Blood Work Done.

Now we wait an hour before CT.
-30-

Dana Farber tomorrow morning

Three months can zip by when you'd rather it drag like Summer twixt 1st and 2nd grade.

This is a full body scan. Though the lymphoma manifested itself in my neck, because of the nature of the nasty, it can crop up again anywhere in the lymph system.

I need to drink some awful stuff on the way there to expedite my getting into the machine.  My doctor won't be there but her very-very competent NP will be.

I have extreme faith in these people.  They are no nonsense - tell it like it is.  My favorite.

-30-

The New Blogger Editing Page Didn't Work.

It worked in Rye Cake but wouldn't let me edit Belltowernews.com.  And, when in Chrome 12, every time I hit the shift key and a letter, if that letter is the same as the first letter in any of the Chrome add-ons, it brings that features screen up.

Very odd.
-30-

Lost Four Dogs in One Year

Though we have only a cat now, in our extended family at the beginning of this year there were four dogs. A Belgian shepherd, a golden lab and two standard poodles.

This morning the last of the them, a joyous standard poodle called Cirq, had to be taken to the vet and put down.  She belonged to my wife's mother and son's grand-mother.

Now our cat is the last pet in the extended New England family.

He's called Booger.

-30-

• Open in Google Docs Viewer
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• Edit PDF File on PDFescape.com

Civilization on Hold

If I step back for a moment and look at the state of the world, it's looking oh so uncivilized. The thing is it probably is much more so than it was 50 years ago.

Our ever widening ability to catch a glimpse in real time of it all, instead of through the filtered delay of weekly or even monthly magazines, is what's making it seem so wild.

If The Queen spit out of the window of the Royal Carriage as it crossed the Thames I'd hear about inside the hour followed soom by the opinions of everyone for river ecologists to organizers of the spit championship.
There would too, I guarantee, be footage of the act on YouTube.

To escape all this, we will be on the coast of Maine for the holiday weekend..
-30-

Really, I Was Just Sitting There

With no apparent aggravating activity my middle back suddenly screamed OUCH in the worst way.  As a person with a lot of experience with pain, I must say this was an 8 on the ten scale.  

I live daily between a 4 and 6, so when the meter tilts into the red, I respond quickly.

As quickly as I could, I sprang into action, using the methods I've learned over the years that help, each in a small way but when combined usually knock me back to the manageable 5 or 6.  Getting there, getting there...

-30-

A quiet weekend in Maine

Unlike the physically draining visit to DC, this shorter visit to Maine has been more of a battery charger.  If only the mosquitoes would give us a break, this would be perfect.
-30-

What a Week for News!

I wonder what the people who follow the stars are saying about this week.  The global attention span was sorely tried with the tornado, the wedding and the assassination.  The second ripped the first, and the third blotted out the second.

Than like rats in the morgue at night, the pundits came.

Bloody pundits!

-30-

Been in DC For Five Days

April is living up to its reputation for us.  Today was a gorgeous day to visit Mt. Vernon.

The last few days were taken up with Museums. Holocaust, Spy, American History, National Portrait Gallery,  Hirshman - so far.  Tomorrow we finish with my favorite - The Newsium!

-30-

Resetting Android Blogger App

We cleared not only the cache,  but all of the stored Blogger data with the hope it would clear up the problem.   Here goes.

-30-

We Are Having Problems With the Android App

It is only at Belltowernews.com where this problem is occurring.  We're posting this directly from the Blogger website to see if it's here or with the Android itself.

-30-

The New Building was marvelous

My treatment today was at the new building at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

It's called theYawkey Center for Cancer Care.  At the Dana Building everything was jammed into one room, now we begin on the second floor, go to the third, then the eight, return to the second and finally to P1 were the free, (to patients) Valet Parking is top notch.

I will be returning there in July for further tests and treatment.

-30-

A Blustery Day.

