Light at the End of the Tunnel -- 91.666...% Done!

The 11th of my chemo infusions is now complete. Only one more to go on August 10th! I'll have some follow-up appointments the second week of September, which will include a full CT scan and blood tests. Given the indications up to this point, I anticipate that those results will continue to show a positive outlook. Back in February, when the chemotherapy plan was presented, the expected 24 weeks seemed like a long haul (will have actually turned out to be 27 weeks due to a couple of midterm setbacks). Now, as with so many things in my life when I wonder where the time went, I am nearly finished with the treatment. Thank goodness for modern medicine and the excellent care I have available here at The University of Iowa.

We are looking forward to spending more time at our cabin in Wisconsin. We'll be there this next week, and after the last infusion on the 10th, we intend to spend even more and longer periods of time there.

I haven't had any major woodworking projects underway recently, but I did complete making a small box which incorporates a 4" tile in its lid. I have made some of these before as gifts and have had three extra tiles around, so decided to make the last three of these before turning to other things. I'm going to use different wood for each one. This one is quarter-sawn white oak and presents a frog in its lid. The others will incorporate a butterfly and a lady bug. The boxes are nice for keepsakes or other ideas.

For my next project, I want to make one of these Civil War era folding chairs. Kathie has agreed to make the fabric seat for me. I don't have any particular plans for using the chair or for using it as a gift, but it is a project that will give me some new challenges and techniques to explore.

These chairs were popular prior to the Civil War, since they fold up nearly flat and were thus probably useful in homes for gatherings of various kinds. When the war began, officers started taking them along for use in camps, and this resulted in thousands more of them being made for such use.

That's it for now.

83.333...% of the Way!

This past Wednesday I received the 10th chemotherapy infusion of the planned twelve. This means I am 83.33% of the way to the end of this phase of my cancer treatment. Although my platelet level was down once again, no delays in the plan were introduced. This time, I did not have the Oxaliplatin infusion at the hospital. My oncologist has determined that the eight prior infusions of this drug will be enough. I did complete the 10th infusion via pump at home of the companion drug, Fluorouracil, and will have the planned remaining two of those at two and four weeks from now. Oxaliplatin is the drug that hit me with the most uncomfortable side effects and also was the probable cause of the platelet problems, so I'm really pleased to put that behind me. No more dealing with the strange sensitivity to cold and cold things, and the neuropathy that has caused some discomfort in my feet can now start to diminish, I hope. Some fatigue and sleepiness still hits me at about three and four days after each infusion, but as at least one of my grandkids has said, "Grandpa is the king of naps."

We talked with my oncologist about next steps this time as well. Following the twelfth and final infusion, I'll be free of those every other week appointments. At about one month out, a CT scan and some other tests will be done for reassessment. Assuming that this examination yields the same type of results as the tests and scans done back in February and March, the expectation is for a low probability of reoccurrence of the cancer. At that point, the medical port I currently have may also be removed. Furthermore, we will be able to return to our usual pattern of longer stays at our cabin in Wisconsin, something we have been looking forward to for quite some time.

On to other news! When we moved to our new home, we naturally wanted to personalize it and attend to a few things that needed repair or updating. We learned that furniture which worked perfectly well in one home may not work quite as well in another. Just yesterday (7/15), we reached closure on most of the changes we have been wanting to make. A new ensemble of furniture was ordered back in February for our living room. And though we did not expect to get it until this fall, it arrived just yesterday! Consisting of a sectional, new tables, and a swivel chair, the living room now looks like this:

The living room furniture we brought from our prior home was then relocated to our home theater area:

We hired a local painter to clean our back deck and screened-in porch, including some sanding and repair work, and then had him stain all of it as well as replacing the screens, which were damaged and showing age. The new color looks much nicer, we think, and the two Adirondack chairs I built for the deck now have a home. Kathie picked the "Real Teal" color for the chairs. I love the bright contrast they bring to the space.

The porch furniture we were temporarily using in the home theater now properly occupies the screened-in porch area of our back deck:

Finally, I finished a bench I made for the foot of our bed using some cherry harvested from a friend's woods.

That's all for now!

75.000...% Complete (Plus Activity Updates)

Today (7/1) at about 10:30, I'll disconnect myself from the pump and bag of Fluorouracil, and that will represent my completion of round nine (of twelve) chemotherapy treatments. The good news from this visit was that my platelet count had improved considerably, so this time I also had the Oxaliplatin at the Infusion Center. That one carries more side effect issues for me, those being the reaction to ingested cold items and some continued neuropathy. However, this may have been the last of the infusions of that drug (seven in all), leaving only three more rounds of the take-home drug. Then I'll shift into a surveillance mode with far fewer regular trips to the hospital and no more chemotherapy. Instead I'll have periodic CT scans, blood tests, and annual colonoscopies. I continue to lead a nearly normal life, enjoying my personal interests, our new home, and the occasional week at our cabin. As usual after each infusion round, I go through a couple of days of fatigue, leading me to nap quite a bit, but overall things are good and the prognosis continues to be very positive. On to more interesting things...

