William delivers a gem....

I completed another trade with William over at Foul Bunt right before I went into the hospital for my surgery. I sent him Heritage of his beloved Oriole's and he sent me, well I'll just let the pics speak for themselves......

Yea, like I said, William delivered a gem of a package. First we have a 1971 Topps Eddie Leon. Leon played 5 seasons with the Tribe, no doubt having his best years in 1970 and 1971. This is my first of his cards, and I'm glad it is during his best years. Secondly, we have one of the most beautiful cards I have ever seen. Kipnis is easily one of my favorite current players. I have most of his cards and am now, with the addition of this, only 2 cards away from having his parallel's from Series 1 (Pink and Purple). This is actually the Silver Slate Redemption card so having it is extra special. Being that I was able to receive it thru trade and I didn't have to wait til I get back to work to purchase it, this is in my top 20 favorite cards of all time. He also sent me a 1969 Topps Dick Ellsworth but the file will not load so I will write about that when I can upload the picture. William once again you have delivered and I thank you for that. Head over, read his blog, and send him your Oriole's haha,

Second trade and a first Relic....

My second trade I completed happened with Bryan at Golden Rainbow Cards. Bryan emailed me and asked if I could help him complete his rainbow needs in 2013 Series 1. I was able to send him a few of what he had left to complete, what I received however was a treat. First he sent me a few random Indian's cards, most of which were in better condition than the one's I already had which was awesome. But it only got better.

 

First, we have an awesome card of one of my all time favorites Carlos Baerga. I actually was surprised I did not already have this card because, well LOOK AT IT!! It captures Baerga at what he did best, turn a routine DP into a top 10 play of the week. I always would go into the backyard with a tennis ball, throw it against the house, and try to imitate play's that I would see Baerga do. Between him and Omar Vizquel, a kid could really get into shape. Back to the card's tho....the prize of the package had to be this.....

 

Bingo!! This is one of my top cards I wanted so far this year. Not only is it beautful, but my parents actually bought me (from QVC I believe) a 1995 World Series ball that has Albert's auto and 50/50 written below it. So when I saw this card was based on what he did that year I knew I had to have it. Fortunately for me, Bryan had one and sent it my way. 

So cheers to you Bryan, and good luck on your rainbows. I'm sure this will not be the only trade we complete, as your blog is one of the more enjoyable ones I read.

 

A long time coming......

Well I have completed a few trades now since beginning this blog. I have met some amazing collector's and have received some awesome cards. The problem? I haven't updated or shown any of them. So here goes nothing.......

My first ever "blog" trade happened with William over at FoulBunt. I happened to have a few Series 1 Emerald cards he needed, in return he had some Indians A&G I needed.

 

These are some 2007 A&G that unbelievably I had 0 of. I have always loved the A&G design but didn't actually start collecting the set's until it's 2010 release year. I'm not the best editor but I had to show these cards together on a page. They are flawless when together and fit seamlessly into my Indians team set binder.

 My favorite card of the trade however.........

 

....was this Victor Martinez National Pride insert card from the 2009 set. Not only is it an awesome picture of Victor, but the team colors really pop off of the background. Victor was one of my favorite Indians players. He actually played his minor league baseball with C.C. Sabathia for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. The cool thing about that, oh yea, they are located 10 mins from where I live and I can actually walk to the field from work in about 4 mins. Unfortunately, the Scrappers haven't really had the players like Victor and C.C. since they left. Anyways, I have Victor's autograph from when he was a Scrapper and it's nice to add another card to my collection of his that I did not have. Even if he is a rival now. 

So to William, THANK YOU for making my first trade a memorable one, and introducing me to this wonderful world of blogging.

 

        

                                 

Well it appears to finally be that time. What time you ask, well it's that time that although not fully healed, I am able enough to finally start trading cards again and hopefully work on my blog. Being that I am still unable to work for probably another month, it should be easy. SHOULD be easy, make sure you notice the capital letters. If there is one thing I can tell you, sitting at home on the couch watching baseball all day everyday makes one go extremely lazy. Not a bad lazy mind you, but lazy nonetheless. Being unable to drive or lift over 10 pounds makes life very limiting, so I'm going to do something I've been meaning to do for a LONG time...........

