Mike Swafford's Blog
Like A Champ
It was a fantastic Birthday
Trina pulled off not only a great surprise by getting a couple of people to come in from out of town. Including Dave all the way from St. Louis. I will follow up and edit this with a list of who the people are in the video and some other highlights from the day.
Covid Boy
When I got cancer I became Cancer Boy so now that I have had Covid I figure I might as well be Covid Boy too. There’s another time and place to talk about the seriousness of Covid and how miserable it has been but now that I’m starting to lift from the fog, I’d rather share the lighter side of the last couple of weeks having Covid with Trina.
The thermometer story
Daily on my mid-day show on K-BEAR and on my Saturday show on MY 105-9 I have been sharing my life as a new guy in a new town. After 24 years in Rapid City, SD I’m new to Billings and had forgotten about all the new things that happen when you’re first starting in a new city. I am taking the time to record video blogs to talk a little more in detail about the things that have been happening to me since moving here to Billings, Montana.
This installment is about buying a thermometer when my wife Trina was waiting for her Covid test results.
ROAD RAGE
Daily on my mid-day show on K-BEAR and on my Saturday show on MY 105-9 I have been sharing my life as a new guy in a new town. After 24 years in Rapid City, SD I’m new to Billings and had forgotten about all the new things that happen when you’re first starting in a new city. I am taking the time to record video blogs to talk a little more in detail about the things that have been happening to me since moving here to Billings, Montana.
This episode is about the road rage a guy had because I didn’t realize there was a lane next to me and I cut off the woman that was chauffeuring him around.
Where The Donation Money Went
I was embarrassed and humbled of the GoFundMe and silent auction and benefit for me in 2019. I worried that there are people that are more deserving. I worried that people would think I didn’t need it or was going to spend money on things that weren’t related to my health. So I thought I would give an accounting of where all the donations and silent auction money was spent.
2019 was the year of Cancer Boy vs his prostate. I took 4 trips to Rochester to the Mayo Clinic for a total of 22 days and nights there. I cashed out my 401k and all my savings but knew the bills were only just beginning. Then I was humbled by the support of friends, family, co-workers, and probably some people that just felt guilted into either donating to a go fund me that was setup or the benefit that was held for me.
Here’s my accounting of the money raised over the past year. The silent auction brought in a little over $3,000 and the Go Fund Me nearly $4,300 for a total of around $7,300.
Here’s my accounting of the money spent over the past year in Rapid City. I paid $850 for the first biopsy to Labcorp, $580 to Dr 1 in Rapid City for specialist visits, the original crappy Urologists in Rapid City Dr 2 (that has long since left for Oklahoma) $853 to do the first biopsy and misdiagnose me, my co-pays and Dr visits to my regular Rapid City doctor Dr 3 $720 for an overall total of $3,003 paid in full.
Here’s an accounting of the rest of the expenses that have been paid from donations that are all about Mayo with $487 in gas over the 4 trips. My co-pays at Mayo $360, 22 nights of Hotels and food in Rochester was around $2, 690 which was a bargain because I got a special rate for the hotel through family. $1,746 to a specialist at Mayo that was billed separate for the biopsy or MRI (I can’t remember which. Probably because the MRI killed some brain cells) for an overall total of $5,283 that I have paid out in full for the Mayo visits.
That’s my accounting for the money raised and what it was spent on. I’ve very thankful for all the help and support I’ve received. I still owe about another $5,900 in Mayo bills that weren’t paid by insurance that I pay on monthly now but as you can see it would have been much more without the help. I gave up all my vacation and PTO time and have gone deep in the hole so I look forward to the day that I can take a trip and it’s not for cancer. It’s now been 2 years since I had a vacation that wasn’t related to my health.
Clips From Mike In The Afternoon
I grew up just outside of Kansas City and started in radio when I was 15 years old in high school. I worked at stations in Kansas City on the air and then moved on to become a General Manager at stations in Central Missouri followed by stations at Lake of The Ozarks and Truman Lake in Missouri.