We traveled up to our cabin in Wisconsin to spend a week relaxing there. Not having been there for nearly a month to mow, the half of our lawn nearest the woods had turned to a meadow. Covered with hawk weed, a bit of purple clover, and white or yellow daisies, the lawn was quite pretty and we didn't have the heart to mow it right away. However, one of the easiest ways to pick up ticks is to walk in tall grass, something Tighe, our dog, is most likely to do. So after a couple days admiring the view, I did mow it all down. Got a picture or two first, though.

I spent some time trimming and weeding around the base of some of our trees too. While working there, a doe came walking by and seemed to care little that I was there. She stood still while I stood and reached in my pocket for a camera, and a few moments later, when I walked to my right to put some things away, she just slowly walked parallel to me. Only when Tighe spotted her and began to bark did she high tail it (literally) down the driveway and into the woods.

Right at the shore line with our lake, pretty purple iris grow and bloom this time of year.

Our good friends Richard and Rina came to spend about three days with us as well. I had decided late last year to disassemble the large electric train layout I had built in our garage up there. Everyone chipped in one day to help unscrew all the sections of track that made up the layout. Later, I spent time removing the electronics and wiring and began to disassemble the tables. The train items will go into storage, but I'll reuse lots of the table structure to make a couple of work benches in the garage, and then I can reclaim the space for easier storage of our boats, vehicles (when staying up there), and other equipment.

 

We all did a little fishing too, but the weather had been so hot up there (first two days we arrived in the middle 90s), that the surface temperature of the lake was at 76º. Fish were deeper and in unusual places, and so we worked pretty hard to find them. We did finally catch a few bass, though, and their tenacious fighting always makes that fun. Strictly catch and release with us! The last night we were there before returning to our home in Iowa, Kathie and I enjoyed one last cruise on the pretty lake.

Grandson Anders was participating in five days of cycling in the Milwaukee area while we were at our cabin. This was the Kwik Trip Tour of America's Dairyland event. He succeeded in winning first place overall in his age group, finishing 1st, 2nd, 1st, 4th, and 1st in the five days of racing. The 4th finish on the 4th day was called "traumatic" by his father, who said that one of Anders' teammates was ahead of him and attempting to help Anders get positioned for a sprint to the finish line when the teammate crashed. Anders had to slow considerably to avoid crashing himself and couldn't get back up to speed to overtake the others. His teammate got a pretty bad scrape, I guess. We couldn't attend any of these events, but at the rate Anders is progressing in his many races this summer, we're going to have to plan ahead so that we can watch him in person sometime.

 

Meanwhile, being back home again finds me in the shop working on various projects. I have those two Adirondack chairs to paint in the next few days (Kathie chose a color called Real Teal). I also finished up making a game called Kubb. This is a Swedish lawn game about which you can read more here. My son, Rob, first brought the game to my attention and asked me to make a set for him, which I did. He has played that one quite a bit and recently asked if I'd make another set for a friend of his. This one is fancier, and he may wish to keep it and give the first set to the friend?? This one comes with a carrying box, is made of hardwoods (oak and cherry), has a hammer for pounding in the boundary markers, and has a more ornate king and fancier playing pieces (batons and Kubbs).

That's it for now. I'll refrain from commenting (or maybe I won't) on the distressing news coming from our Supreme Court and our various elected officials, all of whom seem bent on creating public policy intended to endanger us, restrict our personal choices and rights, further harm minority groups and diverse interests, ignore the destruction of our planet and environment, and who govern by saying no instead of collaborating on solutions. I worked in information technology areas for much of my professional life, and I can't help but be disturbed by all of the unintended consequences of the use of that technology, especially for the wild and hateful spreading of disinformation.

I said I was going to refrain from commenting, but now I guess I have commented to some extent. Let me just conclude by saying that I wish the political parties, and mostly the Republican party, could return to being the kinds of parties I believe them to have been during my parents' lifetime--parties that meant to be deliberative, constructive, and collaborative. Some in the Republican party, including a certain Senator in my state, once represented that kind of thinking. Today, as he grows too old, in my opinion, to run yet again, he has become one of those who generally just says no to anything important and who seems to do just what he is told by other party leadership. Among other things, I hope you are paying attention to the hearings on the January 6th events! Be well. Do what you can to protect our failing planet Earth. Love each other and help each other. Embrace diversity. Elect individuals who want to make a true and positive difference and who are not corrupt, autocratic and interested in theocratic government.

66.666....% Complete (and Other More Interesting Things)

The update on my cancer treatments is pretty much the same as last reported. This past Wednesday was my 8th scheduled infusion out of a total of 12 planned. Again this time, my platelet count was low, so my oncologist again skipped the first of the two drugs and sent me home with the drug delivered by pump over a 46 hour period. Her plan is that when my platelet count recovers, she will add the first drug again for no more than one or two rounds. Indeed, she indicated that if that could not be done, it isn't a serious problem. Side effects of the drugs continue to be not much of a problem, and I'm leading a relatively normal day to day life. I'm certainly looking forward to putting this entire chemotherapy program behind me by the end of August or so.

You may remember the helium balloon I was given at the time of my surgery in January. This little guy has been a daily bit of happiness ever since. After five months, he is starting to struggle a bit, however. If he eventually refuses to float into my day each morning, I'll look for another way to keep his flattened self around. Thanks, Rex and Chris!!

