My personal philosophy..UNDER PROMISE & OVER DELIVER !!

Custom orders are always welcome & encouraged !

I am going to treat this page more like a blog or a Dear diary than just an about me page like so many sites do. My life keeps making twists and turns and I have found quite a few of my returning customers are enjoying the adventure right along with me. So check back periodically to see what I am up to now.

My name is Mike and I've been working with wood for over 30 years. I truly love the smell of sawdust in the air. All the different species have their own special aroma.

Most of those creative years, my shop has been a portion of my garage. In 2005, my former wife and I had a custom home built in a beautiful valley, it included my dream wood working shop. It was 20' x 24', with proper lighting and air filtration, heated and air conditioned and more importantly, it was finally spacious enough for me to actually move full pieces of lumber around in. Although out of date, here are some pics of my old shop.

Well, I kept my website current and worked on such things as SEO (search engine optimization) and other things, I had no clue what they meant, tried my hand at selling a few things on Ebay and some other auction sites. Before I knew it, my hobby was becoming a full time job with commitments. I was just trying to sell enough items to have a nice supply of wood and purchase the latest and greatest toys/tools and I thought I was retired.

Starting to sound like a book? Well, you are free to go look around and come back later. I'll still be here.

In September of 2008 everything changed, I had to have Prostate surgery. The same day I had my Prostate surgery they removed my Gall Bladder. Two surgeons, two surgeries done at the same time. 10 days later I had to go have post operative things taken care of and my urologist told my wife and I as we were about to leave. "Oh by the way, your lab results came back from pathology, and I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but even though all your biopsies were clear prior to surgery, you do in fact have Prostate Cancer. I have you scheduled with a radiation oncologist next week to map out a treatment plan.

Well, my jaw dropped to the floor and I said. "You assured me my biopsies were clear and there were no traces of cancer." Nuf said on that conversation.

My ex and I met with my radiation oncologist, got the information needed to proceed with radiation therapy which entailed 8 weeks of 5 day a week treatments. Living 60 miles round trip to the oncology department and it being winter coupled with some other family issues we decided to place our home in the valley, up for sale.

We thought long and hard over whether now was the time to re-locate to Oregon, where I had moved from in 1999 and where all my kids and grand children live. We quickly found out that we were not going to be able to do that due to medical coverage in Oregon. We looked in town (East Wenatchee) where we had moved from 3 years earlier and found a house on Dec 23rd, made an offer on it the next day, and it was accepted within the hour. We rec'd a phone call from our banker, Christmas eve at dinner time, telling us everything was a go, we had been approved. Guess it was meant to be!

My new shop, is the third bay of our garage, it is 11'x 22', much smaller but it has turned out to be quite workable. I have arranged and re-arranged it several times, and no matter how I arrange it I still get sawdust up my nose...{grin}

We made the move in February of 2009 to our newest home. These are some of the shop pictures shortly after moving into our new home. Now these pics are outdated as well, hang on, you will find out why shortly.

Now where was I? Oh yes, I was going to begin my radiation therapy.
Which I did, in the middle of March as I recall, and although very apprehensive, I soon found I had a very compassionate Doctor. His staff is phenomenal, a more caring group of folks you could never meet, and they were genuine in their feelings and helpfulness.
I had 8 1/2 weeks of 5 days per week of radiation and graduated, yes they actually gave me a certificate that said I completed my radiation Therapy on May 15th, 2009.

May 15th turned out to be a rather hectic day, in itself. I had my final treatment, received my diploma, and rushed home to change clothes as this was the 1st day of our local "Relay For Life" event.
The Oncology staff practically pleaded with me to attend since it was my final day. I was a little reluctant but my wife and I went and we were given T'shirts that said Survivor on them. I looked pretty spiffy in my purple T-shirt.
Here are a few photos of that days events.

