Taking it literally one step at a time

It's not often that people use the word literally correctly.

They might say, "I was literally freezing to death," and you think, "Really?" or perhaps, "I was literally at the end of my rope," and you wonder, "What rope"?

I am happy, therefore, to have this opportunity to use the word correctly, because I am literally talking about steps.

Going up or down without a handrail has remained a challenge. I thought of this over the weekend when I was at a graduation party at a house with two steep steps – with no handrail – leading to the deck. I probably could have ventured up, but instead I asked for an arm, just to be sure.

During my trip last year to visit my cousins in the San Francisco area, I was happy to successfully climb the 378 steps (plus or minus) to the landmark Coit Tower. Luckily there were handrails most of the way up, and for the other parts, one of my cousins offered an arm.

I haven't actually tripped down a flight of stairs, although I did actually trip up the stairs in the Paris Metro after having the fool-hardy urge to catch an incoming train. I bellyflopped onto the train, scaring the living daylights out of Katie and earning a shocked look from the Parisian at whose feet I had landed.

Knowing my tendency to fall (which I haven't done lately, knock wood), Joe once reprimanded me for throwing a pair of sneakers down the stairs when my arms were otherwise full. He was afraid that the clamor had been me.

The New York subway, which I plan to take during my visit to the city next weekend, is not the easiest place to need a handrail, because sometimes you have to push your way through to get to the side.

But the stairs leading up to the post office in Holyoke are just right. I had to be in Holyoke for something else, and I decided to go to the post office there rather than in South Hadley, because for some unfathomable reason, easy access to the entrance was eliminated during a highway widening project some years ago.

Rather than go to one side or another so I could use the handrail, I walked up the seven or eight stairs in the middle. I kept my balance. I walked up without tripping, and I walked down trippingly.

Literally, a success.

Back and forth to Boston

Katryn Gabrielson and moi

It was really nice to spend a day in Boston yesterday for a reason other than medical appointments.

I met my friend Katryn from Vassar there for a walk along the Charles and a stop at our favorite bistro and bakery, Panificio, located on Charles Street right across from the Esplanade, where we planned to walk. Well, to tell the truth, we stopped there twice, first for lunch and second for coffee and a pastry after we walked. Actually, we could have sat there for the whole day talking and catching up in what has come to be a yearly outing as we meet somewhere between her home in Portland, Maine, and mine in South Hadley.

After my trip to San Francisco, I had wanted a visual drink of water to remind myself that we have our own beautiful waterway. 

My reprieve, alas, is short-lived.

Starting Wednesday I have three days of appointments in Boston. First, penicillin allergy testing and second, removal of the squamous cell cancer on my lip.

For Friday I added a third appointment with a dentist at Brigham and Women's Hospital specializing in issues relating to transplant patients. First of all, with my dentist removing teeth left and right, members of my care team said it's a good time to check in with an expert. Also, Dr. Goguen (the tongue doctor) and I discussed the possibility that the spot on my tongue might have occurred because I am missing the last tooth on the bottom left, and the "new" back tooth might be cutting into the area on the side of my tongue that she had scooped out due to the presence of pre-cancerous cells.

During three days of pokes and prods, visions of the Charles will dance in my head.

Running around

I was going to break out and try running today, but instead I walked to the Common for the South Hadley Columbus Day Fair. I ate a baked potato with sour cream and cheese, bought a scarf, talked to people and then walked Maddie around the lake with two friends. Then, I ran to buy a chair to take advantage of a Columbus Day sale.

I also spent a lot of time on the Internet making arrangements for when I join Katie in Seville on Dec. 17. We're going to travel for 12 days; I haven't done much except get my plane ticket and reserve a room in a B&B in Seville, and now all of a sudden the trip is drawing near.

We are going to spend a few days in Seville so she can show me around, and then go to Granada, Barcelona and Paris. After I settled on a place to stay in Paris, I looked at a map of the surrounding area and saw the hospital. Oh, the hospital! Not Oh, the Eiffel Tower. I wonder if there will always be that little voice that says, "Just in case."

Anyway, it's very exciting to be realizing I'm actually going.

But first things first.

The election is maybe taking up too much space in my brain. I "have to" watch the MSNBC politics shows and I have to read the New York Times and on-line sites. On one of the news shows, a panel was debating whether the good jobs report on Friday – unemployment dropped to 7.8 percent – would give Obama a bounce that could neutralize the negative effect of his poor debate performance in Denver. Some thought that it could, but one panelist wondered how many people actually felt that the lower number made their day.

Well, I was one of those people. I heard it on the radio driving down to tennis and immediately felt buoyed after actually being depressed by Obama's lackluster performance. I went on to play some decent tennis.

Meanwhile, I hope that tomorrow I will get that run in.

