Too much culture?

Can there ever be such a thing as too much culture? Today might be the day to answer that question. I’m addicted to the Live in HD broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The performances are spectacular and the broadcasts feature backstage views that are real eye openers. Today’s broadcast was G. F. Handel’s “Agrippina.”

What a marvelous performance! The contemporary setting and costumes for an opera by Handel proved to be a fortuitous choice. I was thoroughly entertained.

Then, as it happens so frequently, the evening concert by the South Dakota Symphony occurs on the same day. 

Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev were on the program. The orchestra played very well and the cello soloist was excellent. Total seat-time for the afternoon and evening was 7 hours!

One could not complain about the weather this week. One could complain that there was not enough sunshine, but at least there was some. One could complain that the temperatures could be warmer but they were not bitterly cold.

After some of my friends urged me on I made an appointment to visit with the doctor. It is not that the doctor is never seen. How my usual appointment works is this: I arrive early in the morning for “labs” which usually means accessing my port and drawing some blood. Then there is about an hour of waiting while the blood reports are being prepared. Then I check in at the doctor’s office and wait for a visit with him which usually takes 15 minutes. Then I’m off to the infusion center for my “cocktail.”

I do see the doctor but he has to tell me about the blood work report and show me any films and discuss my general well-being. It’s quite a bit to absorb in a few minutes and one really doesn’t have time to receive the information and ask any intelligent questions before it’s all over. 

I did have some questions after I had studied the latest report and some friends also had questions. I scheduled another appointment which occurred on Tuesday. We had plenty of time to ask questions and ask for clarifications. He presented some options for treatment and agreed to order scans every two months. His concern and mine right now is the sodium level dropping. He prescribed salt tablets and asked that my fluid intake be as minimal as possible. My appetite has not been good. Between not being particularly hungry and not intaking very much fluid I’ve lost a little over ten pounds since my last infusion. It’s not that I couldn’t stand to lose the  weight but it probably indicates everything is not quite right. I guess low sodium can affect the appetite. 

On Friday one of the doctor’s nurses called and explained that the doctor had sent in a portion of my liver biopsy to a lab in Boston. They will do genome sequencing. When the results are ready a team of oncologists, genome experts, pharmacists and who knows how many others will exam the reports and recommend a treatment plan for my particular cancers which may turn out to be the one currently being used or something different which will attack the lesions specifically. 

This kind of cancer treatment is really on the forefront. The hospitals here have been in on the ground floor and are using what they’ve learned with great results. I’m really looking forward to what they might find. 

I’ve been trying to think about what might have inspired the doctor to begin this testing. During our discussion on Tuesday I mentioned that I thought my cancers were the gift of the males on my father’s side of the family. He asked what I meant and I told him about my father’s cancer and the cancers that affected all his brothers. It might have piqued his interest in investigating this further.

I’ve also been troubled by some of the aches and pains that have afflicted me lately so I checked the website and found a whole list of side effects amongst which are: fatigue, decreased appetite, back or neck pain, joint pain, itching, shortness of breath and cough all of which I am experiencing. So I guess it might not all be in my head.

I received my new spectacles on Tuesday so everything is very clear now. The choir sang for the evening Ash Wednesday liturgy and then we had rehearsal. By the conclusion I thought I might have to take a nap before driving home. I was exhausted.

I try to walk at least two miles everyday and that is sometimes quite painful but I’m too stubborn to give up. I’ve been a night owl since babyhood and now I really look forward to an early bed time. 

Wednesday night a Domino’s Pizza delivery man was shot to death a few blocks west of my house. It’s an interesting neighborhood!

It has been mentioned that Miss Sophia’s picture has been lacking of late. If you’ve missed her here she is helping peruse the catalog!