The first is a picture of all the gals who took such great care of me for over 8 weeks.
The second one is the "Charge Nurse" (I called her Nurse Ratchet but she was a real sweetie...) I made each of them a Bookmark with a smiley face with an attitude.
They all said I had such a good attitude, and was always smiling and keeping everyone in the waiting area feeling light hearted and at ease.
The third picture is myself along with several others getting ready to start the first lap around the stadium.
I was asked to please lead the first lap of survivors. Made me have a swelled chest and a lump in my throat.
The fourth & fifth pictures are of the bookmarks I made for all the staff at Wenatchee Radiation &Oncology Center.

There were about 2-3000 people in attendance, and just prior to the opening ceremonies with the color guard, the host/emcee made the following announcement. "Is Michael M here? Come on up here Michael, we know you are here, we have spies."
"Will everyone please give a round of applause acknowledging Michael M. Michael has this very afternoon completed his radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer." Their was a thunderous roar as I went forward. I was really embarrassed but at the same time I was also so very proud that I had done it. I had become the latest Cancer Survivor. At least, I hoped the therapy had done it's thing.

I found out later, in September which was my first follow up visit, that my PSA score which had been at a high of 13.96 was now at 1.3. The lowest it had been in nearly 15 years.
I was indeed a Cancer Survivor. Now it's routine check ups with some blood work every 3 months for a year, & then every 6 months for 5 years.

The saga continues and makes a turn. In March of 2010 my wife Sue and I decided to take different paths in our lives mostly her decision. My new path has taken me to Montana where as a child I spent many fun filled days. So I have returned home so to speak. My PSA scores are continually improving and sales on my website have exploded.
Since re-locating to Montana I applied to and was approved to become a member of the Local Made in Montana Guild. I became a member of the local farmers Market and have met many new people and am looking forward to next season.

This past week 6-6-2012 I had to go to the ER as I was having some severe chest pains. I was pleased to learn I did not have a heart attack, however they insisted I have a heart Cath procedure to rule out any blockages. Well, the catheterization showed a partially blocked vessel which they refer to as the widow maker. "Widowmaker" due to the fact if this vessel had become blocked it is a very slim chance I would have survived the heart attack. This particular vessel had 80-90% blockage. Dr. informed me they placed a stent and all should be fine. He said my bypass grafts from 2001 all looked "pristine". I was relieved to learn there had not been any damage to the heart itself. I dodged another bullet. My cholesterol levels and other labs looked great. My PSA scores continue to be good and no other issues so 3 years cancer free. Well I'll be back in the shop later this week I have several orders awaiting my attention.

2012 was a very good year for many reasons not the least of which was I had my busiest year to date for orders. Onlne via this website and in person sales via craft shows etc. locally. Still have some health concerns and actually I'm scheduled tomorrow (1-08-13) for a visit with the urologist for an update on my PSA score. Have to confide in you that I'm a tad bit apprehensive about this visit as the last one was not encouraging.

This past Wednesday 1/08/13 I had to go to the Dr for a follow up visit and my test results came back and it appears as though my cancer has returned/reared it's ugly head once again after almost 4 years of cancer free. According to 3 Dr's "It would appear that some cancer cells were missed/escaped during surgery and radiation.

I have been referred to a great Oncologist in Missoula at the Cancer center at St Patrick's Hospital, after nearly a 1 hour visit with her, she had referred me to Seattle cancer care Alliance and Dr Tia Higano who specializes in Prostate Cancer. The Doctor in Missoula classified my medical case as "Quirkey". She said it was "just Quirkey enough" that the Seattle team may want to use me in a trial treatment program. So I need to go for a consultation with a Dr. Yu in April of 2013.

I'm having a bit of a problem wrapping my head around this bit of news but have excellent Dr's and have been referred to the Cancer care alliance at U of W medical center in Seattle. Unfortunately I am no longer a candidate for some conventional treatment plans (radiation, hormone, surgery) I've already had surgery and radiation and due to my heart condition hormone therapy is out of the question so it leaves me with Chemo.

That's all for today, I have been promising an update. I'll add more in the near future & I'll try to make it a litle clearer as to what has transpired this past few weeks, it is all a little confusing to me as well..

