Thursday, February 20, 2014

The pendulum keeps swinging...

Frozen weeks, then a few days of warm; good news, then not so good; the same with my days...good ones, then not so good. Sometimes it even breaks down into hours! Kind of like letting someone else pick your music...

I set up a Pandora account years ago but never really used it. The blue-ray player we bought is a "smart" one, so it will play that, along with NPR stuff and You Tube (been spending a lot of time in Jay Leno's garage lately). I set up a channel of swing stuff starting off with some Erskine Hawkins and it swings along nicely until they decide to throw in something in the same tempo but "urban". I'm not sure if they're just checking to see if I'm awake or what!

One of Dottie's sisters is flying in tonight and Bill, Laura and Liam are driving in from Colorado tomorrow because John and Noel are renewing their wedding vows this weekend for their 15th anniversary. They're also having the "big do" they didn't have a chance to back when they started out. I used to feel guilty when Dad and I were photographing those that Dottie hadn't had a chance at one, but she's assured me enough times through the years that she wouldn't have wanted one even if it was offered that I finally believe her. Our little ceremony in the judge's study in San Diego seems to have worked out pretty well!

I had my visit with the oncologist the other day. He said that with the tumor being the only thing active now, chemo would be too hard on me physically for what return there might be on it. If it wasn't for the fibrosis, they would do radiation to kill what's left of it and then wait to see if it comes back somewhere else.

There is some new technology that targets radiation to a very small area and he is going to discuss with the pulmonologist whether that would still be too much risk for what lungs I have left. The other option is doing nothing and scanning again in a few months to see what's changed.

So another round of doctor's visits while we all come to a concensus...

Meanwhile I keep peeking at the news and watching the Ukraine burn and Syria crumble while those who profess to run the world march to their own drummers! In the idealism of my youth I truly believed that when I got to this age people would have outgrown the idea of killing those they disagreed with...that talking would be something more than a strategic pause while you repositioned or resupplied or tried to gain some other advantage.

Meanwhile we're selling aircraft carriers for a penny for scrap and China's building new ones!

May life be kind to each of you!

alan









3 comments:

Anne said...

Much love to you all, kind human.

Anonymous said...

We are living in interesting times, alan. Whenever I pay attention, it seriously blows my mind. That's why I tend to look away.

Enjoy the company and the renewal of vows. Our little world of family is the true world of the heart.

Be well, my friend.

Anji said...

Joni Mitchell wrote "Reading the news and it sure looks bad
They won't give peace a chance
That was just a dream some of us had" How many years ago was that?

Enjoy your family gathering this weekend.

I hope that the new technology is good for you.