May 7, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. A Walk in the Neighborhood.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I went for  walks in my neighborhood.  It was  a nice place to walk because there is very little traffic and the dogs must be on a leash.  And as every house is different, you can look at interesting houses.  When we first moved here in 2015, I used to tell Ken that no one really lives in those houses because I never saw anyone during my walks.   Nothing has changed except me.

Last week Portia and I went for a walk in the neighborhood.  This was the first walk for several  years.  Now I feel as I must someone accompanying me during my walk.  But Portia is willing so we will do it again.  My walking has been hampered, first by my achilles problem and them the wound on my foot.  And every time I start to increase my walking I get a redness on the old wound.  I see the wound doctor this coming Friday because my new skin has made a scab and it keeps getting red.  So I need to ask some questions.

When the old wound gets pink or red, the foot hurts.  We are now putting the bandage back on the foot to protect the new scab.  Whether or not I continue to walk in the neighborhood depends on what the wound doctor tells me.  I will soon find out how much I should be walking in my neighborhood.

May 6, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. The Lost Evening.

It was 10:45 and I was sitting beside the front door waiting for Chris, my Lyft driver, to pick me up to take me to brunch with Christina and the girls.  Chris is never late so in 5 minutes I texted him.  But he did not respond immediately so I called Christina.  Finally, Chris texted me back to tell me that he would pick me up at 10:45 am.  Then I looked carefully at my phone which said 11:00pm.  And Christina called to suggest that I have overslept my nap.  She was correct.

I missed all the clues.  It was pitch dark outside.  The 9:00 program I watch at breakfast, Aerial America, was not on the TV.  But I just went ahead getting ready for brunch.  I washed and dressed.  I took my morning medicine.  I ate yoghurt for breakfast.  And I waited for Chris.  And then I figured it out.

I always lay down for an hour in the afternoon which I did yesterday.  I fell asleep about 3:00.  And I stayed asleep.  When I finally woke up it was just a bit light and I thought it was morning so I went to the bathroom and went back to bed.  But I stayed awake which was unusual.  But I thought it was morning so stayed in bed until 8:30 when I began my morning routine.

When I finally realized what I had done, I went back to bed and slept .  Now I am going to eat my evening meal of last night and get dressed once again to begin my day.  I had lost my whole evening.  I am going to blame my new chemo, not my stupidity.

May 5, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. A Cuban Party.

Chantes is from Cuba, as is all his crew.  So he suggested to me that when all the outside spring cleaning has been completed, he and his crew would give me and my friends and family a Cuban party.  We would have it in the backyard, where all the decks and railing have been repaired and painted.  He already asked all his crew members and his family.  They all think it is a good idea.

Their plan is to cook only Cuban food, which they will cook at home.  And they will bring Cuban drinks.  I have no idea what that entails but I suspect it will be heavy with rice and beans and legumes with lots of vegetables and chicken.  We can not make a date until the front walk has been completed and as the bricks have not yet been pulled up, it may take a while.  Chantes and I have decided that Sunday would be the best, perhaps at 1:00.  The workers do not work on Sunday so it is easier.  And if we hold it at 1:00, the beverage of choice would be water, which makes life easier.

I have spoken to my family and some friends, and they think it is a grand idea.  I am not so sure I am up to hosting a backyard party, especially is Portia is unable to work.  But we will see.  I can not really carry stuff in and out of the house to the deck but Chantes tells me that his crew will look after everything.  A Cuban party would be fun.  But first the walk must be finished.  Then we can make a date.  It should be fun.

May 4, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. Chemotherapy.

Modern Medicine is astonishing.  Do not believe in the good old days.   Present days are better, especially in the world of medicine.  I had a liver biopsy.  We got the results quickly.  Breast cancer cells were in my liver, which we all assumed was the case.  But then the breast cancer cells went to a specialty lab to find out what specific cells were in the liver.  Recent research has determined that many different types of breast cancer cells exist in the body.  The Oncologist wanted to know the specific cell  so she could match the specific cell with the specific chemotherapy.

The Oncologist felt sure that I would need to receive infusion chemotherapy.  She said that there was only one oral chemo that will match with one specific cell, and she had only 3 matches in her whole career.  She assured me that was about one in a million that it would be me.  But she was wrong.  I will receive oral chemo, that will be delivered to me on Saturday.  So I will be able to take my chemo with me when I go to Nova Scotia.  No infusion chem for me in Nova Scotia.