A head hunter contacted me and I ended up coming to Rapid City, South Dakota. First as the General Sales Manager for Haugo Broadcasting at KSKY and then the stations they purchased KICK and KTOQ.
The one time I stepped away from radio was to be a manager at the Sears store in Rapid City while I was sitting out a non-compete.
I got back into radio when I was asked to be a part of putting Q 92-3 on the air and do the morning show. It was Mike and Kim on the Q Morning Crew. I stayed there until I went to Hits 102-7 to put it on the air in 2008 for Connoisseur Media. I did the morning show and was the General Manager of the station for Connoisseur Media and made several trips to New York for some awesome managers meetings. I continued in those positions when the streaming service Pandora bought the station and enjoyed some great trips to Oakland and San Francisco for leadership meetings there. The friends I made there are still some of my best friends today.
When Haugo bought Hits from Pandora two years ago I returned to the company that brought me here when I first moved to South Dakota and I moved into the afternoon show so I could start sleeping in.
My cancer journey began a couple of years ago when I started having unexplained bruising, weight loss, and other symptoms that had all the signs of leukemia. In the process of going to doctors they noticed my PSA was high for my prostate. I told Trina and the doctors that between leukemia and prostate cancer that I wanted to hope for the prostate cancer. Lucky me! They have never been able to explain the leukemia symptoms as they started to go away but as they focused on the prostate it turned out to be more than they thought. That’s how it went at every step of the way. They didn’t expect me to have prostate cancer locally and so they didn’t take as many samples when they did the biopsy. It didn’t seem like it was a big deal until I started getting tests done at Mayo that weren’t done here and found that not only could I not ignore the cancer and see if it would spread, I needed to get it out right away. Then after they took it out not only was it a bigger deal than they thought locally but the cancer was 70% of my prostate and my prostate was small and not only was it 70% of my prostate but it had indeed gone beyond the prostate so removing my prostate did not end my journey. I now have to go back to Mayo and work with their radiology team to set a plan moving forward. The next step was more tests to see if removing the prostate slowed the growth of the cancer. I just got the results at the first part of October of 2019 and the cancer has slowed but I have to continue healing and improve before I can start radiation which looks like will happen in 2020.
Over the years I have enjoyed being a part of some great organizations that have helped a lot of people here in the Black Hills. It’s amazing the giving that the community has done and the awesome people who make it possible have been some of the nicest people I’ve ever dealt with. I’ve met the people who work with Make A Wish, cancer organizations, YFS, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Lifescape, Ups of Downs, Black Hills Works, and many others are the ones I respect. The kids and adults they work with who deal with their disabilities are the real heroes of this area and their smiles and positive attitudes are what I admire. It’s what makes me feel unworthy of getting help because I’ve seen the ones who truly need help.
Even though I know my show streams online every weekday afternoon from the Hits 102-7 website, I’m aware that people don’t have a chance to catch the show. Especially if you’re a friend in another state or perhaps one of my worldly friends in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Finland, Canada, or Norway. Sounds impressive until I realize I only have one friend in each of those countries except France where a whopping three friends live.
On this page I will post some classic personal clips like when Trina and I first started dating as well as when I made my cancer reveal on the air. Then I will post current shows followed by some I will post from the past.
Still Have Cancer…So I’m Cancer Boy
They were not able to get all the cancer so even after the surgery I’m still Cancer Boy instead of the guy formerly known as Cancer Boy.
Here’s what happened with the procedure and what’s been going in the last couple of weeks.
First after the pre op appointment on Monday they wanted to do x-rays to see if I could still have the surgery because of a cough and back pain.
The day of the surgery I went in at 11 a.m. but surgery didn’t happen until late afternoon because a previous surgery went long. I was there unable to eat or drink for nearly 24 hours since I had to start fasting the night before.
