It’s March in South Dakota

Those looking for variety in weather or for weather as a topic of conversation can do no better than examine the weather in this state. It is late March and the high today is supposed to be 39º. Last Sunday we reached the high 60s. The March “breeze” is also blowing. The fire danger index is up because it is so dry. Green things are trying to poke out of the ground but seem to be afraid once they discover how not nice it is. I would stay out of sight in some warm place, if possible. ¶ Another group of little green things is brave enough to poke their heads out of the ground. There is hope. And there is sunshine today. Even the plants on the north side, in heavy shade are making an attempt. Nature is determined to do its thing. ¶ This past week was chemo week. All went very expeditiously. The pharmacy was spot on with deliveries on some days before I even arrived. There is one infusion room called the “Living Room” which is larger than the others, about twice as large. It is furnished with comfy chairs, has a desk and looks quite posh. That was my room on Thursday. I have no idea how the rooms are assigned. However it happens one of the nurses takes one to the appointed room and that’s your assignment. I suppose the assignment occurs because the pharmacy has to send the chemo to the correct room.

¶ It was lovely being in the Living Room. Medicine was speedily delivered and the infusion begun. The alarm on the IV went off sooner than usual. There was an equipment malfunction that sent all the chemo into the bag of fluids to which one is also attached during the process. The bag of fluids is never exhausted before the medicine has completed its drip. Because the medicine was now in the other bag one needed to wait until the whole bag was finished which took considerably longer. It was evidently a little plastic part that caused the whole thing to back-flush and thus delayed my departure. The nurse very apologetic but it certainly wasn’t her fault. I guess it had happened to another patient that same week. They became concerned that many of the same parts my be defective. No harm done. I just received some extra fluids. ¶ The blood work on Monday showed my sodium to be in the low range. That’s the first time that has happened in a long, long time. It bounced back and forth when my prescription was being tweaked but has been steady as a rock for months. I didn’t see the doctor but he sent a message saying to restrict fluids (see the previous paragraph!). I’ve been taking the same amount of sodium for the past year or more. I have not been consuming excess fluids. The thing in the back of my mind is this indicates that the cancer is active again. Way back when, over 2 ½ years ago, the critically low sodium was the clue to investigate for cancer. It is necessary for your system to function, in particular the brain. Thus, everytime I forget something or become confused, I am certain that the cancer is running rampant.

¶ This is just my imagination, of course, and probably has nothing to do with reality. The reality will be revealed when I have both CT scans and and MRI two weeks from Monday. Until then I will probably be a little bit on edge. ¶ I’ve made minimal progress on the sewing project mentioned last week because of the chemo interruptions. Sophia has helped with the project considerably. There is, of course, no other location to use for sleeping and posing in this 1800 square foot home. ¶ All else is just fine. The weather will improve daily. In the back of my mind there is the massive ice storm that took down my birch tree in April several years ago. That won’t happen again. Or? ¶ Have a wonderful week. Thank you for being you, for all you do, for your thoughts and prayers. I am grateful.

In a Couple of Days

Just a few days now and it will officially be spring. While out in the front garden the last few days I noticed something coming out of the ground. It is, indeed, one of last autumn’s newly planted bulbs that is beginning to come forth. Mind you, I was not working in the garden, simply looking at it for signs of life. It will be exciting to see all the new things that were planted in the addition to the front garden.

¶ The spring equinox is always a blessing to me. It means that each day will get progressively longer and I can enjoy more daylight. For those of us afflicted with SAD this is such a gift. My “happy light” has helped get me through the dark days of winter. There is still nothing like the real thing especially when the sun shine brightly. ¶ There is not much to report this week. I attended all the usual things, and did all the needed chores. The sewing project I declared was a Lenten discipline has been successfully put off until today. At least part of it has been cut out. These church projects always seem to be the size of circus tents. There is never a table big enough to deal with the whole thing. I could put some leaves in the dining room table, but I’d rather complain, I guess. ¶ This coming week is not only chemo week but income tax week. The tax person will be awaiting me on Thursday, bright and early. The most surprising thing of all is that I am ready. I won’t have to be up until the wee hours of Thursday morning madly looking for things. It’s all wrapped up in one tidy package. This has got to be a record for me. It must portend something. Perhaps the reward will be a huge refund!

¶ There used to be a complaint that nothing was ever going on in Sioux Falls. It was thought to be a cultural wasteland. Well, tonight there is a South Dakota Symphony Concert, the University of Sioux Falls concert choir concert, and the Bach Birthday Bash sponsored by the American Guild of Organists. I’m electing to go to hear Bach. Members of the AGO volunteer to perform selections from the master composer. One of the Augustana University choirs usually performs along with chamber groups and soloists. It is usually quite wonderful. ¶ The housekeeper picks up all of Sophia’s toys and puts them in her toy box. She then has to retrieve them and leave them out for easy access until clean up day comes again. One of favorites is a red and white octopus which has lots of dangly legs. She enjoys tossing it in the air and then attacking it. ¶ It’s been a good week. Some more sleep would be nice, but it doesn’t seem to happen. Labs on Monday afternoon and then to the infusion center once again. ¶ Hope you have a pleasant week. Thanks for reading, for thoughts, for prayers, and for being kind to others.