'Home' for the holiday

I took this photo Saturday with my cell phone at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. A popular gathering place, it's frequently a backdrop in movies. Jeanne, Katie and I sat on a bench in the warm sun and could have stayed all day, but Katie and I had to head back home. The park visit was a part of our whirlwind Friday/Saturday visit to New York for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

When I was in high school, I hung out at the fountain frequently. Most of my friends lived downtown, so we tended to congregate more there. But I also went to the fountain, much of the time with my cousin Nancy, who lived uptown like me. Nancy was (and still is) nine months older and seemed so grown-up and cool to me. She hung around with a bunch of older kids, including a couple of guys who frightened and fascinated me. (What were they, probably all of 19?) I trotted along with Nancy, doing what teen-agers did at the fountain in those days. It was, as they said, groovy.

This past Saturday, a gaggle of college-age students in Speedos ran around the fountain, stopping in front of people to perform little songs and goofy dances for them, then holding out their hat. I told Katie that if some silly guys did that in "our day," we would have thrown them into the fountain. (Oh, will those aging baby boomers ever stop talking about the good old days?)

Around this time last year, I wrote a post, Should I Stay or Should I Go?, about my indecision about returning to the "old country" for the holiday. I was about three-and-a-half months past my third transplant, and although I was, and am, attached to the traditions and to going to services, I stayed home and sent Katie alone to meet up with Ben and cousins. I had a little get-together at my house where we ate a round challah with honey, symbolizing no sharp edges and a sweet New Year.

This year I actually went, although Dr. Alyea said I shouldn't go to the crowded services. Once again, as it has been for all my little getaways, the weather was perfect. Katie and I drove down Friday afternoon and moved our stuff into the apartment building where I grew up, and where we now stay with my mother's 93-year-old friend, Muriel, who has become like an aunt to us. Then we went to a restaurant called Deux Amis, where we had dinner outside with my real aunt, Marge; her husband, Bill; and my cousin Jeanne, who brought a round challah. I'm not supposed to eat in a restaurant, but I can sit at outside tables, and I can order cooked food (not salads or anything raw.)

The next day when Ben and Katie went to services, Jeanne kept me company walking around the upper east side, near the 92nd Street Y, where the services are. For lunch, we met another cousin, Joanne, at an outside cafe – most of the places have outdoor tables now – and then ended up in the park. We really didn't want to leave. It would be nice if there was a machine that would woosh you up to where you want to go, so that you could linger but still get back home at a reasonable hour. But alas, there isn't, and we ended up getting home around 9 p.m.

Two large school systems around us, Amherst and Longmeadow, have a sufficient Jewish population to close on the Jewish holidays. But South Hadley does not. It felt good to be in the city, where store doors carried signs reading "Closed for Rosh Hashanah" and people dressed for temple crowded the streets.

Back home, we felt good that we had said the prayer over the round challah, visited with family and maintained some tradition. It was, of course, different, because we grew up celebrating it with my parents, who hosted the holiday dinner the night before, and then took us to a relative's house after temple. I missed them. But I could still hear my father saying, "Here's to a sweet New Year with no sharp edges!" He loved to say that.

L'Shanah Tovah. Peace and good health to everyone.

Registering as bone marrow donor could save a life

If you live in Western Massachusetts, you could potentially save a life by taking a short amount of time out of your day on Nov. 19 to attend a drive to register as a bone marrow donor. This does not mean that you have to become a donor; it simply means that you will join the approximately 11 million people who have signed up with the National Marrow Donor Program to possibly donate in the future.

I know how important this is, because I am alive today thanks to a generous donor whom I've yet to meet. I just know that he is a 54-year-old man who lives far enough away that his cells needed to be flown to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston when I received my first transplant a year ago, and again on June 10 when the first graft failed.

The drive will be at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley. It will be preceeded by an educational event this coming Wednesday (Nov. 12). Also please note that if you are between the ages of 18 and 60, there are various ways to become a donor -- either on-line, at a donor drive like the one at Mount Holyoke, or at registration sites throughout the country. The National Marrow Donor Program website has all the information.

Here is the press release about the Mount Holyoke donor drive:

"On any given day, more than 6000 men, women and children are searching the National Marrow donor Program Registry for a life-saving donor like you. For many of them who have leukemia, lymphoma, and other life-threatening diseases, a transplant may be their best and only hope.

The simple act of joining the Registry adds to the possibility of a life being saved. Come to our educational event on Wednesday, November 12th in Hooker, 5-6pm, to hear the real stories of donors and patients, more about the science behind a donation, and what being a donor entails.

The most important thing is to come to MHC’s donor drive and join the Bone Marrow Registry by simply having a cheek swab taken, and filling out your contact information. The Drive is Wednesday, November 19, 11am to 5pm in Chapin.

The Registry needs all donors but is especially looking for minority donors. Many minority people who are in need of a donation, cannot get one, due to the shortage of minority donors. Donations to the Registry can be paid by your MA insurance."