I guess if I were a woman I would not have “good birthing hips”. The doctor told the family after surgery and noted in the post op notes that I had a really small pelvic area. It meant the area to work with was made difficult because it was cramped. They made 5 incisions across my stomach to insert the robotic tools to cut away the prostate. So the surgery took longer and they also had to insert more air into my stomach to create more room for the tools to work. That meant some extreme gas pains for the next few days of recovery.
The next thing I remember was waking up in recovery and the nurse was telling me I had to take deep breathes on my own. Because of my apnea I stopped breathing every couple of minutes. After awhile I was able understand what was going on because there were alarms long off every time I woke. She explained the alarm was going off when I would stop breathing for an extended period of time. I was in pain and wanted to get out of there. Then it scared the shit out of me when I woke and the alarm was blaring and she was holding my chin and saying “I need some help over here”. I was starting to get a grasp then as she said “every time that alarm goes off it’s 30 minutes longer before you can leave post op”. I started taking deep breaths each time I would almost drift off. I told her that I understood it was like Pavlov’s Dog and I would start responding each time I heard it. So next time it went off I started barking. At first she though I was trying to say something through the mask and then she realized what I was doing and said “Good boy”
The next few days were a haze because I was in constant pain. Didn’t remember some of the stuff that I posted or some of the text messages I had.
The catheter pain was every thing I was afraid it would be. Constant tugging and just laying in the hotel bed with nurse Trina emptying the bag every hour or two. I didn’t read books, watch movies, or do anything I swore I would be able to do while I recovered. When I had my heart attack exactly three years ago I was tired all the time but did not have pain. I underestimated what this was going to be like because this was pain from the catheter and pain all across my stomach where the 5 incisions were. Nothing but pain and since some assholes decided to create the opioid epidemic they no longer hand them out like candy.
I wasn’t expecting the call from the pathologist for a few more days and I could tell from his delivery that he was starting with positive things but there was going to be a “however” to follow. The tumor took up 70 % of my prostate. It did not spread to the lymph nodes…. “however” it did escape and attach to the bladder wall,
Next step was having the catheter removed. It felt every bit as it looks in the Dumb and Dumber scene.
Now I am training to go potty all on my own like a big boy! My wife bought my some rockin diapers that look like sporty underwear. It’s going really well as I’m already learning to try and control it. The only mistake was waiting to long when we started the trip home and the pain took my to my knees in the parking lot as I got out to go. I might have done some damage so I made a vow to go every time before I think I need to.
I can’t lift over 10lbs for another 6 weeks. Do know what’s more than ten pounds? EVERYTHING. It includes not opening doors like the one at the hotel pool that was on a pressure lock or something and needs about 75 lbs of force. It was really hard watching Trina load the car with two weeks of our stuff and my moms while I stood back and couldn’t help. I can’t ride a bike or sit on a riding mower o r anything.
The next step is to heal for the next 3 months. I have to work at following all my orders to not mess up my innards so it doesn’t affect the next stage. 3 months is when I have to go back for my follow up tests and meet with the radiology team about the cancer on my bladder wall. The tests and those meetings determine when I would start radiation treatment from there.
I can’t possibly thank my friends and family enough. It’s sounds so cliche until you’re the one that has to say it and mean it.
I’m an unhealthy SOB
Ok, that’s just a phrase. My mom is the complete opposite of that word. But this isn’t about her. Well, maybe it is because she always worries about my health so much and of course I have always given her reason to worry. But the reason I would say this has anything to do with her is because I don’t want her to worry about me. Which is futile because she will anyway and I get it because I feel the same about my kids as well.
I have never really been the picture of health. Forget about HIPPA. I’ll give my whole background to get to where I am today. So in case I become incapacitated and have no family to give the details, just refer health care people to this blog that will endure time and be saved on the interwebs for eternity.