For my recent 78th birthday, the two of my children and their families who were in town, planned an evening picnic at one of the local parks. Here are Rob and Betsy with me on that occasion. Note the new NY Yankees baseball jersey that Kathie gave me! On the back is the number 7 and the name Mantle, one of two early 1960s Yankees (the other being Roger Maris) who hooked me on that team when they were making a run to beat Babe Ruth's one season home run record.

And here are their five children--five of my eight grandkids--Henry, Frederick, Penny, Eleanor, and Clara. Henry is now 17 and on staff at Camp Wapsie. On weekends he comes to our home, does his laundry, and catches up on a bit of sleep before returning on Sunday for the next round of campers.

When he was here this past weekend, Kathie made a delicious apple pie and labeled it with Henry's initials. He and Kathie continue to frown at my choice of topping for apple pie (melted cheddar cheese--"Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze!). They prefer vanilla ice cream, I guess, which is fine for some pies, but if you really want a treat, try apple pie with cheddar.

The day after the picnic, there was an art exhibit by a local academy that Penny attends. We enjoyed seeing her work, including this self portrait (over her right shoulder) and a number of other pieces.

On Sunday last, we traveled to the Buchanan House Winery. Check out more about this place, including more information about the gorgeous home that was relocated to the winery site during the last couple of years (a distance of 7 miles from its original location). Here is a link to the winery web site: click here. A musician was entertaining while we sampled the wines and had some snacks. It was a very pretty Iowa day for an outing like this and was something we may do again sometime, especially on a day when tours of the house are permitted. The wines, by the way, were all interesting, and a couple of them were quite good for Iowa wine. Our friend Richard declared them "very drinkable."

As for my continuing enjoyment in woodworking, I just completed making two Adirondack chairs and foot stools. These will be added to our back deck, which is currently being rehabbed with new stain and screens. More on that in my next posting, I think. We are working on selecting a good paint color for these chairs to go along with the new deck stain color.

That's all I have for now! TTFN as the British (and others) say!

58.3333...% Complete

 As of yesterday (June 1st), I have completed 7 of 12 chemotherapy infusions. Well, almost. As I write this, I am still connected to the pump and drug that is administered at home over a 46 hour period. So really, I'll complete the infusion tomorrow morning at about 10:00. It is always good to get rid of the fanny pack with pump and the bag of drugs. My platelet count was low again yesterday, so my oncologist decided to skip for this time the drug that is normally administered at the infusion center. She is already contemplating eliminating it completely and has decided that perhaps one more infusion of that drug in two weeks will be enough. This should allow my platelet counts to return to something like normal. Best of all, this is the drug of the two I get that has that strange side effect which makes me sensitive to cold. I'll be happy to leave that behind. Other than these details, everything is good and on track, so let's move on to other things.

The saw saga: Many of you evidently found the story about my SawStop saw and the triggering of the brake due to my unfortunate/stupid attempt to cut a light piece of brass. I had indicated that I was going to send the blade in for inspection, repair and sharpening, which I did. I got it back last week. These blades are quite expensive to begin with, and I choose to keep them maintained rather than replacing them with new ones. Also, I simply don't like throwing things away unless there is no other alternative. The report is that the blade itself had to be straightened slightly, although I don't know that its warp was due to the braking incident at the saw—the blade may have been due for this maintenance simply because of its age and heavy use. On the other hand, the four teeth that needed to be replaced and the three that needed to be straightened were surely a result of the braking. Once these things were done, the blade was thoroughly cleaned and sharpened, and after my paying the $82.50 bill for the repairs and shipping back to me, I have the blade back in my possession. Armed now with more information about the impacts of such incidents, I'll be able to (I hope) both avoid problems and make good choices about future repairs and sharpening.

Lake visit: Between the May 18th infusion and the one yesterday, Kathie and I did get away for a wonderful six days at out cabin in Wisconsin.

We had about three cool and sometimes rainy days, but those were good for reading and watching the Big 10 baseball tournament. Well, I watched more of the latter than did Kathie, truth be told. Iowa had a good run in the tournament until their last game, which would have put them in the championship game. Oh well, maybe next year. On the sunny days, we worked in the yard to clean up leaves and fallen bits of wood from a couple dying trees. I mowed the lawn too, and we took our usual trip to the Winter Greenhouse to buy annual plants for our flower beds. Here is the smaller of our beds with the new flowers added to it. Jackie, a good friend, gave me the gnome you will see—that little guy, who I have repainted at least twice, continues to enjoy lounging among the flowers. What he does at night is anyone's guess.

There was lots of blooming going on, even without our planting flowers. I have two small apple trees that are in their third or fourth years. They looked better and more shapely than ever, and they had lots of blossoms. This time of year, there are also wild trillium blooming. One volunteered in a less than ideal place by one of our decks, but there are others in the woods nearby.

Being up at our cabin was really a nice break for us. Because of my reduced immune system during the chemotherapy, we haven't had lots of interaction with others or chances to get out and do things away from home. This second home gave us a chance to break that pattern, and it was six days very good for our souls.

