Less Day Every Day

It is currently about 5 PM Central Standard Time. It is becoming dark outside. The day was very pleasant with 50 some degrees. Except for an occasional breeze, the last few days have been a welcome prelude to winter. ¶ The traditional shopping day is Black Friday. There was a longish article in the daily paper. One must remember that our paper is printed in Des Moines so the news is always one day late. Today there was a photo spread of the lack of Black Friday crowds standing in the dark in order to claim the most prizes when the stores open. The crowds were, indeed, minimal. Too many people shopping on-line rather than in person. ¶ Normally I would not venture out today having in mind that everyone would be busy. There were some things I definitely needed. Therefore I ventured forth trusting that the crowds would be minimal given the reports of yesterday.

¶ First I needed to go to Crossroads for Advent candles. One must always locate the candle man. He was headed to the back of the store and I quickly put in my request. He accepted my payment and volunteered to take the box to the car. That chore was, as they say, a piece of cake. ¶ Next stop was Costco for fuel for the car. There was an empty pump so that didn’t take long. ¶ I needed seasonal greens and a few other things within the mega-market and, having found a suitable parking place I ventured forth. Once I located everything I needed, there was only one person in line ahead of me in the checkout lane. My whole shopping spree was complete within one hour! ¶ I still needed an item from Target and knew where it was so I sallied forth once again, got the item and headed home. Target had the longest line for Black Friday and, indeed, they were the busiest today as well. Had I interest in something else I could have stayed and shopped. My interest was, however, nil. ¶ Thus the day after Black Friday became a shopping day with little angst. ¶ This was my first week without chemo. I have to admit that I was not overcome by ambition. Great things were not accomplished. I continue to have flu-like symptoms especially when tired. ¶ The radiation oncologist’s office called yesterday and set up an appointment for next Wednesday. I am assuming that will be the beginning of the whole brain radiation treatments. I was told that the schedule will be completed at my appointment on Wednesday. The doctor already told me that there will be two weeks of treatments. So my time will be filled with trips to radiation oncology for brief treatments every day. I’ll let you know next week how things are going.

¶ Now I need to prepare for the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of a new church year. There is always hope in the preparation. There is always joy in the anticipation of the birth of the Savior. ¶ May you rejoice with me that salvation has come into this world by the birth of the Son of God. ¶ Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Thanks for your thoughtfulness to me and others. I’m grateful for your kindnesses.

The Last Sunday

As we race towards the end of the year, the truth is that the Church Year ends this coming week. Tomorrow is the Feast of Christ the King which means it’s the last Sunday and in one week Advent begins as we prepare to celebrate Christmas. It used to seem like it took forever to get to this point. Now it comes all too quickly. ¶ I mentioned last week that my MRI and the appointment with the radiation oncologist would occur this week. After my MRI on Wednesday I met with the doctor who gave me some not very good news. It turns out that the Gamma Knife has been successful in eliminating the lesions on the sides of my brain. Now there are a bunch of new lesions on the top of my brain. There are too many to deal with in Gamma Knife procedures. The next step will be whole brain radiation. ¶ So bright and early on Thursday morning I returned to the radiation oncology office and was fitted with a new pillow and a new mask for the upcoming procedures. Each one will not take as long as a Gamma Knife procedure but I will have to have more. The plan is not totally conceived yet, but the doctor estimates at least two weeks of treatments.

¶ In the meantime I will not be able to continue the chemotherapy. The chemo is not harmonious or compatible with the brain radiation. So, my last chemo for the time being was on Thursday. I think I was at the cancer center from 8:00 until 2:30 this past Thursday. It will be nice to not have such a long day at the center for a few weeks hence. ¶ The side effects from the brain radiation seem to be tolerable. One of the new ones may be short term memory loss. It will be interesting to discover if I have this affliction and if I remember that I do! ¶ The project mentioned last week has been newly undertaken. I had enough material that I was able to begin again and all has gone well so far. Sophia continues to be most helpful in assisting me. I’m taking a little more time and being a little more careful which does help. I can’t blame the cat for everything. ¶ I’m seriously considering attending the South Dakota Symphony concert tonight. It is not very warm and the wind is blowing, but it’s usually a short walk. The guest artist, Orion Weiss, is playing Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor. It would be nice to hear that in person. I get tired of sitting. My new plan is to sit through the first half and then hustle home and watch the rest on the live stream. That’s the plan for this evening. ¶ Now I need to finish the laundry and perhaps have a little snooze. ¶ Thanks for reading. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers as I enter this new phase of treatment. Your support is very important to me and to others.