The first major health issue I had was my appendix when I was a senior in high school. I still have the scar since it was the days of gutting you to get it out. The scar is about six inches lower than it was when I was that skinny little shit back in high school. I won’t go into details about the night it happened because that is a detailed blog for another time. I will at least mention that if you have never crawled on the floor and finally started calling out for your mom and your dad who normally slept through anything answers “What do you want?!” you may not be able to relate.
As I begin to write this I realize that every health issue I’ve had included funny stories to go along with it. So as I go back and recall each event I can at least look back and find the positive in each issue even if it’s only to laugh at myself.
ADD is something I will have to add to the list because now I realize that in order to keep this from being too long and never getting to the point of my current health issues that I will indeed need to have a different blog for each funny health occurrence. So I will just make a list of the life of stupid health stuff and have a different future blog for each of them.
THE LIST…
- Appendix
- Hemorrhoids
- Ulcer
- High Blood Pressure
- Pneumonia
- Anal Fissure
- Diabetis
- Enlarged Prostate
- Broken Ribs
- A.D.D.
- Sleep Apnea
- Broken Thumb
- Heart Attack
- Unknown (Yet to be determined)
I’m so slow at doing blogs I don’t know that I’ll be able to get to all of those as it wears me out just thinking about the 14 different blogs that would entail. I guess only 13 because this one is all about the unknown issues I’m currently dealing with.
THE CURRENT STUFF…
A few months ago I wasn’t feeling well. It started during the time that things were changing at work so I assumed it was just stress. I was tired all the time no matter how much or how little sleep I got. I felt foggy like I was on cold medicine all the time and my usual excellent memory wasn’t so good. I was nauseated all the time.
The change in ownership meant a change in insurance which created an issue for my blood sugar meds. So because of that and the stress I didn’t think about the health stuff that was going on. Except, then after a routine blood test before Thanksgiving the doctor didn’t call or e-mail the results for several days. That was unusual so I called and left a voicemail and an e-mail. They followed up saying my numbers were off and they wanted me to come see the doctor about the results. Since I knew that blood sugar was going to be off because I went a few days without my meds and then was being switched to a different med. So I assumed that they just wanted another office visit and I knew exactly what the recommendation would be etc… Things were busy so I put off calling them back for a few days until I got their next voicemail that said they really wanted me to come in because my white blood cell count was high. Well that’s different.
By now my symptoms had expanded to a cough in the night, bruising on my body like an old man, red spots on my skin etc… My doctor is actually a PA that I have been seeing for over 20 years. I haven’t seen a regular doctor except during my hospital visits during that time. So after giving me antibiotics thinking that I just had an infection even though I didn’t have any thing such as a cold or sore throat, Trina talked me into going to see a doctor at Urgent Care that someone recommended. That doctor wanted me to get more tests right away and see doctor she wanted to refer me to.
The new doctor was awesome. He listened and took time to talk about a lot of things and possibilities. He didn’t over react but he took all the potential diagnosis seriously including leukemia. We did another set of tests so this was the third round of testing and my PSA had continued to rise so that was something he wanted to address with a urological specialist and setup a referral for that. He wanted to address the high blood sugar by trying insulin because he felt that the way it has fluctuated was harder on my body and that as you get older it might be more difficult to continue to fight a losing battle of avoiding the insulin.
So to refresh, there are three things we’re looking at. 1: The weird stuff with the bruising and fatigue etc.. 2: The blood sugars. 3: The high PSA levels and prostate issues.
1: This weird stuff is still a mystery. My white blood count went up again but then went down and a specialist looked at the blood work and didn’t think it appeared to be leukemia. They said something about multiple cell lines they were going to monitor. Some of the symptoms started to lessen but then they have come back again. It looks like Trina is abusing me with my bright purple bruises I have this week. She actually might be in my sleep! The most frustrating thing is being tired all the time and the foggy memory. That resulted in me screwing something up at work because I forgot to do something. I would have bet my live I had done but sure enough I did not. It was a moment like in Golden Pond. I’ve been like Norman Thayer unable to find my way back to the cabin.
