Kevin Moore.

Today was not the most fun day.  Yesterday I had a weird sensation in my left arm and leg again that was new since the surgery.  I called the Neuro and she said to go to the ER and get it double checked.  So I did.  It took five hours, but nothing is scary. The CAT scan showed that there wasn't any new growth and blood work all showed normal.  They though maybe I was having some mini-seizures (not uncommon) that were causing some of those weird sensations, and that possible some swelling had caused the seizures.  So they did what sounds pretty straightforward and gave me some steroids for the swelling and an anti-seizure medication.  It took all day, but there it is.  Nice that it's good news to report.

Here are a couple of pdf files if you'd like to assist in spreading the word about the benefit concert(s).  Please feel free to distribute them at will.

April 7th - "Hard Rock for a Hard Knock" -  Info sheet, for posting along with the concert fliers.  If you have an item or a service you wish to donate, contact me by clicking the contact link in the upper right corner of the blog page (next to tumor blog) and I'll send you form to fill out.

April 7th at the Rabbit's Hole - Hard Rock for a Hard Knock benefit - Thanks to George of Majik for this flyer!


General information sheet - Thanks to Stephanie Shea of the Carroll Raum Swing Orchestra for the graphic design!

The flyer for the Koncert for Kevin on June 30th is coming very soon. ;)

Thanks to everyone.  It's been really a great support for me to hear all of the comments.  Sorry for the interruption in blog content delivery. :)

So, I'm on the way out the door for the post-op appointment.  I get the staples in my head removed today.  The next big day is Friday when I go for the initial meeting with the radiation doctor who will be doing the gamma knife treatment.

This is for Vanessa who has been ordering up a photo history of my hair while I'm at this particularly unusual point in the history of my hair.

This is from Marcella, who has been helping coordinate stuff around the house a lot for Jai and I.

I've gotten into the groove of things now.  I get up and know essentially what to expect from the day.  I have my tea and check correspondence like usual.  I even [very carefully] drank a single beer yesterday without it being scary.  I still woke up with a headache, but I think the beer and the headache are unrelated in this case. ;) 

A couple of dates are coming up.  The fundraiser in Dallas, OR at The Rabbit's Hole bar is on April 7th which is frighteningly close - only three weeks away.  Thanks to John and Dana Gibson and their band Majik (Jai's rock band) for instigating that one. 

The lineup, r so fais:
Brittany Woods
Kenny Lee and the Sundowners (blues)
Majik
There might be a brief jam in there for some people who want to perform in a less official manner.  Use the contact form on my site to speak up if you'd like to do that.


The jazz-centric Portland fundraiser is on June 30th.  Special thanks to Tom Robinson for heading up the committee to make that work.

June 30th 7-9pm

Several years ago now I had a guitar student who worked really hard.  But as he grew, he grew into other creative fields.  Mostly he's been making films lately and here's an old one of his that he edited up several years ago from other movies that he likes.  His name is Grant Krick and he's going to do some stuff in the movie world I'm certain.  But I post this here and say, "Thanks, Grant!"

So, after visiting the oncologist today, I learned that I will indeed be getting a few gamma knife treatments, followed up by some very close scrutiny over the next couple of years.  What this means is that the road ahead is not scary, like when I had to do Interferon for a year.  He said that the PET scan from before showed no other instances of cancer in my body and that the MRI showed nothing also.  He also mentioned that a good quality CAT scan is 98% as good as an MRI.  I don't really have a point of reference for that myself, though.  But this is a HUGE relief.