Month 18

Hello again,

We are back from our trip to Mexico.  I did not realize the “day of the dead” was such a big event in Mexico.  The celebration occurred during our stay in Sayulita, and it went on for three days (Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day).  There were decorations all over town, with a stage set up by the town plaza for music and dancing, elaborate displays and memorials all through the plaza, and many folks out and about.

Sayulita Day of Dead decorations

Son Andrew and wife Mel departed for their new abode at South Tahoe atop the Kingsbury Grade the same day we took off for Mexico. Now they are busy drumming up clients for their new cleaning business.

We drove up to Grants Pass to spend Thanksgiving with Scott and Heidi and granddaughter Elyra.  We had a great Turkey feast with them and some of their friends and family.

Health-wise, I started the month of November weighing about 135 pounds and finished the month at 141.  This included a dip to 132 after we returned from Mexico, thanks to a bout of Montezuma’s revenge at the tail end of our trip.  The ‘revenge’, unfortunately, robbed me of some excellent meals the last two days in San Pancho.

The weight gain seems to be congregating around my abdomen, and I’ve been experiencing what I guess are ‘hot flashes’….moments when “Gosh, it seems a bit warm all of a sudden.”  I did get a hormone shot three months ago for the prostate cancer treatment.  The shot lasts for six months, and my doctor said I might experience weight gain around the belly, and might have hot flashes and mood changes.  I don’t believe mine are like Carol’s hot flashes, though….they’re not “Wow, how’d it get so hot?” Just, “Hmm…it seems a little warm.”

Anyway, the shot could explain part of my weight gain….along with some Thanksgiving eating.  Now I’ll have to start watching my waistline.  The two pairs of 30-inch-waist pants I got some months ago were too small for me to fasten this past week.  Rats.

I had my endoscopy on November 12th to check up on how things looked.  I was having some issues with swallowing and weird croaking noises coming out of my throat, so my doctors thought it would be worthwhile to take a peek at my new esophageal and stomach arrangement.

The follow up meeting with the doctor was a few days ago.  He said everything looked healthy…he didn’t see any issues.  However, he did said that since most of my stomach was above my diaphragm and in my chest area, I will have to always watch out for acid reflux.  I should eat four small meals a day instead of three bigger ones.  And I should eat my last meal of the day at least three hours before going to bed.  I need to give my stomach a chance to digest the food before conking out.

It also means taking meds to reduce stomach acid.  And I need to sleep on my back with my head elevated above my stomach.  The occasions when I’ve slid down my pillow so my head is on the same plane as my stomach, I’ve had problems.  I get a super hot throat and an uncontrollable dry cough…not pleasant.  So, I gotta stay on my pillow.

Exercise-wise, Carol and I continue our walks in the morning, with three or four trips to the gym each week.  Although this routine did get a bit side-tracked with our trips to Mexico and Grants Pass.

Because of the interruptions, I tried to catch up with the exercise routine last week by doing an especially aggressive workout on the machines at the Y.  This was not a good idea….I got heart palpitations, was light-headed and quite fatigued the rest of the day.  I also noticed my ankles have been swollen since then.

So I’m going to take it easy, and if the symptoms come back I’ll see my regular doctor.  My endurance is far from being back to normal.  I’m okay walking on the level, but give me some uphill walks (outside of Woodland of course) and I get winded quickly.  And, in October I tried to blow out the candles on my birthday cake…that would be thirteen candles (7 + 6), not seventy-six candles… and I couldn’t do it!

I’m still getting physical therapy for my shoulders…they are much better, but still weak.  I’m hoping I can get back in the pool for some morning swimming sometime down the road.

Now that I’ve been done with the prostate radiation for about six weeks, I can say the process was not bad.  I never got fatigued.  My poops were frequent for about the last month of treatment, but are close to normal now.  Urination activity pretty much normal, with the occasional sense of some urgency…I gotta go!  No incontinence at this point, however.

So that’s about it for the Month of November.  See you next month.

In the meantime, here’s a little something….

Who Am I?

There’s inner self and outer self–

Must we be one or the other?

 

If we’re an open book for all to read

Are we the contents or the cover?

 

We know our thoughts and how we feel

And how we think the world should go.

 

But who the neighbors see as us

Is maybe not the self we know.

 

And so I think about my kin

Be it my father or my sons.

 

I cannot plumb their inner core

I do not know how their clock runs.

 

I guess it’s one more mystery

As we wonder who we are–

 

Just a bunch of random atoms

Or souls who seek something afar?