Bog maneuvers: Over the years, some of you have learned from us various things about the floating bogs in the lake on which our cabin is located. The Chippewa Flowage is a roughly 17,000 acre lake with approximately half known as the west side and the other half, appropriately enough, known as the east side. These two almost equally sized halves are separated by County Road CC which includes timbered land and a causeway with a small bridge over a small passageway for the water to flow from the west side to the east side, where the dam is located. A number of floating bogs are located just to the west of the causeway and are near the bridge.  In windy conditions, one especially large bog often breaks loose from whatever minor anchoring it finds on the bottom of the lake, drifts and blows toward the bridge, and completely blocks passage for boaters between the two halves of the lake. Over the years, enterprising people have called for volunteers to bring their boats to the area and work to push the bog back away from the bridge. The WI Department of Natural Resources used to frown on this, and so these voluntary efforts usually occurred at off hours or overnight and were not much publicized. In the last few years, however, the DNR's attitude seems to have changed. A few years ago, someone published an aerial view from a drone showing an armada of fishing and pontoon boats working to relocate the bog.

Then last week, my friend Richard, found this online story about a more recent effort. Click here to see that story and video.

That's it for now! I should be back with more information in a couple weeks.

Half Way!

Today I passed the half-way point of my chemotherapy program. This was infusion number six out of a planned twelve. Because I had to skip my scheduled infusion two weeks ago due to a low platelet level, I was eager this morning to see the results from the blood tests that are always done first thing each time. Two weeks ago, the level was 66, but this week the measure was 112—good enough to proceed. My oncologist has decided to reduce the dosage level of the oxilaplatin, which is the drug I receive at the Infusion Center at the hospital. The intention is to give my platelets a better chance to recover prior to each of the next infusions. Her goal is still to take me off this drug entirely after maybe the eighth treatment (might have been seven if the dosage was not reduced), but I'll still need to finish all twelve of the fluorouracil infusions, which are the ones I complete at home over a 46 hour period using a pump. I'm still doing well overall and generally am able to do almost anything I want.

But enough of that boring stuff! What else has been going on with us? Well, after a rather cold, wet April—spring has arrived slowly—the weather has been exceedingly/unseasonably warm as of late. There are three home improvement projects we have had queued up since at least March, and the workers were actually able to get to a couple of them this week. One was replacement of the sidewalk between our driveway and front porch.

We're very pleased with the results, which corrected a problem with the old steps, which had settled and created a very high 11" step up onto the porch from the walk. Now we have a 5" step—much safer for us old folks.

A second project, also completed today, was the elimination of a garden spot we no longer wanted with sod being installed to restore the lawn. Kathie had relocated a number of peony plants into one section of that area as well. We think it looks great and really dresses up the appearance and size of the lawn.

The third project, expected to be started in a day or so, is cleaning and staining of our back deck and screened-in porch, as well as installation of new screens.

A few days ago, we borrowed a log splitter from our kind neighbor and split most of the logs from a dead tree we had taken down about two months ago. It was threatening to fall on our new fence. I got an entire pickup load of firewood which I donated to my son, Rob, and a friend of his.

Finally, last week we had a long awaited visit from my sister, Paula, and brother-in-law, Ron. We spent most of one day on a "visit down memory lane" driving around old home towns, visiting cemeteries, and seeing the farms, schools, and main streets of our youth. This resulted in lots of reminiscing and recalling of stories and events. Fun! The next day, my cousin, Rex, and his wife, Chris, came for an afternoon visit. More reminiscing and stories! Chris is also a cancer patient, and I must say with considerable gratitude, that we have, I think, been good, mutually supportive resources for each other. Having all this family around me last week was nourishing.

That's it for now. We are thinking of a short trip to the cabin this next week, so my next posting may be from northern Wisconsin and sans anything about cancer or cancer treatments. (We'll have to return home just prior to the next scheduled infusion.)

Not Half Way (Darn!)

(Some of my readers have indicated that they would like to be notified each time I post something new here. I've looked into various ways to automate this, but I haven't found a good "opt in" method for you to use, although I know a few of you use RSS feeds for this purpose. RSS feeds will work, but not all of you may want to go that route. So, I've decided that I'll simply send out an email myself to a list of those of you who wish to be notified. I'll start today with what I consider to be a default list, but if you do not receive that email and would like to be included, please send me an email, and I'll add you to the list. Or, if you wish to be removed from my initial list, let me know that as well--I won't be offended. Thanks for your interest and support!)

Today (Thursday, May 5th) was to have been my sixth chemo infusion, which would have represented my being half done with chemo. Alas, my platelet level was too low, and so my oncologist said we had to skip this infusion and proceed with the next scheduled one on May 18th. This is a bad news/good news situation for me. Bad in the sense that I'm eager to get all of these chemo infusions over with. Good in the sense that I now have a couple of weeks more to enjoy without any down period due to the infusion. The oncologist said that I just needed more time to recover after the last infusion, and that with me now taking a daily dose of blood thinner medication, this was not all that surprising. She did not seem to be concerned but suggested that this might happen again in the future, making it unclear just when the twelfth and final infusion might occur. Prior to today, that would have been on July 27th--now it looks like it will be August 10th.

But let's move on to more interesting things. I have been feeling good enough to be able to spend quite a bit of time in my shop recently! Yay! Last fall, my good friend, Richard, allowed me to salvage three logs from a derecho-damaged cherry tree in a timber near his home. I had it sawn and kiln dried and thus obtained about 60 board feet of lumber from it. After planing, I used a portion of this wood to make a bench for Kathie and me to use at the foot of our bed.