I'm going to finally go through boxes that have been unorganized and stored for at least 10 years. Thats right, I'm going to try and get organized. This is one of probably 4 shoe boxes that I have thrown cards in over the years, mostly when I was in middle/high school and have forgot about. Now don't get too excited, none of these cards are going to be anything but base, primarily from the junk wax era. But, you never know. I'm going to organize by team as there are probably 20-30 different sets from different years, none of which I have interest in completing if I haven't already. All of these cards will be available for trade (conditions are going to be anywhere from NM-Fair/Poor), so if any team interests you let me know and I'll put them aside for you. Indians are obviously off limits if any, and I have an idea where to send Baltimore, other than that email me at kaziken04 AT gmail DOT com and hopefully we can work something out. Until then, be safe and smile! Ken

I have updated some of my want list and will work on it more tomorrow while also starting to update my trade bait. I will say I have gotten my hand on a TON of extra base and quite a bit of inserts from this years Series 1 and Heritage. I've been able to fulfill the wants of a few other fellow bloggers, could you be next?

Back in the saddle..

Alright folks, I am feeling much better so keep an eye out as I will be updating my want list tonight and tomorrow. Also I will be taking pics and updating cards that I had received pre-surgery.

Pain, Couch divets and the TRIBE WINS!!!

Well folks, I'm back. It's been a very painful last week after my surgery,but the good news is the initial results on my Lymph Nodes are good. No Cancer, so it looks as if I may be finally in remission. I will wait until my next appointment on Monday, April 8th to get too excited. Anyways, I still cannot do much other than enjoy all the baseball on TV. I've been able to watch some very good games so far, including my Indians beating reigning N.L. Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey and the Blue Jays. I know it's only game one but after losing the last 4 openers I'm allowed to be excited. Unfortunately I will be unable to complete or go after any trades in the near future due to my recovery. Carrie has done so much for me it would be unfair to ask her to assist in my hobby. Or would it? Yea, it most definitely would. Oh well. Today I just wanted to touch base anyhow. I'm not sure how much I'll be writing this week or next as the pain meds and lack of mobility make sleeping really the only thing I want to do. However, when I am able too watch out, because I'm running at full speed, I may need a new pair of PF Flyers.

Twas the night before....

Well it's almost that time. That time where nothing I can do will stop some man from ripping my guts out. That's right, it's surgery time. (technically tomorrow at 7am it is). Now I know what your thinking, "why is he perfectly ok with getting his guts ripped out?" Well if you must know, for one, I'm not actually getting my guts RIPPED out, it's just fun to say, and secondly, I'm hoping this is the last thing needed to rid my body of this horrible cancer. See, they are going to remove roughly 30-40 of my Lymph Nodes, and depending on the findings I may or may NOT need chemotherapy. Believe me after my last rant I got some answers, so if 0-1 nodes are cancerous I will just be put on surveillance, 2-5 nodes then it's 2 rounds of chemo, more than 5 and I will have the full 3-4 rounds of chemo initially scheduled. I should be home no later then Thursday (just in time for everyone to rub it in my face how good the Easter ham is this year), and can begin recovery. Hopefully recovery should take no longer then 6-8 weeks and I can head back to work shortly after that. Of course that is only if I do not need chemo. If I do, well then, the hell if I know.

Actually the only thing I'm really upset about is that I didn't have the time to scan some of the cards I received this week, or in my first trade for that matter. Oh, well. I will definitely have enough time in the near future. Well I'm not going to ramble on to much today. I had to drink some awful magnesium citrate so I can't sit in one place for too long.  I will try to put an update on here as soon as I can, or as soon as I can convince Carrie to do so for me. Until then, enjoy your day(s) and may we meet on the other side. Ken

Cards and the "Heritage"

Well it's been a very productive last couple of days. I have finally tucked away the last of the cards I got from my first trade!!! William over at foulbunt was awesome enough to send me some Indian's from the late 00's A&G's I did not have, in return I sent him some Emeralds to help complete his set. As soon as it's working I will scan some of my favorite's I received. I will definitely be trading again with him soon. Going through all of my old cards, while filing away the new, have brought back some good memories of when/how I acquired them. Once again when the scanner is up and functional I'll post some of my favs. Already this year I will forever remember my Indian's Heritage SP's (Brantley/Santana) and how I got them.....I'll save that for another time. Until then, be safe and make sure to enjoy that WBC finale going on tonite!

Lazy Sunday..

Happy St. Patrick's Day! For the first time in a long time I actually did not consume any alcohol today. Unfortunately lately I have not had much will power to do much other than sit and stare at screens, tv, computer, etc. I will however continue to work on my blog this week, especially when it comes to the baseball card part. My goal is to have my want list and trade bait updated at least 50 percent by Saturday. This way I can send out my blog to the masses and hopefully have some trades to work on while recovering from my upcoming surgery. If anyone that is reading this already had any suggestions please feel free to comment or email me. I'm still learning and any advice will be helpful.  Hope everyone was safe today, and enjoys the start to their work week.