Driving my Scion xB all winter was a joy - the excessive snow was not the challenge I thought it would be. 

But then came Spring!

For almost a year, my wife & I drove a 36 foot class A RV literally around the United States.  I could feel the wind hit our side as we crossed bridges or through storms.

It may've been a bit difficult, but we always stayed in the lane.

Not today.  Driving what my son calls a breadbox on wheels down the interstate,  I crossed over the bridge into Rhode Island and was hit by a gust of wind that pushed the car into the break-down lane.

There was nothing to hit and the car quickly recovered the road, but it was a heart stopping moment.

This blog entry was started to inform that I will be going into Dana Farber for my 3-month check up on Thursday. 

-30-

Too Many Ways to Present the Moment

It was exciting in the beginning when Android apps started to appear along with keyboard apps that made it easier to type on a smartphone than my office keyboard. 

But now there are too many ways to present the moment on the Internet. If the moment is visual, I open Picplz, social, Gowalla, universal, Twitter, etc.

Rarely anymore does it occur to me to post to one of the Grazing Blogs.  The exception is during reflective moments like this.

Then a squirrel runs by me and I'm off chasing bits of information such as Ken L.  revealing he lived once with Candy B.  How titillating, for a moment...

-30-

Just When We Thought...

...We were out of the web page creation business a new way to post a web page came our way.  We are avid fans of DropBox.  If you don't have a DropBox account, simply, get one.  It is useful in so many ways.

While browsing through the commentary on the utility's many uses we saw mention of one we never thought about, web page hosting.  We went to the link for DropPages and saw it was a rather simple thing to do.

It was so simple that it took a while for us to drop down a few gears to see it.  Having designed hosted pages in HTML then XML with CSS, we were looking for all of the language we needed to learn.  Nope, none.  Just do what the instructions say and zing, you have a website.

We got to make use of a four letter .com that's been lingering around our list of owned URL's for a while.  A few years ago, it was attacked by spam monsters, so we took it off the track, covered it with white cloth and closed the door.  Now it's back up and hosting a list page of the Famous Grazing Blogs.

We may never change it again, now that we put it up, but it will be there to be found by those with an interest in what a free website hosted on DropBox.com look like.
-30-

Thanks For the Tweets!

We are back up as Belltowernews.com thanks to the hard overnight work of Brian and his coworkers at directNIC.com.  Their @directNIC.com Twitter page kept us all informed without having to panic.

Panic is never a good thing.
-30-

directNIC not redirecting!

If you came here using belltowernews.com that means directNIC has resolved the problem.  Please go to twitter.com/grazingportal and leave us a tweet.  It is too late for us to stay up and worry over this.  There is just too much real chaos in the world right now to worry over keeping a blog up.
-30-

A Friend's Blog - @spedteacher

It Isn’t In the Air « Education On The Plate
This is a link to @spedteacher's blog,  Education On the Plate.

I've known the author for,  let me see, 42 years.  We were fuzzy faced teenagers, ready to hit the streets & make the world a better place.  We worked for reform, attended demonstrations, some that turned into riots, others into moments of communal bliss.

We grew up but still each of us tried to make life better for people on a more personal level, one person or family at a time.

Read this story & the rest of the blog to see how @spedteacher hasn't given up on the world yet.

-30-

They're Saying New Blogger

I usually write blog entries using software outside of Blogger.  This is because the Blogger interface leaves much to be desired.  Old hat, so to speak.  When I saw this page on TechCrunch, I rushed right over here without watching the film...

To be somewhat disappointed at seeing, as Nicely  Nicely would say, same old-same old.

Ahh! but careful examination does show there have been subtle changes, in the composition, template set up and the general interface with the writer.  What we need now is the fancy-dancy interface, portal so to speak, they are calling the Dashboard.

Back to the page creation software, but I will visit the Blogger homeland more often.
-30-

Happy Thought Motorcycle Adventures: The Day my Husband Fell in Love....with his Kawasa...