I have yet to stain and finish it. I'll put a dark stain called Cabernet on it and then a semi-gloss topcoat. It is a simple design, but the cherry wood has a pretty color that I think the stain will enhance (and better match our other bedroom furniture) and very nice grain.

Another project I just completed was to make a shallow bowl or plate for Kathie to use as a napkin holder. I have always found it difficult to discard potentially useful scraps of wood from other projects. So, I keep a box around to hold these odds and ends. As you might imagine, the box fills up with all kinds of pieces of usually small sizes and of various wood species. I took the request from Kathie as an opportunity to pull out a number of different woods, glue them together into a block about 10" square and maybe 3" thick to be turned on my lathe. I was really pleased with the end result. There are eight woods altogether in the finished bowl: walnut, poplar, padauk, bocote, cherry, maple, leopardwood, and purpleheart. Here is the finished product:

I also have one "Oops!" story to share. When we moved to our new home, I decided to invest in a new table saw. I had been aware for some time of a new saw manufactured by a company called SawStop. They came up with a technology that detects when conductive material meets the spinning saw blade, most importantly the skin on your fingers and hands. When this happens, a special mechanism in the saw almost instantaneously (i.e., within milliseconds) jams a brake into the saw blade and drops the blade out of sight below the table, thus keeping the saw from taking off a finger or otherwise badly damaging a hand. You can see a video of this by clicking here. My old saw, which was a very good Powermatic table saw, could not do this! I rationalized that moving my old saw could be avoided by selling it to someone else. Then I could simply buy a new SawStop table saw and have it delivered to my our new home. Clever, eh?

While working on some pen-making projects recently, I had a need to cut some lengths of thin brass tubing. I had always done this before on my table saw--cutting aluminum or lightweight brass pieces is usually OK if done carefully and slowly. But remember how I used the word conductive in the prior paragraph? While I had read the SawStop owner's manual thoroughly when I got my new saw, on this occasion, I simply forgot that the saw was fine cutting nonconductive material like wood, but that fingers and metal, which are conductive, would trigger the special safety technology in the saw. So, as I slowly but ignorantly pushed the tubing into the blade, BAM! The brake jammed and dropped the spinning blade out of sight. Here are the parts retrieved from my saw after the fact.

What did I learn from this mistake? First of all, it was rather shocking when it occurred, and my first impulse was to check my fingers. But I soon realized what had happened. I also learned that my saw actually works as advertised--good to know for the future. Lastly, I learned that while this safety feature is much to be desired, it does come at a cost. I had to replace the brake cartridge at about $60, and I am having the blade tested and sharpened to make sure that it is safe to continue to use it. That will maybe cost $100. Oh well!

41.6666...% of the Way to the End!

Remember those rational numbers? In this case, I have now completed 5/12 of my chemo infusions (five of the planned twelve). 5/12 is the same as 41.666...%. Yay! Well, technically, this round is almost finished. You may recall that one of the two FOLFOX drugs is completed at the infusion center, while the other is completed at home over a subsequent 46 hours while I am connected to a pump. That infusion is still underway but will end at about 10:08AM on Friday.

In the checkup with my oncologist this morning, I learned that because two different tests indicate a very strong likelihood of no recurrence of the cancer once the chemotherapy is completed, she may stop one of the two FOLFOX infusions (oxaliplatin) after maybe the 7th round. I would still have to complete the other, which is the one administered at home via the pump. This is good news, because the oxaliplatin is the one with the curious side effects related to sensitivity to cold, first byte syndrome, and neuropathy. This will also essentially eliminate the three hour visits to the infusion center each week.

The 14 days of self-administered blood thinners prescribed to deal with the blood clot in my leg seem to have solved that problem. My leg is back to normal, and I am now taking a pill form of a blood thinner once each day at a maintenance dosage level. That will continue until around one or two months following completion of the chemotherapy.

Typically, the 4th through 6th days after each infusion appointment are not so great. I am quite fatigued and have a limited appetite. This time around and with prospects for warmer weather, I'm going to try to get out for more walks, limit my naps, and see if I can bounce back more quickly. My oncologist encouraged this plan. Usually, after this brief slump, the second week or more of each chemo round, is much better. Indeed the seven or eight days prior to today have been quite enjoyable. I've been working in my shop again, and I have done quite a bit of yard work, including clearing some brush and cutting some firewood in the woods at the back of our lot.

This morning, while in the chair at the infusion center, I had this view out the window:

That's Kinnick Stadium, of course. My smart aleck oldest child (a mere 54-year-old whippersnapper) said, and I quote, "Too bad there's no game today. You could be on the receiving end of the Hawkeye Wave!"

I don't know about that, but I did get to thinking about all the time I have spent in that stadium at Hawkeye football games, including a couple games when I was in high school and then many more when I was a student and employee of the University of Iowa, which was called the State University of Iowa or SUI in those early years. Some of you may know that I was a member of the SUI Hawkeye Marching Band during my undergraduate years. So as I sat this morning looking out at the stadium, I realized that it was 60 years ago that I first marched there in the fall of 1962. The football teams during those years were pretty sad, but I thought the band was great! We never got to go to a bowl game, but it was otherwise one of the greatest experiences of my life. We did get to travel to one out of town football game each year and performed with the host university's band during their halftime. I believe the ones I experienced were: Northwestern, Indiana, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.