Well I saw my Primary care Physician for a sore throat (1-13-13). Turns out I have something called thrush so I have a mouthwash that is nasty tasting I have to swish 4 times a day...yech...The better news is he spent 45 minutes discussing with me my upcoming visit to the Seattle cancer care center/alliance. He was very informative and understanding partly because he is my Dr and partly due to his 20 years as a hospice Dr. So he is understanding on more than 1 level dealing with cancer patients.

I walked away with 3 main questions to pursue besides any that may come up during the consultation. This will help me to be more focused and perhaps walk away more enlightened.

They are.
1. What do I hope to gain by this course of treatment?
a. If I do this treatment will I get better?
b. Will this treatment cure my cancer?
2. What are the other options available to me and will they work any better with fewer side effects.
3. If we do nothing now, what is the risk of later treatment working or not working.

So with these questions along with several others I have annotated I feel much more empowered to attend this meeting.

He also urged me to continue with the course of action i have chosen which is to be assertive in choosing a treatment but not to allow the cancer to rule my life or my thoughts. Continue to be active and carry on and attempt to mask the Cancer mind invasion (he refers to it as that) so it does not rule my life.

Latest update begins here

Several months have passed with no change medically. I went to Seattle on the first of April. I took my time knowing that I had not done a major road trip (this was 585 miles one way) since I moved to Montana 3 years ago. Funny aside, I went in last week, well it was actually the week before I went to Seattle, to have my trucks oil changed. I knew it had been over a year or nearly that since my last oil change, but I also know that I don't drive much anymore, not having a life and all...The fellow at the oil change place said "Ummmm are you aware you are past due on your oil change?" "Yep, but check the mileage says I, smiling" He came back in with the tag out of the window and said "is this correct?" "Yep says I" Hehehe says he, you've only driven 1400 miles in a little over a year? Do you have another vehicle we don't have in our records?" "Nope" "You need to get out more..."

Sorry I got off track a little there...Soooo I drove as far as Moses lake the first day and met a friend for dinner I have known for several years on the net but we had never met in person before this trip. It was fun to meet Jim, and he brought along several examples of his Intarsia for me to drool over. He is very talented. I stayed at the Oasis Motel, side note...never again... 2nd day I headed out for Seattle and much to my surprise I was in Northbend Washington before I knew it. Stopped by the outlet mall, as i thought they had a Black and Decker outlet store but it had moved on. I took the liberty of calling ahead to my hotel, Crowne Plaza, to see if I would be able to check in early and was pleased to find that I could come straight to the hotel. I was reminded of the mandatory valet parking.

This song just popped into my head....recognize it?

On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of sound

I must digress a little again. I was concerned about expenses for this trip and shared that information with the liaison person from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. She sent me a link to apply for housing assistance from the American Cancer Society’s Guestroom Lodging Program. Within a few days my request had been approved as i was traveling over 90 miles and staying multiple days. The room was paid for in full by them with the exception of parking or any other incidentals I may choose to avail myself of such as room service, meals or in room movies. I did none of these add ons. Parking was nearly $45.00 per day with tips and taxes. Be still my heart, however the service was great and very convenient, just called ahead with a 5 minute lead and my vehicle was awaiting my arrival down stairs. I must say I was very appreciative of the free lodging made available to me. I will be changing or adding who I make some of my charitable contributions to in the future.

I'll go into more detail at another time but let's just suffice to say the consult with Dr. Yu was more than I had hoped for. He explained that he feels at this point in time, due to the fact I am not displaying many symptoms and none of those that are present are so problematic as to need immediate attention & that he is a true believer in weighing benefits Vs. Risk (side effects) it is his assessment and advice to take the wait and see attitude for now. Continue to monitor my PSA levels and if they reach 2.76 (a doubling of current score) then we should perhaps see what our alternatives are. I have decided to accept his assessment and wait and see what unveils itself in the future.
Now you are caught up...Thank you one and all for your positive vibes they really do help.

More to come I assure you!