"How could something so boring looking require so much love, be so much fun and have all the boys drooling over it..." My niece @HappyThought1 wrote in her blog below:

Happy Thought Motorcycle Adventures: The Day my Husband Fell in Love....with his Kawasa...:

I commented that she had entered into an epiphany when she answered the question above by embracing the joy her husband found instead of rejecting it out of hand as a danger to him, which it certainly is, or as competition to her, which it is no longer.

Until I saw them in person for my recent six decade birthday, I was still a tad worried, as all good Uncles should be.  But now I too have embraced their honest joy.  My wife, er.... not so much.  We can work on that.

You should go there and watch the videos they've made of their drives through the beauty that is Washington State.  If you have the time, don't miss the pieces she did going for a her licence.  Some very funny parts there while being entirely education as to the process.
-30-

Freezing Rain is Never a Good Thing

Several times in my impetuous youth,  & before the blessing of anti-lock brakes, I've touched my brake while driving in freezing rain only to find the ton of so of metal containing me floating effortlessly in a circle off the road, connecting with nothing more solid than a fresh snowbank.
So far.
When I once asked my uncle why old people drive so slow.  "How do you think they got to be old people? " He answered.
Now that my beard is white, it seems just the right thing to do when I drop 5 mph below the speed limit when I pass the first car that has slipped off the road, falling victims of the freezing rain & black ice.
-30-

We're Having a Heatwave!

When I looked at my HTC Evo screen and saw it was 50 degrees F.  I was shocked.  Glancing out the window,  a winter landscape of white still greeted me. But I was also surprised by the smokers standing in their shirtsleeves.

The view is sending me conflicting information.

Should I replace the torn winter coat of wait another year? It's the Scot in me combined with living the last 20 or so years in New England.
-30 -

Second Dog Down

Last week our mother's dog Maya gave up the ghost.  Today it was our sister's golden lab Hopi.

Sadness continues. 
-30-

You May Not Believe This

It came as quite a surprise to me,  after seeing them on CBS Sunday Morning, I am not a fan of Black Eyed Peas.  The super bowl half time show was 90% hype & 10% blinking lights.

Thank the stars for TiVo.

-30-

Lassie Spoof So Far the Best Commercial

I wonder, though,  how many in the audience will see the connection?

Even if they don't, with the volcano, the laughs came freely.
-30-

National Anthem Massacred

The young lady who "sang" The Star Spangled Banner at the beginning of the Super Bowl caused me severe pain. Just saying...
-30-

The King's Speech

That was a most enjoyable movie!  Good company at dinner followed by a movie with no explosions or car chases, (unless you count the man they followed in fog), and yet I still cheered and clapped.  See it.
-30-

A Night Out on the Town!

I think Randolph is a town. Dinner for nine at NYA JOE'S,  reservations made online followed by all of us pulling a u-ee to go see The King's Speech.

Though not one to normally enjoy large crowds involved in social circumstances, I am determined to kick Winter's butt & enjoy myself tonight.
We'll see, won't we?
-30-

We Have a New Barber!

For the past 17 years I've been going to the same barber.  Around the new year she moved to Florida.  This is a traumatic thing for a man of my age. 

After letting my hair grow for three months, to the point where it was attracting comments, it was time to find another Barber. Not a hairdresser mind you, but a real barber who would cut my hair & not style it.  I did and his name is Dee.

Hello Dee - have fun in Florida, Barbara!
-30-

Feeling Overworked

Every once in a while a Friday comes along & I ask myself why do I continue working.  This was one of those day. 
-30-

Droid App For Blogger

Just when I was wondering if I'd ever find time to bring Belltowernews back to the vibrant, almost daily discourse it was in the beginning, we are saved by @neilhimself when he twittered Blogger has a Droid app.
Watch out world!  We are back in the saddle!
-30-

Booker T & the M G 's - Green Onions (Original / HQ audio)

If I was going to pick a funeral song, this one would be near the top of my list.