At home, we shared halftime performances with the SUI Scottish Highlanders, which no longer exist. The band consisted of only 120 members, plus a few alternates, and only men were allowed to belong. (I think over 240 are involved now, including both men and women.) The only woman involved with the band was the single baton twirler, both then and now known as the Hawkeye Golden Girl. Why only men? Two reasons, I guess. One is that the director didn't think women were up to the rigors of marching in the disciplined style that he insisted on. (Don't blame me! This was clearly a chauvinist attitude and wrong, but there it is.) Second, participation in the band was the only way one could be excused from the mandatory ROTC requirement that existed during those years. In exchange for the band providing marching music for various ROTC parades, including the Governor's Review of the Cadets each spring, band members did not have to take ROTC classes or be enrolled in the program. With the Vietnam War hanging over our heads during those years, mandatory ROTC programs and subsequent service requirements were not exciting. One other tidbit is that after John Kennedy was assassinated, a subset of the band, including me, was brought together to quickly learn to march to a funeral cadence and to march to the east side of Old Capitol to participate in a service in honor of the fallen President. I have seen photographs of that event from time to time and believe one may still be on display at the GreenState Credit Union's Iowa Avenue location in Iowa City.

I got my start playing clarinet in the Lowden High School band:

True! I was not a very tall person during my school years. I gained most of the last 6" of my eventual 6' height during the year after I graduated from high school. Here are a couple pictures of me as a proud Hawkeye Marching Band member:

I had that last photo taken as a Christmas gift for my parents. 

Have Now Completed 33.3333...% of the Chemo Journey (Still A Rational Number)

Just FYI from a mathematics nerd, a rational number is one which can be expressed as a ratio of two integers. If one actually converts the ratio to a decimal number, it will eventually end with an infinitely repeating pattern. Often, this pattern is an infinite string of zeroes, so for example, when I was 25% through the regimen, that meant 1/4 of the infusions (3/12) were finished. Dividing 1 by 4 gets you 0.25000000... with an infinitely repeating zero. We all feel more comfortable writing that at .25 or 25%. However, with 4/12 or 1/3 finished, the conversion ends with an infinitely repeating 3. So, it is impossible to write a concise decimal version of that. Hence, we usually cheat and stop at some point, such as .333 or we write 33.33%, which isn't really accurate. Using an ellipsis as in 33.33...% is meant to show that the number repeats indefinitely.

Isn't that fun? Just in case you wanted to know, irrational numbers also continue indefinitely but not with a repeating pattern, and they cannot be expressed as a ratio of two integers. Maybe the most famous irrational number is 𝝅 (pi). Why did I bother with all this explanation? Who knows? It crossed my mind as I chose a title for this posting. Maybe I just felt good about all my mileposts being rational, rather than irrational, ones. Although recent events are making some of them feel a little irrational.

To bring you up to date, regarding the leg pain and blood clot, the injections of blood thinner appear to be having a positive effect. I have less pain today than a week ago. Sitting up is more comfortable. Walking has been OK and even helpful at times. Often I just keep it elevated, but it is definitely getting better I think. Evidently, we'll be switching to an ongoing blood thinner after the injection Rx is completed in another week.

Yesterday, April 4th, was my rescheduled chemo infusion. Alas, the blood samples resulted again in clumped platelets. All other measures were good. The doctor accepted a microscopic evaluation of the platelets that said they appeared to be normal, so the chemo was allowed to proceed--four concluded of a planned twelve. I'll be moving back to a "Wednesdays cycle" with the next one, now planned for April 20th. I also have an interim meeting with my oncologist's assistant to review these pending leg pain and clumping problems.

In the meantime, the rest of my life has been OK. I say only OK, because the leg pain has kept me out of the shop. I'm eager to get back to the construction of a bench we intend to use at the foot of our bed. I'm making it from some cherry I salvaged from the woods at a friend's home. There will be photos to share eventually.

I finished reading Lies My Teacher Told Me which I highly recommend. I also read a fun new novel by Harlan Coben called The Match which was essentially a thriller/mystery that involved lots of DNA tracing and services like 23andMe. Another book just completed was The Vanishing Half about twin African American girls, their daughters, and the very different lives that the lead. I also recommend this one. Now I'm reading the second book in the "Broken Earth Trilogy" by N. K. Jemison, a gifted black science fiction writer, who won the Hugo Award three consecutive years for the three novels in this trilogy. This is a very different sort of science fiction but utterly fascinating and intricate.

Of course, I may have watched a fair number of basketball games recently. Alas, my two Hawkeye teams bowed out way too early. I'll probably watch some of the Masters Golf Tournament this coming weekend. Tiger Woods indicates he may try to play! That would add an interesting element to the tournament.

Well, I may be rambling a bit here. Am doing OK. Part way to the end!

A Cancer Journey Has Twists & Turns

A good friend, someone also on a cancer journey, provided me with the title for this blog posting.

March 30th was to have been my fourth chemo infusion. About one week earlier, I developed a constant pain in my right leg. This has manifested itself as a strong cramp in my calf and additional cramping in my thigh. Standing has been hard and though walking sometimes seemed to stretch it out, I was best with the leg elevated and me on the couch. A heating pad gave some relief. Tylenol didn’t help, nor aspirin. You know I tolerate pain well, but this has been difficult.

