Week Forty-Three

Hey there….a happy 4/20 to everyone (hardy har).

 

Big Island….Beyond that first point of lava there’s a black sand beach where we went several mornings.  Suits optional…yikes. (Not for us, though)

We’ve been back in the mainland for over a week now…the suntan is starting to fade, but I did get in two rounds of golf last weekend.  It was the ‘club championship’ for seniors, and how about this…..I won low gross in my flight!  It was the ‘over 75’ flight, although most of my competitors were in their 80’s (that’s years, not scores).  Anyway, that was quite a bit of fun, and I got good use out of our golf cart for two days in a row.  Then Thursday I walked nine holes and felt fine afterwards.

Weight-wise, it’s been another good week.  This morning’s weigh-in was 130.5, a nice jump from last week’s 129.1.  I better cut back a little on the food…don’t want to get the bends from gaining weight too fast.

Watch out for Big Island geckos!

I’m feeling better all the time, and am able to eat more.  I almost finished a whole chili verde last night at the taqueria!  My only complaint right now is my special ’30 degree’ sleeping pillow.  I am supposed to sleep with my head well about my stomach, to stop stomach contents from creeping up toward my throat.  But I’ve been slipping off the pillow and then waking up at night with unpleasant taste from stomach ‘flow’.  We moved the pillow to more upright position, and while that helped in cutting down on the sleep apnea, it hasn’t stopped me from sliding off the pillow.  Will have to work on that!  We might have to look at a motorized bed.

I had the MRI-directed biopsy of my prostate on Monday at UCSF.  Not really a pleasant experience (although we did have a nice lunch afterwards at Tartine Manufactury).  Carol said the needle they used for the local anesthetic was about a foot long!! I should get the results from the biopsy in another week.

No gym work this week, to give the biopsy ‘pokes’ a time to heal.  So we went on a couple walks instead.

We saw my thoracic surgeon Friday.  He said I looked great, the scan looked great, and he did commiserate with my pillow situation.

So, I think that’s about it for this week.  I’ll close with a memory from many years ago…

Shooting Pool at “The Big”

We came out of the mountains

A long time ago

Out of the wilderness

Tired and dirty.

 

We had climbed Chief Joseph Mountain

Fished Hurricane Creek

Seen reflections on Mirror Lake

And nursed our whiskey.

 

Now we were done

We exited at Enterprise

Drove to La Grande

For a shower and dinner.

 

After steak and potatoes

We stopped at a local bar

To drink some beer

And shoot some pool.

 

I held the table

For a long time

Until I played a woman

In a wheelchair.

 

After she beat me

I said goodnight to her

And to her friends

Of whom there were many.

 

The next day we left La Grande

But memories remain of that night

On the edge of the wilderness

And far away.