-30-

Three Month Reprieve

For those who are following the lymphoma adventure: Dana Farber CI scanned me yesterday.  The oncologist came into the examination room with a huge smile on her face.  I have seen the other face.  She said it looked good but she had to wait for one more opinion. UP-down!!

Then UP again when she came back, thumbs up, saying "See you in three months!"

Another reprieve from the Governor.
-30-

Bizzard Backyard

My family where there is no snow think it would be wonderful to come play in this snow.

My family who are here are out shoveling the driveway.

-30-

Merry Christmas

This was a very pleasant morning.  Just the stocking and core family gifts.  The major gathering is tomorrow.  That will be fun.  This was pleasant.  They are different in subtle ways with neither being better, but more appropriate to the time, place and people.

The gist of the matter, this is a holiday, last year, I didn’t know if I would make or not.  I am so happy I did.

Love is good.  Don’t waste it!!!

Hogmanay!!!

-30-

Boom! December!!

My friend, the highly talented M. F. Conklin is sharing on Facebook the horror story of her returning from a holiday in the country to find her city apartment without heat or hot water.

"On the Fritz" New Yorkers say.

Anyone have the origin, of the fritz phrase not my dear Friend's freezing.

Around the same time we found water in the basement laundry of our most New England shack.

At first we thought it water coming up from the ground.  We checked the pits wherein lay our sump pumps. (plural)

Amazingly dry.

Further investigation found the water to be coming from under the wall dividing the laundry from the boiler room.

We were hoping it was a leak from the water heater.  Nope....

To be continued....

Wican in Afgan Countryside

Listening to NPR, an odd color piece came on telling of a Wiccan rite being celebrated near the front line.  It was a sweet piece accented by the comment about two MP's standing by to ensure no one came along and did something "STUPID."

That is so Americans.

Don't forget to vote!

-30-

Things Happen

Bobbie Burns was correct in his comment about the best laid plans.  I am currently in the peripheral of a well planned day being rearranged in the style of the end of this century's first decade.

It did not occur to anyone in the group to pick up the phone.  Through texting & Facebook the lives of people in three states were rearranged with astonishing speed.

Smartphones now rule our lives.  We've grown beyond Star Trek in so many ways. How soon the replicator and beam me up Scotty for real?

10-10-10 10:10,101010

10-10-10 10:10,101010
Originally uploaded by sgtret.

This is a picture of a moment in time that won't happen again for another 100 years. There is also something about it being the binary number 42 and the Meaning of Life, but that is way beyond my understanding.

-30-

No Scan!

We were mistaken.  There was no scan.  This was a visit to the oncologist and a blood test.

The medical staff were happy with the results.  The scans are six months apart now.

I know that is good news, but, as a geek,  it would be nice to see electronic confirmation.  That isn't to say I have no faith in the doctor or her staff.  I love these people, big time.

-30-

CATT Scan on Thursday

Three months have passed since the last PETT scan.  I go in on Thursday for a CATT scan to see if the cancer has returned.

All of the hair removed by the chemotherapy has returned.  It's even getting a tad shaggy.  Superstiously, I decided not to get it trimmed until after the test.  If I need to return to chemo, why waste money?

-30-

Better Than a Rubber Band

One of the things my wife says about me, other than I look like santa claus mixed with a biker, is give me a rubber band & corner seat and I'll be good for hours.

My new smart phone is that runberband.  What it does do is get me out of my cave.  It allows Mr to blog directly from wherever I am.

This could be dangerous.

-30-

Blog Subject

This is a test of the blog subject shortcut when posting. If the Sorry, etc. message appears, we've narrowed it down.

Played with Foursquare while getting ...

Played with Foursquare while getting my car serviced this morning. First lesson, be careful what you say, it gets posted all over the place. Stay tuned for second...

5,000 instead of 3,000?