I reported the problem to my oncologist on Monday. When they were finally able to get back to me, it was the morning of my planned infusion. My doctor scheduled an ultrasound of my leg sandwiched between my labs and my infusion. I was to meet with my physician's assistant during my infusion.

However, the plot, along with two other things thickened! (Going for a little humor there. 😋) We seemed to be waiting and waiting to be called in for the infusions. When they did come for me, it was to redo one of the labs (platelet count). The platelets in my first lab had clumped. For more information click here. You will see that this is most often a lab process problem, and is not an indication of anything about my very high quality blood🧛‍♂️! We resumed our wait for the infusion to start. When they came the third time, it was to say that my infusion was canceled for the day, and that they needed a third blood sample because the second one also resulted in clumped platelets. Each of the three tries was drawn in a different way, but guess what—the third one also clumped!

So next we met with the PA. She indicated they were all scratching their heads about the platelets but would work something out by Monday so that the infusion can be done. She also reported that the ultrasound showed a blood clot in my leg which as I understood extends down from my thigh to the lower part of my calf. I have always thought of clots as being more like a marble, but this one is more like a string. There was no suggestion that the clot and platelet problems are related. Anyway, this clot explains the pain in my leg. This is likely a new chemo side effect, but I did advise them of the genetic marker I have that may increase risk of clots and deep vein thrombosis or DVT, which is what I have. Thanks to my sister and 23andMe for alerting me to the presence of this marker.

I’ve been put on 14 days of self-administered shots of blood thinner. This is the same one I had after the surgery, but whereas that was a precautionary dosage, this is a higher dosage and requires two shots a day. I have four done as of this morning. I also have a prescription of tramadol to manage the pain. After the first shot and one dose of tramadol, I was able to sleep much better than during the prior week. Perhaps by Monday the leg will start to feel even better, and the platelet problem will be resolved. Until then, more reading and couch time for me.

25% of the Way

This past Wednesday, I received the third of my scheduled chemotherapy infusions. So that puts me 25% of the way to the end, barring any unforeseen need for changes. So far, except for a considerable degree of tiredness and lethargy during the roughly fourth and fifth days after each cycle, side effects have been quite manageable and/or minimal. The prognosis continues to be that once this chemo regimen is completed, the chances of a reoccurrence of the cancer are very low. While I am going through this regimen, I have been again advised to limit contact, so we are being very cautious about any visits or times we need to be away. I continue to feel very fortunate while at the same time have great empathy for other individuals I know are facing much more difficult cancer recoveries.

I have continued to be active during most of the latter week or more of each cycle. Enjoying time in my woodworking shop has been good for me. I completed building a small library table for my son-in-law Peter, which he expects to pick up sometime later this month.

I have a couple of other projects in the works now. I am making some small keepsake boxes, and I'm building a bench for use at the foot of our bed. This latter item is being made from some cherry lumber that I salvaged from three logs my friend Richard had me help him remove from a tree that was damaged during the derecho storm of a couple years ago. A local mill got about 60 board feet of usable lumber from those logs. Having this bench come from that tree will make it extra special for us.

In addition to woodworking, I keep reading books. Recently completed books include: The Latinest by Mark Prins, The Bone People by Keri Hulme, The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, and several others. Currently, I'm reading a fascinating book that I highly recommend: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen. This book dovetails in very important ways with many of the (in my humble opinion, wrong-headed) current events aimed at book censorship and constraints on the teaching profession (e.g. the attempts to forbid use of such resources as th 1619 Project). Those who have read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States will surely enjoy Loewen's book as well.

Of course we have been watching lots of Hawkeye men's and women's basketball. The spectacular run that our men's team had late in the season came to a crashing and depressing end yesterday with their unexpected loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament. We look forward to the women's first round game this afternoon to lift our spirits back up a bit, not that basketball is so important. Still, it is good entertainment. At least the baseball lockdown has ended, so I eagerly look forward to some MLB games.

Spring is coming! Have seen at least one robin in our yard. Best wishes to all my readers!

3/4/2022 Medical Update

Some of you reading this will know the complete story of my current bout with cancer. Others will not. For them, here is a quick snapshot of events leading to today. On December 7th of last year, events took me to the Emergency Room at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC). There, over a few days of tests, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. On January 12th, I had surgery to resection my colon and remove the tumor. Subsequently, biopsy and other results determined that this was a stage 3 case, meaning that the cancer was localized in my abdominal region. However, this also meant that cancer cells or micro tumors had quite probably escaped the colon, so my oncologist put me on a chemotherapy regimen called FOLFOX, which involves twelve chemo infusions spaced two weeks apart for a total time period of 24 weeks or about 6 months. I had a medical port "installed" in my upper right chest on February 14th for Valentines Day and for delivery of the infusions. As of yesterday, I have had two of these infusions The surgery and the infusions have all gone very well for me. I was released after surgery after only two nights in the hospital and recovered at home quite quickly. The chemo treatments have been quite tolerable. One drug is administered at the UIHC Infusion Center, and the second I take home with an attached pump for delivery over a 46 hour period (as I write this, I have about 27 hours to go on this second round). Side effects are minimal or manageable. Fortunately so far, I've had no nausea to deal with, don't anticipate much hair loss (don't have any anyway), and have not had much trouble with the reaction to cold that one of the drugs induces. I do have some lethargy and naps have become a part of nearly every day, and my oncologist says this feeling of tiredness is likely to continue and increase. However, in most every way, I'm leading quite a normal life with lots of reading, a bit of outdoor yard and walking activity (which I intend to do more of as the weather continues to improve), and some woodworking (I've nearly completed building a library table for one of my dear sons-in-law, Peter).

