Where have I been?

My Mom, looking good at 86, but not feeling all that well

Started this 3 weeks ago:

I am getting ready to go to RI, see Mom and celebrate her birthday, see Bill's new house on Arnold's Pond, play some golf, go see the Red Sox Thursday night (thanks Bill), party Saturday night with the East Coast friends. I should have planned a longer trip, but don't want to wear my Mom out.

This morning I noticed the knot of scar tissue on the inside of my left cheek is gone! The mucositis in my mouth is almost entirely gone! The doctor cut me back to 30mg prednisone every other day, down from 40, because all my counts are good and liver function tests are back near normal. My eyeballs are still goofy, googly even, so I lubricate regularly, this too shall pass. Now if I could only regain some strength; Bill is going to be shocked at how weak I am on the golf course, but oh well.

Even though I am weaker, I have beefed up my legs, I think. Training is upwards of 20 miles/week, Saturday was 7 miles which I did at 17 minute miles (I am walking). I was going to mix in some short jogging periods to mix up the muscle groups, but when I mentioned this to the doc he said not to do that. Not only are my muscles wasting from a year of prednisone, but my bones are getting so brittle that he is afraid I could fracture that crappy left hip if I jarred it by jogging. So I walk. Somewhere in the first mile my left hip always asks me, 'WTF are you doing, Tonto?'

Saturday, 9/26

RI was not a particularly fun trip, as Mom wasn't well and I didn't give myself enough time. The airlines suck, US Air sucks, and I suck for not managing it all better. I can't see ever booking a round trip, since there is no cost savings unless fares are rocketing upward. In the future I will go one way, see how things are at the destination, then book a return. I did get to golf a couple of times with Bill M., but I could not get anything done with his clubs and my swing, and shot over 100 twice. Shot an 89 yesterday at Dairy, so I guess I won't quit just yet.

Bill bought this house on Arnold's Pond in Warwick, awesome spot. I think he did the tax return for the old doctor that lived there, and when they carted the old guy off to jail for evasion, Bill got the house. There is this mural in the living room that was painted way back in the 60's by John Lennon and Jerry Garcia, who grew up in our neighborhood and I used to beat up JG in basketball and broke one of his fingers many times. I think he had problems with that later but took up guitar just to show us he was tough. Some of this story may not be true, and the names changed to protect the guilty. Anyway, here are some pics, unretouched so they are real.


Bill and Rose's front yard, private beach and all

View from the LR

The mural

Bill took me to see the Red Sox v. Angels on Thursday, and we had a great time even though the Sox lost, 4-3. We went to get a dog and a beer (my first beer in a year, maybe the last) and while we were in line the Sox scored all three runs. Grrr. Still a lot of fun, 20,000 sports fanatics and me, the only one without a Sox shirt or hat or something because it was back in CA. Thanks for the game, Bill!

Donald W. drove down on Friday and met me in Lincoln, and did my 8 mile training walk with me, which was like a walk in the park for him. Wait, it was a walk in the park! Anyway, we then went and had dinner with Randy, good to see them but too short. I had lunch with Earl at the cool cafe that Pat runs, and I brought a piece of driftwood and some jade for Mo, which I like to think of as interactive art. A couple years ago he sent me this cool stick in a rock, a walking stick that could be a blunt trauma instrument if needed to be, so I reciprocated with some rocks in a stick. Mo, send me a picture once you've interacted it so I can post it, and I will put up the walking stick too.

The downside was that I didn't leave enough time to see Paul M., Mo, tool around on Earl's boat, get calzones at Elaine's, fix Mom's faucets, and generally visit some more. I thought Mom was feeling better when I left, but she checked herself into the hospital yesterday when her oxygen levels were real low. I talked to her today and she sounds much better, but they are keeping her and running tests, as they would with any other celebrity.

The finches love the new feeder we put in the yard; the white sack feeder was there to introduce them to the new clear feeder, which they didn't seem to figure out for a while but are now all over it. They eat more than I do.


That is where we are at. Dana is getting tired of me being all-talk and little action, so I have to shut up and get moving. Beauch gives me a lot of the same flak, calls me a not-blogger. So here I am, blogging about not blogging. The eye doctor says my eyes are getting better, but I can't see where I am going and I am not sure where I have been. I now have the DVD of the wedding we held at Patrick's Point, but it needs some work to shorten it to something I can post. I have been confirmed as one of the podium speakers for the big LLS/Team in Training pasta party the night before the Santa Barbara Press Recorder Marathon, so I am working on a speech and slide show, about eight minutes at East Coast speed. Why would I do that? To say thank you.