It was close to a religious tradition to have my last two cars serviced every 3,000 miles.

When we bought our 2010 Sion Xb we were told the services were at 5 000 miles. The last two took me well over 300,000 miles.

it does make me nervous, but we will stick to their program. Now if they'd wash the waiting room floor once in a while, it might become a pleasant experience.

Ping isn't working> On TweetDeck for ...

Ping isn't working> On TweetDeck for me. I have tried re-installing it twice. We'll try HootSuite to see if it's Ping.fm.

Erased a Boring Entry

It was so boring, I fell asleep while writing.  You can thank me later. It's time now for chocolate.

-30-

Spending More Time on Evo

When the only way to communicate with the geeks in the community was on our PCUG's BBS; the cutting edge place to be was at the base unit as the SysOp.

It ran on pre-GUI standards DOS software using first a 300, then 1200 and finally a 9600 baud modem.

Lightning fast, let me tell you.

Now I sit here with my Evo nestled in my hand, typing faster with my thumb than I ever did with both hands.  The  message I am writing will be seen only on my blog.

This blog was started in 2004, cutting edge at the time. Now it feels like finger painting on the wall of a cave in rural france. 

-30-

Dinner before we leave.

Spinney's near Fort Popham.  My son & I went for a walk on the nearby beach after dinner.


-30-

After Rocky Ridge, visiting the Garanson Organic farm was close to a Zen experience. -30-

-30-

Garanson Organic Farm

If you can't pick it yourself, second best is to visit the farmstand right where your food is grown.

-30-

Rocky Ridge Orchards

We gathered our apples here in Bowdoin, Maine. Cortlands, Macs, Golden Delicious, Ruby Reds.  All soon to be apple sauce, butter, bread, cobbler, crisp and just apples for the lunch box.

There's something about eating fruit you pick yourself.

Farmer's Market in Bath, Maine

The winds are blustery after Earl's skirting the edge of mid-coast Maine.  This didn't deter the farmers, over burdened with their bushels of heirloom tomatoes and sweet corn, from setting up shop here on the banks of the Kennebec River. 

-30-

God Daughter's Birthday

Just thought it a good idea to wish our god daughter Mell a happy-happy on this, her 15th birthday.

-30-

Argument Exception-WTF?

If you visited this blog recently you may have noticed an enormous blog entry title with to entry to follow.  It was another attempt to blog from the HTC Evo.  When I saw the exception, I closed the window with the expectation it would go away.  Instead, it published the exception as the title of the blog post.

I hope this fixes that.

-30-

Blogaway

The next Android Blogging app we're going to try is Blogaway.

So far it seems easy enough. A lot less hoops to set up and run on Blogger than most Windows programs.  Here too, the Froyo keyboard thinks faster than I do.

The Best feature right now is when I clumsily hit a system key, leaving Blogaway, an on-hone draft has automatically been saved.

-30- 

At first I thought...

 ...it was going to be a lot easier to blog with the HTC, especially with a key board that reads my mind no matter where my large thumbs hit as long as it's in the general area of the key I want.   The Droid Blogger app I tried first worked well but then decided to just pop up creative error messages.   I deleted it an am now trying Pixel Pipe.

-30-

We Thought It Would Be Easy...

This is the first exterior picture taken with the HTC Evo's native camera.  I have tried to download other camera utilities from the Android Store, but they all froze with undecipherable error messages.




-30-

I Am Begining to Understand

The sight of our cat,The Booger, napping on the rug must've inspired me to doze as well. I woke with a start at the sound tires peeling down the street.

In my hand was tightly grasped my new HTC EVO. Sinse I first lit this thing up it has not left my sight.

I understand 2 things now.

The first, why people seem to be constantly using these and why they constantly complain about the batteries petering out. The first creates the second; simple as that.

