News from Auburn Friday November 28 2008


In this issue:

Health update: last week it wasn't (just) the Salsa!
Steroids ... the countdown continues
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Voices of my childhood
Smoking
Hair, curls, and such

Health update: last week it wasn't (just) the Salsa!
On Monday I had a second EGD (esophagus gastric do-dad) so that a biopsy could be done.  The photos (which I won't include here) show 7 ulcers and some unusual folds in my stomach lining, which is quite a progression from 1 or ulcer and a fold when I was at EAMC earlier this month!  We're waiting to get the biopsy results back; I should hear on Monday.  Likely explanations are bacteria, virus, or fungus.  Unlikely explanations are less pleasant, but they're unlikely, so I'll talk about them if  they become an issue.

In the mean time, due to stomach pain, "bland foods-R-us."  Turkey seems to work well.  Pumpkin pie does not.  Now you know.

Steroids ... the countdown continues
For a couple of weeks we've been slowly weaning me off of steroids, which almost certainly are a contributing factor to the ulcers above.  Unfortunately, some of the symptoms from the last two times I went off of steroids have begun to return (yesterday I had a fever and achy joints).  We're briefly adjusting the dosage back up  a bit to see if that helps.  I do need to stop taking these pills; the pace is the question we have to deal with.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
On Wednesday Kayla and I drove to a nearby mall, Tiger Town, to meet Viva.  On the way over there we saw a small convertible, about the size of an MG, with the top down and a Christmas tree sticking out the side.  You don't see THAT every day!  (Hmm.  Those who live in Illinois have probably never seen that, come to think of it.)

Voices of my childhood
We got a DVD from Netflix of Itzhack  Perlman in concert.  As the music went from mood to mood, old memories came flooding my thoughts.  Sometimes I expected to see ballet dancers from the Nutcracker jump onto stage.  Other times I expected to see Bugs Bunny to come dashing around the corner, Elmer Fudd in hot pursuit.

They don't make cartoons like that any more.  (Link is to "The Rabbit of Seville" on YouTube)

Smoking
When I first started treatment for cancer, one medical worker after another, taking my history, would ask, "Do you drink or smoke?"  I'd answer no each time, but after the 3rd or 4th person I started to get annoyed, so I said, "No.  Do you want me to start?"  "NOOOO!" the nurse cried out.  

Well, this week Adam was driving me somewhere and a friend of his, James S., called on Adam's cell phone.  We have a "shut up and drive" policy at our house, so I answered the phone.  James and Adam want to smoke cigars or pipes together at some point.  I expressed my concern to James, and he answered, 
"Well, if you exercise a lot and you only smoke once a month, your chance of getting cancer is zero."  
Oh, so that's what I've been doing wrong - I should have been smoking once a month!
Awkward moment?  Yep, for James, but I sure enjoyed it!

Hair, curls, and such
Many people have asked if my hair is growing back curly.  It is, but only in back.  (Viva says I only have hair in back to begin with.)  One of Viva's co-workers has a head full of curly hair now.  She looks good with it, but, like me, she doesn't like it because "it's not me."

Other hair comments about last week's photo:

From a fellow blogger:
You got more hair than I got now!
All that nice stuff I said before? I was just kidding.
Some friend YOU turned out to be. 
:)

And, finally, a hair comment that I overheard the other day:
The first time I heard the word aphrodisiac I thought it was something to help you grow long curly hair.
Name of the speaker has been omitted by request.

Posted: Tue - December 2, 2008 at 02:33 PM           | |

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