And It Was Interesting

I commented on the weather last week which began with rain on Saturday, followed by sleet, and then by snow. The comment was that travel on Sunday would be interesting. ¶ And it was. When it was time for me to leave for choir rehearsal the snow people arrived and blocked the driveway until they had finished their task. The city did not plow nor did they use any grit on the icy streets. My personal feeling is that they do something after the accident reports reach a certain number, a number known only to the Street Department. ¶ To continue, I made it up the incline to 28th Street and turned west. The street makes a curve about three blocks on and becomes Bragstad Drive. As one comes out of the curve one heads downhill. There are usually vehicles parked on both sides of the street so there is barely enough room to pass an oncoming car. As I rounded the bend there was indeed another car heading right into me and I began skidding on the icy street. I spun around just in time to avoid him and ended up with my trunk up against a parked truck and facing the wrong direction. Now I need to pull away from the truck and head the other direction. After several tries moving inches at a time I jostled around to just make it down the hill. How exciting can a Sunday morning be? There was no accident, thankfully. ¶ Our local paper, the Argus Leader, is not known as one of the masterpieces of journalistic endeavor. The latest move was to close the printing plant here. This is how far daily papers have gone down hill. 20 years ago one could not imagine a city of over 200,000 not having a locally printed newspaper. Ours is now printed in Des Moines, Iowa. ¶ I subscribe only to the on-line edition and peruse the articles of interest. Two times in the last two weeks there were paragraphs in a story that made absolutely no sense. I read them and re-read them and was as confused at the end as at the beginning. It was not just a typo situation. The syntax was so screwed up that it was like reading bits of disparate sentences put together with no end in sight. ¶ Each time I wanted to pass on these gems and did not do it at the time. In going back to send them later they have disappeared. It could only mean that the paper is proofread after publishing. Someone finally noticed that there was a major error and corrected it. It’s any easy thing to do electronically but interesting in that it actually occurs. It’s also disturbing to realize how easily news articles can be manipulated. ¶ Since last weekend’s interesting weather things have been cold, just plain cold. The forecast for next week appears to bring back early spring temperatures. Wait and see is the watchword. ¶ Sophia and I continue to enjoy the antics of the squirrels and the appearance of the birds. She does not seem to find one more interesting than the other. She obvioulsy was offended by the enbroidery on my fleece one afernoon and was determined to obliterate it.

¶ I’ve felt well this week and accomplished a few things that need doing. One of those was a visit to the optometrist. I last saw one following cataract surgery which was two years ago. I’ve had a bit of trouble at times in the last months. After a thorough eye exam I was told that my prescription was too strong. So off I went on a purchasing excursion for eyeglasses. ¶ For years I went to a very good optometrist who was part of a practice. They had their own facility for purchasing frames and lenses as part of their office. I really loved my doctor but he was rude enough to retire. As I recall I rarely paid less than $300 for frames with the lenses another charge above that. This doctor gave me my prescription and I went shopping. My surprise was that I have purchased two pairs of lenses and frames for $340! I guess I was paying for the convenience. ¶ Thanks for reading, for sharing, for thoughts and prayers, and for helping others.

I’ll Say It Again…

…and I will. Last week I wrote: As the saying goes: If you don’t like the weather in South Dakota just wait a few minutes and it will change. ¶ This past week we had temperatures close to 60º on a couple of days. Then it cooled off again. Today was close to bizarre. This afternoon my car registered 33º and it was raining! A short time later I heard rattling at the windows and we were having a sleet storm. Now the ground is covered with little ice BBs. That should provide for some interesting travel.

¶ The city provides retention ponds at various locations. This is part of the storm sewer system. The ponds keep the system from being overwhelmed in heavy rains. The pond at the Cancer Center has been landscaped quite beautifully. The hospital has provided pumps that recirculate the water using a waterfall. Rather than just sitting there and holding water the landscaping and waterfall make it a beautiful sight. ¶ Needless to say, the cold weather causes the waterfall to freeze over. There has been enough warm weather now that the water is flowing. The ice is so heavy over the waterfall that it hasn’t melted yet and won’t for quite some time but the water is determined and flows under the ice cap. The view is of a large quantity of water tumbling down and emerging at the base with a beautiful cap of ice hiding the whole process. ¶ One day it was actually nice enough to have the door open and enjoy some fresh air. The great hunter Sophia thought it would be a good idea to be a little wary. She was sorely tempted to get closer to her friendly squirrels, but ultimately thought better of the idea and decided to remain out of sight. You never know if those beasts will attack!

¶ Today I led a Quiet Day at the Cathedral for those so inclined to begin Lent in such fashion. The time goes by very quickly, I find, but the preparation for that is certainly time-consuming. I’m not complaining, but I find myself pretty tired by the time the day is over. It went well, from the comments. That is gratifying. I’m grateful that I am still able to serve in various ways.

¶ This was chemo week. Blood work on Monday revealed that all was well, or as well as it can be, even perhaps better. The nurses have a thing going now. It is a little competition as to who can get me in and out the most rapidly. There was not much waiting around any day that I was present. I have a standard that was set by a nurse no longer at the Center. Everyone remembers her and they are now trying to surpass her record. It is fun and it saves me a lot of time when I can be in and out in just over 1 hour. TUG, the medication robot, is still sporting her Valentine’s hearts. I suspect that she will soon be adorned with shamrocks. It is just one more thing that shows how the staff will do most anything to make the chemo experience the best is can be. ¶ OLLI classes have started up again. I took three this past week. Two of those classes will have continuing sessions in the following weeks. There are so many interesting things to learn and having the classes on Zoom means no driving. Most of the classes are 30 minutes away from my house. That means that classes on Zoom save me 1 hour of time just driving, plus the fuel, etc. ¶ Weather update: It is now snowing on top of the sleet which will make the streets even more interesting. ¶ Thanks for reading, for supporting, for all you do for others. Have a good week.