-30-

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.5.2

HTC EVO & Blogging

This is the first entry into Belltower News using the HTC EVO. There is a slight learning curve with the keyboard but the suggested words is a very smart feature. the double space automatic period should be followed by a capitalized letter but that may be in the settings. I've only had it for two hours.
-30-

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.5.2

Casualties Of Gulf Spill, 100 Dogs Co...

Casualties Of Gulf Spill, 100 Dogs Come To N.J. For Adoption « CBS New York- News, Sports, Weather, Traffic and the Best of NY http://bit.ly/cElAGO

At the request of Beth Kehoe Flick,

I am posting the following message. - Children with special needs don't have an illness, so there is no cure and it's not contagious. They want what we all want -- to be accepted. Most of you won't copy and paste this, but will you do it and leave it on your status for at least an hour? This is in honor of all the kids who n...eed a little extra help and understanding

Added a Tumblr.com Blog

Belltowernews.tumblr.com is the latest of the Famous Grazing blogs created to spread the word, whatever that word may be.
-30-

Having an off day

There are days where I am getting obviously better. Then there are days like today. I can't say I feel bad, but I am feeling closer to how I felt on Chemo then I remember how I felt before it. The good news is, the beard is looking less scruffy. We must take some pleasure in the small things.
-30-

The factory whistle had its place.

Perhaps someone should create an app that shows up on your screen and sounds a steam whistle when it's time to put down the tools and go home.

I Enjoyed the Sorcerer's Apprentice

Beyond the good/evil-Hero/Villain was their use of Manhattan's mystical symbols that are everywhere.

On the way to home to rest...

Just left a room full of newly enlightened bodies.

Twitter has taught me economy of word...

Twitter has taught me economy of words. Even in longer prose, I now go back and edit one more time to sweep out the unneeded baggage.

The last of the wisdom teeth are now ...

The last of the wisdom teeth are now gone from my mouth.
It took over 40 years for this one to follow the others. Stubborn little bugger!

On Education - A Chosen Few Are Teach...

On Education - A Chosen Few Are Teaching for America - NYTimes.com http://ping.fm/X7RPw

I was very surprised to find that the...

I was very surprised to find that the My Opera blog that comes with signing up for My Opera can easily be edited using the newest vs. of WLW

Thanks for the well wishes

There are times when you find out just how many people are part of your life.  This has been one of them.  The routine of life, where you get up, drink you tea, shower, get dressed and go off to work, work, finish work, come home, have dinner, watch TV, answer email, go to bed and see only the few members of your family and the people with whom you work builds a false sense of being part of a very small community.

Then the proverbial fan became struck and my support structure came together with amazing speed and solidity.  I can only say thank you so many times, but consider it a looped messages that will only end when I do.

-30-

HootSuite could use some work on its ...

HootSuite could use some work on its facebook interface. It doesn't show the comments very well. Friends list in Contacts would nice too.

Mark Twain's Unexpurgated...

RT @nytimes: Mark Twain's Unexpurgated Autobiography http://ping.fm/RuNhx

GeekBeatTV: Watch Your Car Repair...

GeekBeatTV: Watch Your Car Repair Live, In-Flight WiFi Price May Drop & Invisibility Cloaks Are Coming! episode 7- http://ping.fm/HdGFv

RT @CBSRadioNews: at 5amET: Temps cou...

RT @CBSRadioNews: at 5amET: Temps could soar to triple digits in parts of the East Coast... raising concerns re: health & power outages.

@BlogForaCure Thanks. I just complet...

@BlogForaCure Thanks. I just completed chem two weeks ago and am now is test mode for the next five years. It does suck, big time!

Last Airbender was a disappointment. ...

Last Airbender was a disappointment. A mishmash of special effects and karate. Missed the point of the show completely.

This site Now Fits in the Newest Windows Live Writer

This is great news.  This blog has been left to rot while the Chemotherapy was still going and I wasn’t in the mood to update pages one at a time on line.  I am now off chemotherapy for now and am in tri-monthly evaluation mode with a scan every six months instead of every month.