2: The insulin is improving my blood sugar but it’s slow going. I keep increasing my dose each night until we can get it in the proper range. We haven’t made it there yet but the doctor assures me that we will.
3: The prostate stuff. This has been fun. I was referred to a specialist in December . Trina knew someone who said it was a good referral because the guy was good but didn’t have the best bedside manner. So I looked him up and found it funny that like all doctors I’ve looked up, people give five stars or one star. One said that he misdiagnosed her urinary problem and she was going to attend her follow up appointment to tell him to retire. I take those reviews with a grain of salt. Over Christmas I never got the call from the specialist to make the appointment. On January 2nd I had my follow up with my doctor and mentioned it. They said to try and call the doctor and if I didn’t have any luck to follow up with them. When I got a hold of the specialist office they informed me that he was retiring in two weeks and basically said thanks for calling I have to finish my resume because my boss is quitting and I really aren’t concerned about your prostate. I might be embellishing that. I call back to my doctor and they had no idea he was retiring and said they would setup a different referral. I finally got a call from someone with the new specialist who said they would be able to schedule me for his next open appointment which would be March 19th at 2:15 p.m. That was basically 11 weeks away. I said ex squeeze me? Ok, I guess but they were kinda hoping he could check me for prostate cancer. Her silence on the other end appeared to show that she was unmoved by my comment. I said ok I’ll take the appointment and then get back with my doctor. So I already have my follow up with my doctor on February 2nd so he said we would see how I was doing at that time and perhaps we run some more blood work to see if anything has changed.
So that’s where I am today. Now I’m kind of giddy, laughing at the 13 other blogs that I need to write to go over all the show prep my health has provided over the years….
Stay tuned.
Train Stuff
Later I will create some organized layouts and explanations but I have all these train pics and videos I wanted to share from the last two years since I started the hobby. So here we go with a potpourri of HO and N scale train stuff including some 3D prints I created as well…
Checking out my photos
I’m making an effort to get things organized this weekend with my blogs and YouTube stuff that has been neglected this last few months. So one of the first things I’m doing is going through all of my photos where I have pictures that I took that I thought I would post on Facebook and never did. So I’ll go down the list and do it all at once in my blog.
REPLACE
Before I moved to Billings and Trina was already there I was home with Kaden and some roommates who were upstairs while I pretty much stayed downstairs. One day Kaden came and asked me if I did this…
Yes, as a matter of fact I did. When there’s no paper on the roll and there are extra rolls right next to you… replace the roll. It’s not that difficult!! Of course no one claimed responsibility for not doing it.
OVER THE YEARS
When I first got to Billings last Fall I discovered pictures when I was packing up. Lots and lots of pictures. But I found it funny to find the picture from my graduation and then my first month in Rapid City and figure I should follow it up with my first month in Billings.
THE DOGS
Ok I have posts of the dogs all the time but there were a few over the months that I meant to share and didn’t that were more significant than just the regular cute pics. Like the video of Harles playing tug of war with Dora when we were staying with Kathy. Little 8 lb Shitzu thinks he’s much bigger and tougher than he is. Chloe is the one who always protects him and pretty sure that’s how she lost her eye before we adopted them.
Getting gas at the sketchy intersection
Daily on my mid-day show on K-BEAR and on my Saturday show on MY 105-9 I have been sharing my life as a new guy in a new town. After 24 years in Rapid City, SD I’m new to Billings and had forgotten about all the new things that happen when you’re first starting in a new city. I am taking the time to record video blogs to talk a little more in detail about the things that have been happening to me since moving here to Billings, Montana.
This episode is about what happened when i had to get gas on my way to work on the first day from the new place. There wasn’t a problem with the gas station but the intersection itself is where all the “interesting” people seem to gather.
First day on the job
Of all the things I have to talk about from these last several weeks the highlight is stuff that happened my first week on the job at Desert Mountain Broadcasting.