Annoyances, Plain and Simple

Well, as you can see I haven't been on here in a while. Needless to say it's been an emotional and draining last week or so. Let me start with why....so during this process of Cancer, I call it a process because there are no shortcuts, and definitely no easy fixes, I have been told a few conflicting things about what my treatment will be. The first oncologist I saw in my hometown of Warren, OH gave me a quick physical, drew some blood and seemed positive that I may need no treatment at all. He also scheduled me to see him 6 weeks later, just to be sure. Now during this time we had our worries, but, myself not being anything of a doctor heeded his advice and continued my recovery from surgery. Now the urologist that performed my surgery not only set up that appointment with said oncologist, he also set up an appointment with another urologist in Pittsburgh (see last blog) for a follow up and a second opinion. Now when I saw this urologist he seemed very concerned with my case and the fact that my oncologist at home was not reacting with any treatment. It was his concern that with the type of cancer I have, the results of recent scans, and with my high AFP count (tumor markers in the blood), that I would need either Chemotherapy or surgery to remove my Lymph nodes. The worst part was, he thought I may need both. So what was to be a routine follow up appointment quickly turned into more blood work and more scans. Before we left for the day, he set me up with an oncologist in Pittsburgh that only deals with testicular cancer.

It was a long and terrifying week leading up to meeting with the oncologist. Not knowing which treatment would be used, but knowing both the treatments side effects, can kill ones good mood. Luckily, again, I have wonderful support in my girlfriend and friends and family that it actually wasn't as bad a week as it could have been. Then I met with the doctor. He was 98 percent positive that chemotherapy was my best course of action, so, I gave more blood, scheduled some pre-Chemo tests and scheduled my first cycle of Chemo. The drive home from Pittsburgh that night was pretty somber, even though Chemo was kind of what I wanted done anyways. That was last Friday. This week has been spent calling around trying to get housing, cleaning the house for when I am home, and my girlfriend rearranging her work schedule so that she could assist me. That was until Thursday.

Thursday my oncologist called me and informed me that himself, his team and my urologist butted heads and came to the conclusion that surgery would actually be the best bet at this point. What brought them to this conclusion is beyond me, but again, I'm no doctor. Apparently, if I have Chemo now I would most definitely need the surgery afterwards, where-as if I have the surgery first, there is a chance I may not need Chemo. I won't go into details as I am already rambling, but this information contradicted what was told to me prior and basically slapped me in the face. So now we have canceled the chemo, and I am scheduled for surgery on Monday, March 25th. I am not looking forward to this at all, as it is a very invasive, 8 hour surgery. Surgery is followed by a week in the hospital and up to 12 weeks home recovery. Not cool. So I write to you now and hopefully a few more times this week (I completed my first trade via blog,details coming soon) because I definitely will not be able to for a while. Peace and Love. Ken

Cancer, the hand your dealt, and the cards.....

Well, I know it's been a few days, and my blogs name is kensDAILYfix but, things happen. As I had mentioned in my first post, I have recently been diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. Jan 30th of this year, I was feeling very sharp, constant pain in my lower abdomen and groin area. Also, I had noticed quite a bit of swelling in my left testicle. Being the "take 2 aspirin and see what happens" kinda guy, I did just that, fought through the pain and made it to work. Something was different this time. I've had pain, hell I've had horrible pain before in places, but as I said, I'd take a few aspirin and continue forward. Not this pain. Not this time. Fortunately for me, my manager had noticed my constant laboring(I'm a pretty spunky person at work if I don't say myself) and got the rest of my shift covered. Head home? Lay down, take some laxative and hope it's just constipation? No, not this time, this time was different. This time something or someone else was pushing me to the doctors. Not having insurance the doctor's office, unfortunately, is the last place you would ever find me. This time though, this time was different.

I headed to an outpatient urgent care near my work, walked in and the doctor instantly sent me to St. Joes to have an ultrasound. His first thought was that I had some sort of fluid build up, need minor surgery, and head on my way. Boy do I wish. After one ultrasound and 7 hours later it was finally my turn to meet with the doctor at St. Joe's emergency. One point of a finger (very unprofessional in my mind) onto a diagnosis paper my life had changed forever. Two words,TESTICULAR MASS, followed by one, LYMPHOMA. Now before you instantly act the way I did (insert blank stare and utter shock face) this was just the doctors initial thought.There needed to be more tests, I however, seeing this black ink of disease, left the hospital and became an instant mess. Now, before I continue, I need to tell you of my rock, my girlfriend Carrie. She had met me at St. Joe's right after my ultrasound. She sat with me for 6 hours, on an empty stomach and still in her work clothes, keeping me upbeat. I mean when she first got there, we were still under the assumption that I just had fluid build up and needed minor surgery. Thank God she was there.