This should decrease my chances of glowing in the dark!!

-30-

amhistorymuseum: Today in 1960: 50th ...

amhistorymuseum: Today in 1960: 50th star added to the American flag to honor the new state of Hawaii.

RT @Alyssa_Milano: WARNING - iTunes A...

RT @Alyssa_Milano: WARNING - iTunes Accounts Hacked - http://bit.ly/aWUVpT /via @mashable

RT @gavmccaughey There's a line in Ba...

RT @gavmccaughey There's a line in Back To The Future where Christopher Lloyd sets the DeLorean for "25 yrs in the future" THAT'S TODAY!

Notepad.cc is a simple way to extend ...

Notepad.cc is a simple way to extend what you want to say on Twitter http://ping.fm/mn1ry

I know they've been around a while, b...

I know they've been around a while, but I just discovered The White Buffalo-It's like Leonard Cohen meets Richie Havens http://bit.ly/atxCSB

I Love this photo ...

http://ow.ly/26CB5 I Love this photo listed in 6/26 Interesting Photos blog. Stand up to the Man!!

RT @enterprisenews: Mosquitoes in Hal...

RT @enterprisenews: Mosquitoes in Halifax test positive for West Nile Virus:
The DPH has notified the Halifa... http://bit.ly/ddE7KB

The second PETT Scan after Chemo ther...

The second PETT Scan after Chemo therapy came back showing "no uptake." This is a very good thing.
A very good thing, indeed!
-30-

Wait for the shock to pass

When this news settles down, I promise to make a longer blog entry.  

-30-

Dana Farber

Back from Dana Farber. The scan and blood tests came up clean. I go back in October for a look over with the next scan three months after that!!

-30-

The major anxiety of the moment is wh...

The major anxiety of the moment is where to go for batteries for my Logitech mouse. This is a level of angst with which I can live...

Why Does Hoot Suite Limit Ping.fm?

Why is Hoot Suite's interface with Ping.fm limit the messages to 140 characters for blog entries??

Hello June!

There’s been a dearth of entries because I am currently in limbo. 
The chemotherapy has stopped and I am slowing getting over the side effects. We are hoping the swelling brought on by the steroids will abate.

Next is the PET scan.  This is the limbo.  Until the scan I am in a state of not knowing.  Not knowing is probably the worst state someone like me, a confessed information junkie, can be in.

When we know something, you will know it.  Thanks for you continued support over this long-long process.
-30-

Recovering on the Rocky Coast of Maine

The Memorial Day weekend could not have come at a better time.  It will give me another day of rest before returning to the work world.  I might be able to add to the plant photograph I love to do while up here.

Eagle Island, off Falmouth ME. Admiral Peary’s home.

We will start the weekend at the farmers market and then return to read, eat and be merry with the dogs and Amie.  -30-

Cake & Bubbly!

Chemo # six, the last of the series, was completed today at Dana Farber in Boston.  The most surprising thing was the standing ovation by patients and staff and the gift of a cake and bottle of “bubbly.
They were so sweet. 

I can’t say I looked forward to going in, the procedure itself is a difficult life choice to make and instantly transforms you in so many negative ways, all to save your life.  What I can say is, I didn’t dread it. 

I give most of the credit to my wife, who has stood and sat by me every minute of this ordeal, but, I have to give a good portion to Dana Farber, my doctor, her NP  associate and the nursing staff who poked me in the most humane way possible.

It isn’t over.  I go back in five weeks for another blood test and PET scan. This will be repeated over a period of time.  If the results are good, it will be knocked down to a CAT scan over a longer period of time until five years goes by.

Everybody, all at once, touch wood.

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One More Thing

You know, just when think, what else, else happens.  I was startled from sleep last night by what felt like an animal biting the big toe of my right foot.