It was more than I could type so here’s a video of how it went down…
Here’s the links for the station I’m going to be on from 10a-3p Monday through Friday. It’s Good Times Great Oldies 98.1 K-BEAR. https://www.981kbear.com/
Each Chapter brings change
Isn’t that the truth. I can tell that each day I open my TimeHop. A year ago at this time there were all kinds of pictures of Trina and I at Mayo and stories about me getting a biopsy to see how bad the cancer was. My favorite statement was when I told Trina she had just missed the sign as we pulled into Rochester and that it said “Welcome to Rochester, Thank You for Having Cancer”. My favorite picture may have been when I told Trina the picture she took of me looked like I was in Flashdance.
Two years ago at this time (March 2018) I had taken Trina to Missouri. It’s the last vacation I’ve had since all the vacation time since then was spent at Mayo. So it’s been two years since I’ve seen my sister and my friends from back home but what a great trip that was and the memories that we still have. Taking her and my mom to St. Louis and introducing her to my brother Gary and his wife Pam. (Introducing Trina to them not my mom, she had already met them) Then my niece Jessica and her little prodigies. Then back to Kansas City and introducing Trina in person to my high school girlfriend Mary. They were already online friends and got along fabulously in person and was a reminder of how awesome it is to have a mature wife who isn’t jealous. To have a friend in Mary that I reconnected with after many many years who was there for me after my dad passed away followed by me being there for her when her dad and sister passed. After that she was the first one to tell me that Trina was the right one and a real keeper. After meeting Mary, I then introduced Trina to some of my lifelong friends from high school and of course it was a blast and everyone got along great. Arwood also came up the next day and got to meet Trina and we had an excellent visit. Before we headed back, the final treat was taking Trina to the Royals home opener with Bradley and his wife Karen along with the Marshall brothers. I remember meeting Scott’s soon to be wife and finding out the little town she was from in Arkansas was the only town where I knew someone. I text Darla in Harrison Arkansas for one of those small world moments. Trina had already heard so much about Brad since I have so many stories from high school along with the years that we lived together in college. We all had a blast despite how cold it was. I didn’t get to see her in person but I text with Glenna who was also at the game. I had no intention to go into so much detail until I started looking at the pictures and remembering the trip.
The current chapter is the most bizarre of all. I can’t wait to look at TimeHop in the future and see the posts of what’s going on now and having it be behind us. It’s been weird since the start of the year when I had heart attack symptoms and had to do the stress test and echo cardiogram. It’s weird to still have cancer inside me and it could have been more weird if I were going through the radiation during this time instead of having it put off for down the road. It’s so exciting to be diabetic and have them keep harping about diabetics and the virus. Just like it was exciting to have Don Imus die of prostate cancer and Leon Spinks to be suffering the complications from it. All that being said, there is so much to be thankful for and to look forward to. I haven’t let any of these things get me down and plan to keep it that way.
Wait, I may have thrown up in my mouth a little when I went back to read that. I almost felt it sounded like some people I’ve been making fun of to Trina. I have followed along with some people that post these passive aggressive narcissistic things. Instead of just doing things for others they like to post about because they really aren’t doing it to help others or to just feel good about it. They are doing it so people will praise them and tell them how good they are so they can reply ‘awe shucks’ and pretend that they are just being a wonderful person. They are the same ones who do it with videos… “I just had to share what happened a moment ago. I stopped to help an old woman cross the street. I saw her walking and no one was helping her. I got out and took her by the arm and started to pull her across the street. She resisted and said she wasn’t trying to cross the street she was just checking the mail and going back inside. Bless her heart. She wanted to go across the street but she didn’t even realize it and no one else recognized that but me. So I took charge and I got her across the street in spite of the fact that she was screaming so loud it hurt my ears. We all have it inside us to be this kind of person. I choose to be this person and hope that I can inspire others to be like me.”
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