Along with the oral chemo I must take a shot every two weeks.  But it is approved in Canada and I can obtain it in my local pharmacy.  Fortunately, nephew Norm will write me a prescription.  He will also write the prescription for the shot for my bones.  What would I do without Norm.  I call him Nifty Norm.

It is an amazing world.  Now we just need to know if the chemo will work.  But with a happy heart, good food and beautiful surroundings, success is on my side.   And besides, all my friends and family are cheering me on.  Pretty nice.

May 3, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. My Glucose Levels.

 For the past two weeks, my glucose levels have been low.  107, 114, with a high of 134.  When I was in Mexico, my levels were between 135 and 175.  But when I returned to Mississippi, my levels started creeping up.  At first I decided that it was the stress of travel.  But it kept going up so I evaluated what I was eating here in Mississippi that I was not eating in Mexico.  Wendy did an excellent job of serving me only food that was good for me.  Here in Mississippi,  I was eating little oranges.  Christina got me a bag of those little tangerines and I was enjoying them.  Anna had cooked me stew to leave in the freezer.  That stew contained potatoes.  The oranges and potatoes were giving me trouble.  Portia  made a purist out of me and I ate no carbohydrates and no oranges.  Slowly my numbers went down.

Dr. Gregg, my Internist, does not want  my numbers going down any further  so I called her.  Now we have a plan.  I will check my levels every other day.  And we will stop the medicine to control my diabetes.  Wow.  This will be interesting.  If the chemo really was causing my glucose levels go up, my system should have shed that chemo from my body, so perhaps I have recovered.  We are going to find out soon.  This morning was my first day without my diabetes medication.  Tomorrow we will check my levels.  This is going to be interesting.

May 2, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. My Front Walkway.

 The walkway from my house to the parking area is made of brick.  There is one step in front of the front door, then another smaller stop before you step onto the longer walk.  And the walkway close to the house is tilted.  So the walkway is not perfect and in fact is dangerous.   On the left side of the walk is a patio area, where we installed a fountain and a stone bench.  It looks pretty.  But Ken was never able to find a drain from the patio area.  He figured that there must have been a drain installed at the front, but he could never find one.

When Chantes did a survey of the work to be done for the spring cleaning, he did not notice the tipped walk but when he was here working during a heavy rain, he noted that there was no drain.  The water pooled  so he showed me and we added to his list.  He has now completed the tasks from his original list of defects and he charged me $1,000. less for the labor.  The work went more quickly than anticipated.  But now he must fix the walk.

He noted that the left side of the stoop and the walkway has sunk 2 inches.  And he could find no drain.  The water pours onto the walk and the patio and goes into the ground, where it washed away the dirt.  So he must pull out the brinks, install a new drain and raise the ground back to being level.  This will be a big job.  But it needs to be done.  The pillar  holding up the roof over the stoop has sunk the same 2 inches..  Eventually, that pillar will fall.  When the walkway is finished, I will have a much safer way to get in and out of the house.  I will be pleased when it is done.

May 1, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. Underdogs.

For some reason or another, I always cheer for the underdogs.  I think it is a common habit.  These hockey playoffs have been giving me a bonanza of unlikely winners and losers.  One aspect of playoffs  in the first round is watching the big guys go down to defect.  This year we have seen a lot of it.

For instance, the New York Rangers were supposed to win the series against the New England Devils.  But the Devils just won the 7th game of the first round.  And they won the game 4 to 0.  I loved it.  And yesterday the Boston Bruins who won more games than any other team had won during the year lost to the Florida Panthers, who had over 40 point fewer during the regular season and who just eeked into the playoffs. I called Boston to play for the Cup.  But not this year.

And the winner of last year's Stanley Cup went down to defect.  The team from Denver is now home for the summer.  Seattle was a new team last season so this is the first year they have been in the playoffs.  And much to anyones surprise, they won the first round.  And of course, Toronto and Edmonton are now into the second round.  So this year, we have lots of new blood in the playoffs.  No more Tampa Bay Lightning into the second round.  Instead we will watch to see if the Florida Panthers can defect Toronto.

Now there are 8 teams into the next round.  I must say that there were so many games on TV that I did not watch all the games.  Even a true sports nut like me was saturated with hockey.  But it was fun watching these big guns go down in defect.  The next round begins tomorrow.  I am ready.