The only animal in this house, by invitation anyway, is our orange tabby.  So, whatever logic in my mind that exists at three in the morning put together it was the cat biting my toe.
Mysteriously, once I was awake enough to make any sense of it, the complete nail of my big toe was sitting perpendicular from the now pulp surface upon which it once serenely sat.
Ouch applies here, big time.
Because infection is a major worry while undergoing chemotherapy, I quickly wrapped the wounded toe and dragged myself over to the local ED.
There a kindly physician everyone called Danny Boy shot my toe full of painkiller and very carefully ripped the entire nail from my foot.
Did I mention this was the big toe?  Did I mention ouch!!!
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Update – Chemo

This is picture of the tin man that welcomed us to our son’s school play on Saturday night.

I thought it reflected very well how I feel after the fifth of six sessions of Chemotherapy. 

Parts out of place.

While I probably should have just taken the weekend totally off, even staid in bed, I refuse to let my life stop especially if the eventual permanent stopping has in anyway be accelerated by this.

During a previous time when I was taken out of the flow of life by a catastrophic event information I had gleaned from a book by Dr. Jonathon Miller, A Body in Question helped me substantially recover.

In the book, Dr. Miller mentions how a person when placed in the medical environment becomes a patient. As a patient they assume they are sick and therefore succumb to what they believe are the inevitable results.

I took that advice to heart and determined through dress and manner to be a guest of the hospital, not a patient.  Using the same perspective, I am determined to be guest of this cancer and not its supporter.

To get to the grit of what is happening today, the effects are worse, more pronounced and extremely annoying.  Now it’s time to get on with living as best I can with what I have.

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The Body in Question

Five of Six Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the fifth of the scheduled six chemotherapies.  I can honestly say I do not look forward to this.

From the other side of the coin I do.  This is the only option on the table.  In my considerable experience with the lack of options, I’ve learned it makes no sense to fret.

When the options are do or don’t and don’t is obviously the wrong choice it ceases to be one.  That leaves one thing to do. 

The word options no longer applies.

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Balancing Act

 

The next week is going to be a balancing act.  The Chemotherapy number five is this coming Thursday.

There have been many things I’ve not wanted to do but had to because it was the right thing to do.

When “Do the Right Thing” is our family motto, it gives me little leeway.

However, I am truly not looking forward to going through this again.  It would be close to nine on the classic scale.  If you knew me well, it would concern you when I place something that high on the scale.  It concerns me.

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Ahhh, Sun and Heat

For a moment there I thought I was having another hot flash but looked over at the YoWindow display on my Acer monitor and discovered it IS 86 degrees out there and that ambient light is actual sunlight.

If three of the medications I am taking didn’t have the explicit warning to “AVOID EXPOSURE TO DIRECT SUNLIGHT” and there was any hair left on my head, I might be inclined to go outside.

Anyone who knows me would say that would be a stretch even before this whole Lymphoma thing started.

I will admit, it has always been my policy not to go to the beach.  If I do find myself at the beach it is never without an umbrella of any size and a hat with a sizable brim.
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It was when I was this size and wearing that bathing suit, I was left to sleep on a blanket at Rye Beach in upstate New York.  It was under an umbrella but either the sun or I moved allowing my legs to be out in the sun for quite a while. 

Look at those legs!  Should they be exposed for any length of time to solar radiation???

Sun Poisoning or Photodermatitis  is what they called it.  Noxzema is what they put on it.  As I know now, cold water would’ve been a better treatment.  Let’s just say, these legs do not now, nor will they ever, be exposed to the sun for ANY length of time.

TMI, I know, but it’s Sunday afternoon & I’ve some time on my hand while Stephen Fry tweets his way from Heathrow to his London flat.
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Fever Has Passed

Woke up at five and took my temperature again!
97.0 F.
Whew!  That was with Tylenol.  At 0830 it was back up to 98.0 without the Tylenol.  I think we can say the fever episode has passed. 

Now let’s hope the mouth lesions go away soon as well.
Over all, not too bad.
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