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Out Of Hospital

You'll be pleased to know that I got out of hospital at 2pm or so today, and am recovering well. They did a hemihepatectomy, removing the right (larger) half of my liver - Couinaud segments 5, 6, 7 and 8. This was a success; my liver function is now normal and, over the next couple of months, the remaining half will grow in size and capacity up to 90-95% of the original. The scar across my stomach is slightly less than a foot long, and there's a 4 inch vertical section up the centre as well. The Wikipedia article calls it a Caine or "Mercedes Benz" incision, which isn't far from the truth. I might take a photo when I get a chance.

So I'm back in the position of having no known cancer in my body. Of course, I've been here several times before :-) Thank you to all those of you who were praying for me. God is sovereign (in all adjectival senses).

I opened my Bible during recovery and it fell open at the following section (not that I recommend that as a general method of deciding what parts to read):

But now thus says the LORD,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Saviour."

-- Isaiah 43:1-3 (ESV)

Also, if one's own Wikipedia entry acquires a "notability" tag (although this was rather quickly dismissed last time), is it permitted to perform the necessary expansion oneself? I thought that was rather frowned upon. If it is something that's not done, then if anyone else wants to have a go, please feel free :-)

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Music Review: Britney Spears -

Britney's best album comes out of the haze of her personal life just in time.
Britney Spears released Blackout, somehow, in October of 2007. Despite all of the hullabaloo and rubbish embedded in her personal life, this is the best album Britney’s ever made. It is deeply produced, often chaotic, and often obnoxiously breathy. Nevertheless, Blackout is also amazingly captivating, precariously danceable, and damned...

Music Review: Dream Theater -

22 reasons to explain the history and mystery that is Dream Theater.
Well, with Dream Theater off to pastures new for their most recent album Systematic Chaos, it was inevitable that a compilation from their old paymasters would appear on the shelves. So welcome to the knowingly titled Greatest Hit.That hit, "Pull Me Under," opens the show with a new remix from Kevin Shirley, one of three new mixes...

Music Review: R.E.M. -

This isn't a review; it's a snapshot.
This isn't going to be a review of R.E.M.'s Accelerate; well, not exactly. A review, to me, implies past tense. It implies a verdict has been reached and a decision will be rendered. I liveblogged the record when it was released Tuesday. I knew then my opinions would evolve as my first impressions were nullified by subsequent...

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