A fine two days!
Yesterday was the last of my docent classes. We had a quiz which I did OK on(I guess) because it wasn't graded during the class. It will be funny not having anything to do on Thursday morning anymore. I did sign up to shadow one more tour during May.
In the afternoon, I shadowed a tour to get a feel for how others do the tour. From what I witnessed, I came away with a high level of confidence that I could do better. We'll see how the second shadow goes. They are having a graduation party for us on my actual birthday - the 15th - at the Zimmerman house. It should be a lot of fun. This whole experience has been a pleasure and I look forward to giving my own tours in the near future. I know that I'll be a little nervous but I'm sure that the butterflies will quickly disappear.
What else over the past two days? Oh, I continued with my electrical work swapping two switches to make their use more obvious. What a bear to snake the wires. But, in the end, I prevailed. This has been on the to do list from day one when we moved in.
Oh yes, we completed our bridge matches for the season today as well. For the first time all year we came away with a loss. I don't think that it will affect our overall final positioning but we won't know until the 14th. By the way the fellow that we played against today had aplastic anemia 50 years ago and survived. That's a true miracle because they didn't do bone marrow transplants back then and there was no real way to fight the disease other than by repeated blood transfusions - which, miraculously, worked for him. In my case, I have seen a couple of obituaries in the paper this week of people dying from leukemia at the ages of 24 and 45 - so I certainly feel more than blessed that I have come this far. We take miracles wherever we can find them.
That about wraps up the two days other than to say that today was a beautiful day and the next two days are supposed to be in the 80's - summer is back!
As the weather gets better and better, I feel more and more grateful to be here to enjoy it...
Bob
April 28, 2010 10:50 PM
A great medical report!
The doctor said that all my counts were where they should be. This doesn't mean just progressing well but that all my counts were normal - like most of you are! I know that my hemoglobin reached 14.3 - the highest that it's been since I don't know when. However, I told him that my arm and leg muscles have been sore for the past week. At which point he said that it bears watching and that I should stick to my current dosage of meds and that I need to return in 4 weeks for my next visit.
Today's visit closed with my getting round 2 of my vaccinations.
Tonight it was dinner at a friend's house with a group of friends. It's always nice to get together this way - especially during midweek. Tomorrow, it's the final class of my docent training course. Hard to believe that it's over! And, tomorrow afternoon, I shadow a tour in order to get the feel for what it's goinmg to be like to conduct my own. I'm looking forward to it.
Not much else to say about the day except that it really was a good one...
Bob
The doctor said that all my counts were where they should be. This doesn't mean just progressing well but that all my counts were normal - like most of you are! I know that my hemoglobin reached 14.3 - the highest that it's been since I don't know when. However, I told him that my arm and leg muscles have been sore for the past week. At which point he said that it bears watching and that I should stick to my current dosage of meds and that I need to return in 4 weeks for my next visit.
Today's visit closed with my getting round 2 of my vaccinations.
Tonight it was dinner at a friend's house with a group of friends. It's always nice to get together this way - especially during midweek. Tomorrow, it's the final class of my docent training course. Hard to believe that it's over! And, tomorrow afternoon, I shadow a tour in order to get the feel for what it's goinmg to be like to conduct my own. I'm looking forward to it.
Not much else to say about the day except that it really was a good one...
Bob
April 27, 2010 10:15 PM
Off to the doctor's at last!
It's been 8 weeks - the longest stretch that I have ever had between visits - since I last visited the doctor. Tomorrow will provide an update as to how my counts are doing and will also be round 2 of my vaccinations.
I also have to bring along some forms - one of which is to release my medical information to my insurance company to see where I stand relative to "going back to work". We all know that there won't be any work - it's layoff time! So we'll see how that plays out.
As for my mother, the location of her cancer mitigates against any kind of an operation - regardless of what state her health is in. So it's chemo for 6 to 8 weeks to see if the cancer subsides and then just try to keep it in submission by chemo thereafter. The cancer will never go away! She remains upbeat and positive which is refreshing - maybe that's where I got it from? All you can do is deal with the situation - you can't wish it away or wish that it never happened.
One thing that I can say is that she never had a colonoscopy before her cancer was initially diagnosed. Quite possibly none of this would have ever happened had she done so. As much as we all despise getting one - it can most assuredly be a life saver!
So, I guess that my request is that you keep both of us in your prayers.
I know that I am not out of the woods yet, either...
Bob
It's been 8 weeks - the longest stretch that I have ever had between visits - since I last visited the doctor. Tomorrow will provide an update as to how my counts are doing and will also be round 2 of my vaccinations.
I also have to bring along some forms - one of which is to release my medical information to my insurance company to see where I stand relative to "going back to work". We all know that there won't be any work - it's layoff time! So we'll see how that plays out.
As for my mother, the location of her cancer mitigates against any kind of an operation - regardless of what state her health is in. So it's chemo for 6 to 8 weeks to see if the cancer subsides and then just try to keep it in submission by chemo thereafter. The cancer will never go away! She remains upbeat and positive which is refreshing - maybe that's where I got it from? All you can do is deal with the situation - you can't wish it away or wish that it never happened.
One thing that I can say is that she never had a colonoscopy before her cancer was initially diagnosed. Quite possibly none of this would have ever happened had she done so. As much as we all despise getting one - it can most assuredly be a life saver!
So, I guess that my request is that you keep both of us in your prayers.
I know that I am not out of the woods yet, either...
Bob
April 26, 2010 11:25 PM
Home once again!
It was an uneventful drive home this morning - exactly the way that we want it. And followed by a session of bridge as part of our bridge group commitment. We fared fairly well and look to be in good shape to do well overall. Our next, and last, session is on Friday.
Yesterday, of course, was a good day as we returned to the church that we attended when we lived in New York. It was nice to reconnect with people that we had not seen in years. The church itself hasn't changed one bit in the 21 years since we've been gone.
But, today was not a good day as my mother's biopsy report confirmed that, after two years, her colon cancer has returned. Options are few for someone who is 87 and chemo therapy appears to be the only option as surgery may prove to be too dangerous. Tomorrow, she and my sister visit the doctor to ascertain the exact course of action from this point. Needless to say, your prayers are sorely needed and much appreciated at this point.
Life always seems to deal you some cards that you just don't want to get...
Bob
It was an uneventful drive home this morning - exactly the way that we want it. And followed by a session of bridge as part of our bridge group commitment. We fared fairly well and look to be in good shape to do well overall. Our next, and last, session is on Friday.
Yesterday, of course, was a good day as we returned to the church that we attended when we lived in New York. It was nice to reconnect with people that we had not seen in years. The church itself hasn't changed one bit in the 21 years since we've been gone.
But, today was not a good day as my mother's biopsy report confirmed that, after two years, her colon cancer has returned. Options are few for someone who is 87 and chemo therapy appears to be the only option as surgery may prove to be too dangerous. Tomorrow, she and my sister visit the doctor to ascertain the exact course of action from this point. Needless to say, your prayers are sorely needed and much appreciated at this point.
Life always seems to deal you some cards that you just don't want to get...
Bob
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