Greetings to all of you who might still there….
We have returned from two weeks in Hawaii…a week on the Big Island and a week on Maui. Rain at night, but very nice during the day. Idyllic stay on the Big Island at Carol’s brother’s abode…an acre of green, lush, tropicana…frogs at night, birds in the morning, geckos on the porch, dolphins off the beach. Beautiful.
Hammock gazebo on Big Island
Then a week on Maui…early morning beach time, snorkeling with fish and turtles, then afternoon jaunts here and there about the island, with dyno-mite lunch at Mama’s Fish House (bring lots of money). A very relaxing two weeks.
Ted, Chris, Kim…at Mama’s Fish House on Maui
Now, we’re back on the mainland. I gained a pound while gone….up to 129.1 lbs. Had a CT scan of chest yesterday morning. I think just an informational scan to see how the lungs are doing…I presume I’ll hear the results next week.
On Monday we head to San Francisco for an MRI-directed biopsy of the prostate, then we’ll figure out what to do next.
I’m feeling good, but Carol thinks I need to check out my sleep apnea situation, so that’s next on the medical agenda. She says I stop breathing several times a night, and that’s not good. Then during the day, I fall asleep at the drop of a hat.
I’m still talking in my sleep, and last night I had another one of those images out in front of me that I reached out for, but could not touch…then it faded away. Very strange, and I guess just a part of ‘chemo-brain’.
So, all in all, I’m doing okay and am ready to undertake whatever the prostate situation requires. The bad news is that a old USF classmate is struggling with a serious health situation. He just had an operation to remove an empyema from his lung, and it’s time to send a prayer Kenny’s way. He’s a good man and he needs to be around to brighten the world a good while longer!
That’s about it from here. I’ll let you know what the results of tests are, hopefully next week.
And I’ll close with a little ditty on memory, perhaps chemo-aided:
Lenten Reading Number 6
Something has crept into my head
A germ, perhaps, in search of fruitful lair
It meanders through the confines of my brain
And tinkers with the random switches there.
The fog it brought grows thicker still
And obscures the portals to my past
Names of old slip out of range
And are now lost members of the cast.
I know that person well but the name escapes me
I might have read that book but the plot and purpose left me.
The clarity of things now past is dimmed
As those foggy fingers flip a switch or two
The germ within me is checking all the rooms
And taking from me things that once I knew.
Hi Chris,
Welcome home!! Vacation time in Hawaii is good for the soul.
Good luck next week with your prostate, although with your accepting attitude, I suspect you will do fine regardless of the MRI results. I love “Lenten reading #6”, but my experience is much the same without the aid of “chemo brain”. I missed the weekly dialogue, and was delighted to have you back in blog mode when I checked the website at noon today.
Kenny is still struggling. One of the exotic antibiotics he took caused his kidneys to fail, so now he is on dialysis for a couple of weeks. Gudo has fallen ill with a severe cold, so we don’t get updates as often as I would like. The difficulty of his situation is really wearing on both of them. I feeling guilty about having such good health. Duke just had surgery this past week to remove his cancerous prostate. He was up and out of the hospital very quickly, but won’t know the result of lymph node involvement til next week. I am utterly unprepared for these ongoing ravages of old age, regardless of what is happening around me. I am selfishly trying to avoid my turn in the barrel.
Your friend,
Don
Hey Don,
And I missed your weekly positive posts! I’ll keep the blog up for a little while longer, even if it’s only you and me saying hi to each other each week.
Please keep me posted if you hear any updates on Kenny. And sometime soon we will have to get together again for some dim sum!
thanks for your friendship!
Chris
Mr G’s –
Just a quick note here. Glad that you all had a great time in Hawaii. Two weeks must have been very nice. We go almost every year but our stays have never exceeded 8-9 days.
We hope the biopsy procedure went well today and that favorable results are forthcoming. You’ve been through too much already. We admire your attitude as far as being ready to undertake whatever is necessary but hope it’s minimal!
Hope to see you and Mrs G’s soon.
Mr B’s,
Thanks for your positive thoughts…they are always a boost! I’m feeling well, even played two rounds of golf over the weekend, with moderately respectable scores. Must have been due to two very pleasant weeks in Hawaii.
Give my best to Mrs B’s, and, likewise, we hope to see you soon.