After a day of walking, gratefully steeped my feet in the volcanic warmth of an unusually long (100 meters) footbath. Watched a plume rising above Sakurajima, a volcano that regularly rains ash on the city of Kagoshima.
Tag: Gratitude
Lolling
Today I sound like a glum Harvey Fierstein, low energy, raspy throat. Grateful it’s only a cold, my first in over 2½ years: Covid tests were negative. It hurts to postpone getting with friends and fulfilling commitments, but it’s a day for lolling on the couch.
Pills and Hot Flashes
As I do at the start of every day, took a small handful of Abiraterone and Dexamethasone. Later, at Methodist Hospital, got my quarterly Lupron shot and chatted with my oncologist. As the tumor marker graph (below) shows, it’s working, at least for now: it’s pointing towards zero, which is a good thing. I don’t… Continue reading Pills and Hot Flashes
PET/CT Imaging
Without leaving home, went on a visual journey through my body, guided by a Mayo oncologist. Like traffic lights, stopped at two bright red lymph nodes, signifying prostate cancer cells. Two additional drugs should help for a while. I’m grateful.
Steeper Every Time…
Hiked down to the spot where Captain James Cook met his demise when he violently tried to induce ‘good behavior among the natives.’ Every time we hike this hot, dusty in-and-out trail it seems to get steeper. It’s one of those hikes you’re happy to start and grateful to finish.
Lab Draw In Paradise
Hiked, labs, Target run, late lunch in beach bar, nap. Life is good. Labs: Waited near palm trees for a blood draw to build the case to be accepted into a phase 2 clinical study. Grateful I can travel while staying on top of my prostate cancer.
Simple Fix
Until today I’ve been putting up with a sharp, intense pain in my lower thumb, assuming it was arthritis. Today a physical therapist used her hands to apply a technique called positioned myofascial release to a muscle in my thumb, and the pain has gone. I’m amazed and grateful.
Thames Path Day 1
Day 1 of 3 hiking part of the Thames Path. Home tonight is a 16th century coaching inn in Wallingford, a picturesque market town. Grateful to be walking with good friends: one I’ve known since school days, 60 years ago, and another I’ve known since moving to the US 40+ years ago.
Treatment Options
Discussed different treatment options with my oncologist. I’m grateful I feel good and there are promising options.
My Husband
Drove Dwight home from Methodist Hospital after a routine screening colonoscopy. When asked to identify my relationship to the patient, I replied “husband.” Until just a few years ago, I never imagined the societal shifts that would make it possible to say that.