So, now switching to the actual update! Yesterday, after preparation of my port for access and the usual blood draws, I met with my oncologist, Dr. Sharif, who along with nearly all the UIHC personnel with whom I interact I have found to be caring, supportive, friendly, and fully forthcoming with information and help. As an example, check out this technician, one of the fun people who draws my blood and prepares my port. She is a riot, should probably be a stand-up comedian, and makes having to be in a hospital much easier. (Her sign reads, "Vampire Headquarters." Check out the smile in her eyes!) The nurses in the Infusion Center and in the surgical units have also been terrific.

Dr. Sharif opened our visit beaming with two pieces of information. Two test results were just in--one related to the research study in which I agreed to participate, and the other from a special laboratory test for an Immunoscore. In both cases, the results were excellent and indicate that the chemo regimen I am on is the correct one for my condition and that once completed the probability of a recurrence of my cancer is very low. The study and each test involves further DNA and other analysis of my tumor and blood in order to facilitate detection of still existing cancer cells and/or the ability of my immune system to fight the cancer. For those of you who are interested in lots of detail, you can read about the research study by clicking here and the Immunoscore test by clicking here.

From the outset, so many of you have been supportive and encouraging and you continue to be so. As examples, I got several deliveries of flowers, something I'm most definitely not used to. (I'm good. Don't need more.) They lasted a very, very long time and were a cheerful greeting each morning. The balloon is still riding high, and the dear ones who sent it to me, along with the flowers, said it was good to know that my balloon and my mood and emotional state continue to ride high. My sweet sister sent me a special "Get Well Spoon", a special soup bowl, and even a first instance of chicken soup to mix up in it. A neighbor brought two quarts of homemade chicken noodle soup. Another friend made me a special small pillow that has become a daily companion, even on trips to the Infusion Center. Others of you have generously shared books or book recommendations--I'm deeply grateful for both. Thanks to all of you for caring.

Nearly everyone who has reached out to me in cards, letters, or emails has said, "If there is anything we can do for you, you need only ask." Well last night, while I was unable to sleep for a stretch of time (during which I decided to resurrect this blog and even mentally composed this entry), I decided there is something I want to ask. Since all of your expressions of prayer, encouragement, support, karma, or whatever have obviously been so successful (see good news above), I am asking you to consider turning your attention to the following list as well. Any progress you can make on any of these will also mean a lot to me (and likely insure a special place in heaven, whatever that may be, for each of you). Most of these are of paramount importance--a few are just for fun. What follows is my "op-ed" portion and mostly diverts from medical news.

• I have found that having cancer really sensitizes me to mentions of the disease and to awareness of others who are facing it. I have become recently aware of a few other cases that involve really difficult circumstances, and I now feel so much for them. I am very lucky so far it seems, and so I wish I could share my good fortune or lift burdens from others. I hope you will keep others in your thoughts the same way you have kept me in yours.
• Stop Putin and the insane attack on Ukraine. When is it OK to arbitrarily destroy a peaceable nation?
• The dangerous climate change situation in which we find ourselves demands our attention. Anything we can do to stop the change and to direct resources and action to turning it around should be paramount. Protecting our natural resources and parks is a part of this.
• Just as critical if not more so is the attention and resources we need to restore to the problems of racial injustice, equal voting rights and access, and respect for and embracing of diversity. Our educational systems are under attack and even symbolic "book burning" is back. Where has reasonableness gone?
• Stop treating the work of our public health officials and our governmental actions re same with such disdain. Isn't it the job of government, among other things, to protect its citizens? How in the world did a deadly disease become a political issue?
• I don't care whether the answer it to fund or defund the police. I do care that we make sure that the slogan seen on many law enforcement vehicles, which is "To Serve and Protect", is the basis for the way in which law enforcement is conducted and authorized. Police cannot be judge and jury. There has been too much use of deadly force. We expect too much of our police and should be using other resources too, like our mental health and other social service agencies.
• We need to restore our system of elected representation to one that incorporates at least a two-party form that is built on useful debate, bi-partisanship approaches, and mutual respect. In particular, I suggest that although both parties need to reexamine themselves for change, we most definitely need to see the rooting out of the growing part of the Republican party that is based on nothing but "no", dangerous forms of dictatorial demagoguery and even despotism. I long to see once again the Republican party of my parents generation, when principle and reason prevailed.
• Keep the good vibes flowing for the Iowa Hawkeye men's and women's basketball teams as they compete in post-season games. They have been remarkably fun to watch this year.
• Anyone who can get Major League Baseball and the players to resolve their differences so that we can once again watch the games I so love will get extra thanks from me.

So that's all I have for now. Stay tuned!