[fzman]

just noticed this thread for the first time -- my best wishes go with you. Hang in there.....  we need you to maintain a quorum of old farts in here (myself included)!!!
 
Best regards,
 
Mark

 

[Pars]

Best wishes on your recovery!

 

[UKToecutter]

I'm really sorry to hear about your problem.
Although I've not engaged in dialogue with you I've followed a lot of the threads you've posted on and tried to learn from you.
I wish you a complete and speedy recovery.
 
Best Regards
 
Andy

 

[Broodoobob]

Hello wakibaki,
 
I've been lurking for a while and your posts have been some of my favorites. They are always well-written and full of good information. It saddens me to hear that cancer is being a jerk and trying to interfere with your awesome work, but cancer is a well-known troll that is jealous of awesome people and really just needs to get over itself.
 
As much of a loser as cancer is, I have no fear whatsoever that you have enough awesomeness to lay the smackdown on that cancer so hard that it'll regret ever having mutated itself into existence.
 
Get well
 
-Broodoobob

 

[wakibaki]

This is Wednesday. Into hospital tomorrow, surgery on Friday. They fitted me in about 2 weeks before I was expecting it. There's always the possibility they'll set me back if an emergency comes in.
 
I survived it before, I should survive it again.
 
Thanks again for all the good wishes, they mean a great deal to me, since this is how I get the majority of my human interaction now.
 
Here's what I have been working on recently, an amplifier and bias supply for electrostatic phones. Unfortunately I haven't had time to make much use of my newly acquired CNC mill, so I don't have a pair of phones completed yet.
 
The amplifier employs depletion mode MOSFETS, which are delightfully tube-like to design with. It has a simple supply using an isolation transformer arranged as a voltage-doubler on the UK 240VAC mains supply. I've chosen FETs that I can get easily and fairly cheaply. The CCS loading means that the amplifier should enjoy good a PSRR
 

 

 
Here you can see essentially the same amplifier simulated with the DN2540, THD is ~0.07%, quite respectable. V swing is ~350V, 500V is easily achievable with the DN2470, and even more with the IXTP01N100, although this requires a bit more tweaking of resistor values.
 

 
Better try and get some sleep...
 
w

 

[fzman]

My thoughts will be with you.  Looking forward to a great report on the results of your surgery.
 
Best!!!
 
Mark

 

[Misterrogers]

Ditto Fred - you are in my prayers. See/chat you on the other side of surgery.

 

[Avro_Arrow]

Fred, I hope your surgery went well and you are recovering quickly.
I hope the surgeon was able to get it all this time.
I think I speak for many of us when I say we miss your insightful
comments and projects.

 

[Happy Camper]

Strength and recovery to you Waki. You're family here and in our prayers.

 

[wakibaki]

Hi, Guys.
 
Thanks in no small part to your encouragement I have crawled back out of the mouth of hell.
 
Major surgery is a curious negotiation. For the benefit of anyone who might need to undertake such a negotiation, I offer the following insight.
 
You can't always depend on everybody to be on your side. Some people will respond with sympathy, but with some health professionals it's absolutely best to conceal the level of pain you are in and/or sometimes the true state of your health. This may sound like the sheerest folly or the most extreme paranoia, but by the time you reach my 60-odd years of age, if you are a smart guy, and I am, there are probably few people better qualified to understand your body and its immediate needs than you yourself.
 
You can have an excellent surgeon, but still be as much at the mercy of an institution or an individual as any inmate in 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'
 
So if you find yourself in the situation, then you have to brace yourself to the task, look that nurse in the eye, and when you are asked '...and have you opened your bowels yet?' ...tell that barefaced lie with all the conviction you can muster, because sometimes it's more important to get home to those who really care for you than to carry on your conscience the concealment of a mild constipation. 

 
w

 

[Misterrogers]

Ha! Been there Fred, certainly not with something as serious as the big 'C', but with recent major back surgery. I've had no fewer than 6 operations on my back, with ~50% of my spine titanium reinforced with braces or cages. I was in two months ago to have my lower cage rebuilt and extended (supporting L2 - L7) and had a very similar 'conversation' with the nurse. Got home, within 24 hours all was working normal... ish. Pace yourself Fred, I'm always amazed at how long it takes to get GA completely out of your system.

 

[jgazal]

Glad to see you here!

 

[Avro_Arrow]

Hi Fred
 
Haven't seen your words of wisdom for a while.
Hope everything is going OK.
 
Cheers!

 

[wakibaki]

Hi James
 
Thanks for asking.
 
I had a prolonged convalescence since they felt it necessary to leave the chest drain tubes in for a total of 7 weeks to encourage the remainder of my right lung to inflate as much as possible. This was very wearing because the wounds cannot heal and the pain does not really begin to subside until they do. I could manage to walk the dogs every day but I slept a lot due to the painkillers. They took the tubes out about 10 days ago.
 
The good news is that the cancer was a second primary, not identical to the first one. Paradoxically this means that the chances of a recurrence in this case (due to the exact nature of the tumour) are only 10% or less, whereas if it had been a relapse (metastasis) from the previous tumour the chances of a recurrence even after surgery would be ~70%.
 
I bought a CNC mill just before I went into hospital, a kind of expression of faith in the future, but I just haven't had the energy to figure out how to do much with it yet. I've got a kind of ambition to build an SD-card-based DAP with a custom case with integral heatsinking, using one of the existing headphone amps I've designed, and I've also got the electrostatic phones and amp I talked about in a post above in the pipeline. The unfinished articles about PIC uproc design and the 2-tube budget headphone amp design (also unfinished) are weighing on my conscience a bit, hopefully I will have time to finish all of these in the future... 
 
Fred

 

[Avro_Arrow]

You take the time that you need to heal yourself up properly so you
can keep us in line for some time to come. I think I speak for us all
when I say we're glad the outcome is as positive as it is.
I sure hope I never have to go through what you have, I don't think
I would cope as well as you have.
 
I've been taking a bit of a break over summer...then I've got some
projects with MisterRogers to finish up. Maybe you would like to
join in with us, we could use your skills.
 
Cheers!