For 20 minutes I lie completely still, in a lie-flat seat on an A350, seven miles above the Bering Sea. Outside, it’s night: pitch black below, devoid of any lights from ships or the scattered islands far below. As the radiologist opens my bone scan, searching for points of light, I wish him that same quiet journey.
Category: Health
Lying low
It was a day to lie on the couch and read. The study drug made staying close to home the wiser choice.
Lurking
I’m the mysterious gentleman lurking in the grimy Pedicord Apartments, part of the permanent collection at the U’s Weisman Art Museum. If you lean in to any apartment door, you can eavesdrop on what’s going on inside. I’m between appointments. I’ve just had the most thorough eye exam ever, including a 3D digital model of the inside of my eyes ordered by the study, hence the dark glasses.
High-touch care
Cycled in to the U for week six of the study. Being in the study means receiving an unsustainable level of healthcare: extensive lab workup up to three times a week, time with a physician or PA up to three times a week, blood pressure checked up to ten times a day, weekly ECGs, and scans every 8 weeks.
Rest and good aromas
Lazy day following another energy-sapping round of shots this week. While Dwight cooked, I read, napped, and looked forward to dinner. Everything smells wonderful, including fresh-baked focaccia and lentil soup. He made enough for tomorrow, too, when he sees his mom for lunch.
Winding down the week
It felt like the end of our workweek at Town Hall Brewery, just a few blocks from home. For me, it marked the end of a busy week of 12 tiring medical appointments, including four hours today, with a welcome break until Monday. For Dwight, it capped off his time today in the university greenhouse. The onsite-brewed beers were excellent and paired well with the Happy Hour pulled pork sliders.
Outriding the Reaper
Spent much of today at the U, hopefully delaying a visit from the Grim Reaper. On my bike ride home, I spotted this freight car graffiti: the man himself, flipping classical Christian iconography right on its head.
Framing the space between
Riding across Northern Pacific Bridge No. 9 felt like cycling through a cage this morning. I’m heading to the first of 28 appointments over the next 30 days at the U for my second round of study treatment. The tumor marker that had been climbing consistently has finally dropped slightly, a good sign. Now, my priority is to focus on the space between appointments: the time that belongs to me, not the study.
Keeping it normal
Simple tonkotsu udon at Kinzō between medical appointments at the U. Campus is a bright place to be: art exhibitions, student energy, reminders to keep perspective. Cycling to and from keeps things feeling normal.
Embracing defeat
Spent my day on the couch nursing a fever from the study drug. My current read, Embracing Defeat, covers the years of the American occupation of Japan, 1945–1952. Among all the failures of a collapsed society to support itself, a glimmer of hope is Japan’s 1947 constitution, which was written by a committee of Americans and remains Japan’s constitution today, remarkably with no amendments. Back then, America imposed democracy; today, our leaders undermine it.