Crazy but good morning yesterday.
"Nurse Jo" came over to remove my stitches, coffee cup in hand.
I needed to take the coffee cup from her because Watchdog Maddie ran over with a toy and was jumping all around her. I stuck out my arm for the third consecutive removal of stitches in basically the same place, right above the crook of my arm, which is odd because that area does not get much sun.
It has gotten to be a routine, easier than last time because I also had them on the back of my hand.
I finished the story I was writing for HCC, got in the car and got stuck in traffic on my way to the Literacy Project. There seems to be construction everywhere.
With three volunteers, there was time for one-on-one. I worked with a woman from Ecuador who was just learning to read and write in English. She struggled over the word "though." I kept saying it and she didn't understand. She thought I was starting the word with a "D" as in "dough."
She asked if I was from Massachusetts and I said originally from New York, and she said she thought that was it. Do I really have a New York accent? I always say that the accents are from the Bronx and Brooklyn, not from Manhattan, but maybe there is a tinge and if that is so, I am proud of it. Once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker.
My travels usually take me in that direction, but on Friday I am heading WEST, to Minneapolis to visit Katie. I am very excited because I miss her very much and am so used to having her in Boston, which I basically consider to be our backyard.
More on that later because I thought it would rain and there would be no tennis at the Canoe Club, but the sun has come out and that will be a good start to the day since I have taken a break due to stitches and travels.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Getting back on the bike
The picture-perfect fall day is especially welcome following yesterday's rain. I am slowly and cautiously getting back to bike riding after the two-year break I took after my accident. Today was a good day for it.
I am able to get my new, lighter step-over bike into the back of my car, which I did this morning. Starting at Damon Road in Hadley, I rode for about an hour and a half, with a little time to stop and enjoy the scenery.
It doesn't provide the same exercise for me as running, but it is good to relearn the basics in case I ever want to take a harder ride.
My legs felt a little funny, but it was so nice outside that afterwards, I walked Maddie around the lake.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Needles: the good kind
I had almost forgotten that I had signed up for free acupuncture through the Cancer Connection in Northampton, so I was surprised when the phone rang and it was acupuncturist Laurel Turk saying I had come to the top of the list.
Since the only time that she does this in Northampton is the same day I volunteer at the Literacy Project, I went to her office in Sunderland earlier this week. There was therapeutic value just in driving along beautiful Route 47 just as the leaves were beginning to turn.
I previously had acupuncture done at Dana-Farber's Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and also in Amherst by a woman who is also an herbalist. The session at the Zakim Center was definitely calming, causing me to immediately fall asleep. Same thing for the sessions in Amherst. These were complemented with Chinese herbal medicine to balance and strengthen my system after my first bone marrow transplant.
I took home a bag full of raw herbs that I boiled in my spaghetti pot and drank like a tea. It tasted and smelled horrible. The whole house stunk. My kids said it looked like the acupuncturist had just gone out behind her house and collected pieces of bark, and they would kill me if I did not stop. I am not doubting Chinese medicine, but it was not my cup of tea at that time.
At the session last week, I said I primarily wanted to address the neuropathy in my feet. I would love to get off that drug Neurontin, with its side effects of dizziness and drowsiness. There are many other imbalances in my body to address, including the graft vs. host in my liver and the tendency of squamous cell cancers to pop up on my skin.
My feet were the only place the needles hurt. The rest went in easily, including a couple in my head to calm my runaway mind. She also used a moxa stick, in which dried leaves of the Chinese herb mugwart are lit and applied to the needles, intensifying their benefits.
With each needle, I felt more and more like I was in a warm bath.
It was so much better than the needles that usually poke me.
I am happy to say I get five more sessions. Thank goodness for places like the Cancer Connection that offer services not just to those in crisis but also to those dealing with the long-term effects of cancer treatment.
Since the only time that she does this in Northampton is the same day I volunteer at the Literacy Project, I went to her office in Sunderland earlier this week. There was therapeutic value just in driving along beautiful Route 47 just as the leaves were beginning to turn.
I previously had acupuncture done at Dana-Farber's Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and also in Amherst by a woman who is also an herbalist. The session at the Zakim Center was definitely calming, causing me to immediately fall asleep. Same thing for the sessions in Amherst. These were complemented with Chinese herbal medicine to balance and strengthen my system after my first bone marrow transplant.
I took home a bag full of raw herbs that I boiled in my spaghetti pot and drank like a tea. It tasted and smelled horrible. The whole house stunk. My kids said it looked like the acupuncturist had just gone out behind her house and collected pieces of bark, and they would kill me if I did not stop. I am not doubting Chinese medicine, but it was not my cup of tea at that time.
At the session last week, I said I primarily wanted to address the neuropathy in my feet. I would love to get off that drug Neurontin, with its side effects of dizziness and drowsiness. There are many other imbalances in my body to address, including the graft vs. host in my liver and the tendency of squamous cell cancers to pop up on my skin.
