[Drake] Special HCI Net, Join Us

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

As some of you have probably heard, I have been diagnosed with advanced colon
cancer.  I am undergoing surgery on Friday August 15th at 11:45 AM EDT. This was
discovered during a routine physical when my hemoglobin came back at 6.8, about
half of normal. The three tests done for Iron in my blood, were all way below
the bottom end of the scale. I had almost no Iron at all, and the bone marrow
uses Iron to manufacture hemoglobin. The reserve stored in my liver, was long
gone. Hence a colonoscopy was done and the tumor found high up in the colon,
very close to the liver.      	
	
This has been there for some time, perhaps a year. A doctor who was advised of
an abnormality I noticed in that particular area of my abdomen ten months ago
dismissed it as gas trapped in the bowel. Which it was, but because of a tumor. 

	
Tomorrow is going to be the last HCI Net I do for a while. Hopefully I will
return on August 23rd and 24th for the forty and twenty meter Nets. But tomorrow
it would be nice if some of my radio friends with those beautiful ducks of Drake
stopped by to say Hello and volunteer to keep Frogzilla out of serious mischief
during my absence.	
	
I do plan to return, Lord willing. This is without a doubt the biggest and most
serious challenge of the many I have had during my fifty-six years on this third
rock from old Sol. Thanks to each of you over the past five years for making my
indoctrination into the wonderful world of Ham radio via those beauties that
still go glow in the dark so incredibly enjoyable and fantastically educational.
While almost everyone in the Ham radio brotherhood/sisterhood is simply as good
as people come nowadays, I believe those who are boat anchor devotees are even
more terrific. It has been fun and I am looking forward to rejoining my friends
and hobby in the near future.    	
	
If you have the time and are so inclined, please stop by tomorrow Sunday August
10th from 12:30 PM EDT, (1630 UTC) and 2:59 PM EDT, (1859 UTC) on 14.292 Mhz usb
and chew on a tube with us. 	
	
Thanks and keep them lit!	
	
Duane Fischer, W8DBF	
NCS: Hallicrafters Collectors International