Not So Warm

The previous week I was bragging about our nice warm autumn weather. There’s been a change. For several days the sun has been lacking and yesterday, we had a bit of snow. There’s not enough of the white stuff to cover the ground, but there’s enough to remind us that this will most likely be the form of precipitation we’ll have for a few months.

¶ Time does go by rather quickly so winter will not be so long, I hope. I have my appointment schedule at the cancer center to keep me on my toes. This Wednesday I have an MRI and an appointment with the radiation oncologist who will give me the good or bad news about what’s going on in my upper story. I don’t worry a lot about the news. I’ve been through enough Gamma Knife treatments to consider them just another thing to be endured. ¶ The side effects of Thursday’s chemo have not been bad thus far. As predicted, Thursday evening/Friday morning was largely without sleep. I get a healthy dose of steroids in my blood stream before the chemo begins. A couple of other drugs are administered as well. All this is to help make the chemo tolerable. I did notice a lot of my hair flying around after my shower this morning. Evidently one of the side effects, for me, will be loss of my hair once again. I’ve saved a lot on haircuts during the past year. I, obviously, will being saving again. ¶ My usual time at the Pavilion of Arts and Science is Friday morning. This Friday we had 200 children that are being home-schooled and their parents and siblings visit us for the morning. The volunteer coordinator thought ahead and asked for a couple of other volunteers to be in the arts center with me. That was brilliant. We accommodated all that came to visit and the volunteer troops were sane at the end of the morning. I’m speaking for myself, however the other two seemed to be as rational at the end as they were at the beginning.

¶ The project I’ve mentioned the last couple of weeks should have reached a conclusion this afternoon. Now I find that I’ve done something wrong and will need to make extensive repairs and I don’t have a lot of time in which to do that. Sewing consists of a lot of planning, ironing, cutting out and placing of pieces and also a goodly amount of time rectifying mistakes. Very little time is spent at the machine, actually. Now I must determine whether to begin again or fix the mistakes. ¶ Miss Sophia has been a big help, especially today. If I want to sit and sew, she’s on the chair. If I want to press something, she’s on the ironing board. Every where I need to be she’s able to get there first. Now, at last it’s nap time, for her. I’ll miss the help but not too much. ¶ Thanks for your prayers and thoughts and kind deeds. They are precious gifts to those of us who need them.

Beautiful Autumn Days Continue

I have a couple of Zoom meetings this afternoon for which I think I am prepared. I say, I think, because one is never sure. Something may crop up for which one is not ready. I’ll trust that I am, ready that is. ¶ It’s been another week of mostly pleasant days with cool nights and lovely sun during the day.

¶ I made the initial report on the new chemotherapy last week. I spoke a little too soon for the side-effects had not manifested themselves completely. As I mentioned, things went fine through Saturday. Sunday morning upon awakening I felt like I had the flu. The body aches were not pleasant. I debated on whether or not to go to church. I did but during choir rehearsal I was sorely tempted to leave. I few minutes before the service began I felt well enough to remain so I did. The rest of the day was not pleasant. This continued on until by Tuesday afternoon the symptoms passed. I checked the medication website and found the issues I had were all typical of this drug. ¶ By Wednesday I felt pretty normal again. Thursday it was back for an infusion. Now I do not know what to expect or if whatever it is will be worse. The infusion went fine, again, and this is the second day following. So far I’ve not had the same reaction as last week. I’ve convinced myself that awakening tomorrow with no symptoms would be wonderful. We’ll see how that goes. ¶ The search! I mentioned last week that I was frustrated in my search for a particular item I knew I had stored someplace. Well, after beginning the project again I found that I didn’t have to do that. In a search for a different pair of shoes, I discovered a box under a closet shelf wherein lay the original project. How I missed that on previous searches I have no idea. The finding thereof brought a great deal of relief that my memory was not totally malfunctioning. ¶ I’ve been a great believer in the adage of computer science which claims by turning the blessed thing off and then on again most problems will be fixed. For several days I wondered what had happened to my bluetooth keyboard and mouse. They hadn’t been working and the attempt to reconnect them was futile until I finally did reboot the computer, and lo and behold they were just fine and worked very well. This may well be a “practice what you preach” episode.

¶ There may have been an uninvited critter in Sophia’s basement storage place. She refused to leave her “place” on Monday and most of Tuesday. She was not in her usual post on the top of the refrigerator. She was on the floor, refused her morning treats and the invitation to do something other than just be. I purchased some new mouse traps and set them. She finally, by Wednesday, was back to her normal habits. Thus, I think the problem has been dealt with and the daily routine has returned. She is a great believer in posing that the drape of the tale is very important. ¶ Thanks for reading, for prayers and thoughts and all you do for me and others. You have know idea how much it helps to know there are others who are aiding you from afar.