Spring is arriving

Medical Update

The medical situation is good but a little confusing. The last chemo infusion took place on January 21 2014. Four weeks later I had my usual CT scan and visited the oncologist one day thereafter to hear the results. The good news was that the tumors had not grown and some previously found cancerous lymph node in the abdomen was apparently cancer free. The CT scan also showed that a large part of the right lung was dysfunctional, which is noticeable because climbing a flight of stairs leads to heavy breathing, and not for the reasons one likes to. The oncologist could not tell whether the damage was due to delayed scarring from radiation, or a reaction to the docetaxel, the chemical compound that was infused. She decided to withhold any treatment for the time being and I have been on a chemo-vacation for the past 3 weeks. That certainly improved life: Hardly any coughing, a little more air, and no annoying side effects such skin rash or itching. My hair is starting to grow again and I had to be retrained in the art of shaving. I have been to the oncologist’s office for a checkup meanwhile and I will stay off medication, probably for another 4 weeks.  This is good. Spring has arrived, the temperature of the rain is increasing and I will not be house bound as I was during the winter.

Snow travel

Since the last blog, we had our week vacation in Maui. Leaving for Maui turned out to be a challenge. The first three days of snow and sleet this year happened exactly at the time we had to leave. We took one snow shovel when we moved from Pennsylvania and that is the only snow equipment in the entire neighborhood. Bonnie’s water aerobics training was put to good use when she managed to clean the driveway to the top of the road, only to find out that the homeowners association decided to save some money by not clearing the roads in the development itself. The next day we had another dump of snow and even our all-wheel drive car would not have made it up the steep driveway. Josh saved the day. He bought two extra snow chains for Sara’s all-wheel drive swagger wagon, which now had snow chains on all four wheels, and was able to rescue us. We left the night before the flight and we all stayed at a Portland airport hotel because there was an ice storm forecast for the day of departure. The fact that the plane was completely full is a miracle: there was indeed a thick layer of ice on the ground and travelling was not easy.

Maui

The week in Maui was, of course, fantastic. Sara and Josh had arranged a nice apartment with a studio attached. Nice sunny weather, palm trees, beaches, swimming pools and beers in lounge chairs: what else does one need in life? This was perfect. The grand kids had a ball and kept parents and grandparents to a lesser extent, busy in swimming pools and on beaches.

Grand-kids waiting to feed Koi fish

The kids participated in feeding fish in the koi pond at the end of the day. Other activities included snuba diving in the ocean, surfing, football in the pool, spa visits by the adult women and very little shopping: I call that a successful vacation.

dinner and umbrella drinks

Surfer Babe

Valentines Day was celebrated in style. Bonnie and I drove to the other side of the island and had lunch at "Mama's Fish House", probably the most famous fish restaurant on the entire island and romantically situated on a palm beach.

grinning on a selfie

The food was exquisite. Fish caught around the island was freshly served the same day but to my dismay that included Opa or Opah as it spelled in Hawaii. The kids were quite amused that Opa was served pan-fried or grilled.




Spring and visitors are coming

The fear for a drought in Oregon was premature. The precipitation we lacked early in the rain season came down in buckets in February and March. The reservoirs are full to capacity and the snow level is back to normal. The temperature is increasing and most days we get to 50F or higher, but often with rain or showers. Plants like that, people not so much. The signs of spring approaching are everywhere and we enjoy seeing the first flowers but we especially enjoyed the first visitors this year. Jacqueline visited us the first weekend in March. It was an enjoyable and relaxing couple of days with few excursions. Tammo and Aafke arrived the next weekend for what I thought was going to be a weekend of strenuous projects around the yard. The rain however provided an excuse for a lazier visit but in between showers a big pile of firewood got transported to the garage.

A star is born

Tammo, Aafke, Bonnie and I went to the Keller Auditorium, the biggest stage in Portland, to see the Blue Man Group, who were touring the pacific Northwest. The show was humorous and spectacular and we enjoyed the performance. As professional and talented as they are, their performance paled in comparison to Bonnie's on stage performance. Out of a total audience just shy of 3000, the group needed one member of the audience to help their skit. They of course looked for the best dressed and most elegant spectator and zeroed in on Bonnie. She was helped on stage, asked to wear a blue bib, and take a seat at the on-stage dining table with the three blue men. In the skit they were supposed to eat Twinkies, a gooey sweet concoction, guaranteed not to contain any natural ingredients. This is of course not on Bonnie's diet plan, and that added to the length and fun of the skit. She later ate some of the banana that was on stage and her bib magically started spouting some kind of goo. After about 15 minutes, Bonnie was still having way too much fun and the blue men had to gently push her off stage and back in her seat. Everybody liked it and she got a big applause and credits at the end of the performance.

Finally:

Yesterday I had a health visit with the Pulmonologist, the poor guy who drew the short match and had to give me the "you have cancer speech" when it was first discovered. He remarked that it has been close to a year and he considered that "quite a feat". Good. I like to know which superlatives he will use when we meet one year from today.