Now if you know Carrie, you know of the awesome things she has not only done for me, but for my life and the choices I make. Well, nothing compares to the way she held my hand that night. She kept me solid and alert until we got the news that altered everything we knew about a Wednesday.Then, she became my rock. When I was finally called back she sat with me in the room. Made jokes about how amazing I looked in the gown I had just changed into. Made jokes about all the little things going on that could make one laugh. The jokes quickly stopped. The doctor came in, slammed me in the gut with the bad news, and walked away. Her eyes met mine, and I instantly knew, no matter what , that I would be ok. So, the doctor came back with a nurse, drew blood, prescribed me an antibiotic, and sent me on my way.

I was set up with an appointment with Dr, Richiutti, a urologist, the same Friday. I went into his office where he examined my testicle, asked alot of questions, and drew some more blood. Now his thought were one of two things, either it is cancer, or there is a chance it was a infection. Given it's sudden growth, I had no signs of any abnormality I noticed, he was leaning towards an infection. I was instantly relieved, all the while cussing out the doctors at St Joe's for worrying me, in my head. He prescribed me some pretty strong antibiotics and sent me home for the weekend. A weekend I did nothing but praise all the things in my life I don't normally take the time to praise. The praise stopped.

That following monday, I received a phone call from Dr. Richiutti at 8 am. The blood work came back, it wasn't an infection. It was, a tumor. He assured of the urgency to remove it due to the abnormal high count of my blood. A count that in men, should never be higher than 2, was 4200. The surgery was scheduled for the next day, Tuesday Feb. 5th. Now, as I said previously, I can tolerate some pain, pop some aspirin and not ever think about it again. Tell me I might have to have a catheter and I turn into a 3 year old boy who just had been told his Donatello figurine was run over by his fathers car. You could imagine my fear and disgust. Now I've never had surgery, and my first encounter with surgery is one that is going to change everything. Not only am I going to lose one of my precious twins, but one twin that could have been growing with something potentially life threatening. Thankfully for me I have a very supportive mom and dad, a dad that has (to my knowledge) never actually run over any of my toys, my rock Carrie, and her loving mother. All of whom came to my bedside to make sure I was ok. Also, I had the awesome timing of being in the hospital while a good friend of ours, Wyllow, was doing clinical and was able to visit as well. Needless to say, I was surrounded by love. Long story short surgery went well, especially the drugs after the fact, and I was home the same night. Now it was time to just wait, relax, and worry. Worry about the results of the biopsy.

Worry was good. Worry prepared us. Worry made our minds go far into what could be, the long road I could have ahead. When that phone call came, the worry HAD prepared us. It was as if when he told me it was indeed, Cancerous, I had already known. However it was not Lymphoma but a very aggresive testicular cancer. What worry didn't prepare me for was the steps that I would have to take. The amounts of blood that needed to be drawn. The worry of chemo, no insurance, and the tolls on my body it would take after the fact. Well its been about 4 weeks since this diagnosis, and we are still waiting on answers. Fortunately again for me, Carrie has been there the entire time. Not only has she been my personal taxi, maid, and dog whisperer, but she has been my faith. Not to mention the countless acts of unselfishness my closest friends, and coworkers have shown. That story however is for a different day.

I've met with an oncologist, one which I thought was going to set me up on chemo the day I met him. What I didn't know was the amount of waiting. Not only the waiting in the offices of the doctors I have seen, but the waiting on blood results, scan results, and the way treatment those propose. Now when I met the oncologist he wanted me to wait 4 weeks and have blood drawn to see where my count was. So ok, now I have to wait until the end of march to see about chemo. That however may change. Dr. Richiutti had ordered blood work 10 days after my surgery to see where the tumor markers as they call them were. I received that call this week on Monday, it wasn't good. The count they were hoping to see was between 0-9 preferably, no higher than 100. It came back 719. So now it's more blood work, and more worrying. All the while still not knowing what the next step is. Pittsburgh is our next stop, that is actually where I am typing from. Dr. Richiutti had set me up with an appointment with Dr. Davies. A renound urologist who hopefully can help make some sense of this madness. So that's where were at. Hopefully we get answers and hopefully I can begin to move forward. Until then, Peace Love and Happiness.

2601 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222unky

Day 1

The other day I was roaming around the Internet and ran across some really cool blogs, mostly about baseball and card collecting. One in particular hawever grabbed my attention and inspired myself to try my own hand at one. So, here goes nothing. It won't be all baseball, heck days could go by without anything baseball, but it will be fun. If anything, it will keep me occupied while I am going through my (recently diagnosed Cancer) treatment.(I will write about this later). Hopefully while I'm at it I will meet some new friends, solidify my baseball card collection, and maybe find a new hobby that is blogging. Well until then, peace love and happiness.