My feet were the only place the needles hurt. The rest went in easily, including a couple in my head to calm my runaway mind. She also used a moxa stick, in which dried leaves of the Chinese herb mugwart are lit and applied to the needles, intensifying their benefits.
With each needle, I felt more and more like I was in a warm bath.
It was so much better than the needles that usually poke me.
I am happy to say I get five more sessions. Thank goodness for places like the Cancer Connection that offer services not just to those in crisis but also to those dealing with the long-term effects of cancer treatment.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Slow and slower
The good thing about being older and a little wiser is that you know your limits.
Such as: On Sunday I put on exercise clothes and meant to jog or bike but realized I was just too spent from all my activity the past four days. So I walked the dog and fell asleep on the couch. Whereas in the past I might have pushed on through.
The bad thing is that if you skip it is much harder to get back into it.
Such as: Yesterday I thought I might bounce back into running three miles, but I could barely run half that. My speed, which usually clocks Tortoise, was at Tortoise minus one. The soupy air didn't help.
I don't know how my tennis would be, but I can't play this week anyway due to having stitches in my right arm.
I am off to do my tutoring at the Literacy Project in Northampton. My bike is in the back of my car, and maybe it will call to me to take it out for a little spin on the bike path.
I just have to resist getting a muffin or a coffee afterwards. However, I forgot to celebrate National Coffee Day yesterday, so maybe I will have to do it today.
Such as: On Sunday I put on exercise clothes and meant to jog or bike but realized I was just too spent from all my activity the past four days. So I walked the dog and fell asleep on the couch. Whereas in the past I might have pushed on through.
The bad thing is that if you skip it is much harder to get back into it.
Such as: Yesterday I thought I might bounce back into running three miles, but I could barely run half that. My speed, which usually clocks Tortoise, was at Tortoise minus one. The soupy air didn't help.
I don't know how my tennis would be, but I can't play this week anyway due to having stitches in my right arm.
I am off to do my tutoring at the Literacy Project in Northampton. My bike is in the back of my car, and maybe it will call to me to take it out for a little spin on the bike path.
I just have to resist getting a muffin or a coffee afterwards. However, I forgot to celebrate National Coffee Day yesterday, so maybe I will have to do it today.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Busy bee
I predicted that I would have two squamous cell cancers, but the spot on my lip turned out to be nothing. The one on my arm was the usual, squamous cell "in situ," like so:
Once it is healed I will need to apply chemotherapy cream again. It is no big deal, but it has turned out to be more than the usual nuisance because it has gotten infected. Usually it stings for the first couple of days and then calms down, but this one has hurt more with each day.
It is nice to feel free to email a doctor at home, which is what I did last night, attaching a photo of the gorgeous thing. My doctor replied to continue using the antibiotic cream that I already figured I should apply, and she might also call in a prescription for an oral antibiotic. What's one more pill, right?
I had a busy three days in New York, "sleeping around" in three different locations: with my cousin Nancy in an apartment she rented in the Village, then uptown to Riverside Drive to stay at my friend Margie's, and finally at Ben and Meghan's in Fairfield on my way home.
Don't ask.
It was a crazy time to be in the city. The UN was in session, and it took forever to go just a short distance. But it was worth it. It was amazing to see Raining Jane and Jason Mraz play at Radio City Music Hall Tuesday. Wednesday was a "day off," followed by Rosh Hashanah services at the 92nd street Y and lunch with Ben and cousins at a nearby deli, where I enjoyed my traditional meal of a club sandwich and a Coke.
I had planned to take a subway after services to a family gathering in Queens, but when I thought about lugging my luggage back and forth, it fell into the "what were you thinking" category.
I simply cannot walk up or down stairs without holding onto a railing, and going into and out of subways sometimes turns into a challenge. People jostle for handrail space, and I run the risk of being picked off, even though like a true New Yorker I try to stand my ground. I am just not as fast or nimble as I used to be, and that does not help.
Yesterday I went to the Big E – the giant fair near us – after not having gone for many years. You would think I might have rested, but it just kind of came over me that I wanted to go. My friend Mary had the same idea, so we went together with her husband, Jerry.
The meals in New York were delicious, but the baked potato with "the works" at the Maine building was equally yummy. It definitely was an interesting contrast to go from the streets of New York to the fairgrounds of Massachusetts.
SKIN, RIGHT FOREARM, PUNCH BIOPSY:
SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA IN SITU, possibly arising in a verruca, extending very
close (less than 0.2 mm) to the edge of the examined profile.Once it is healed I will need to apply chemotherapy cream again. It is no big deal, but it has turned out to be more than the usual nuisance because it has gotten infected. Usually it stings for the first couple of days and then calms down, but this one has hurt more with each day.
It is nice to feel free to email a doctor at home, which is what I did last night, attaching a photo of the gorgeous thing. My doctor replied to continue using the antibiotic cream that I already figured I should apply, and she might also call in a prescription for an oral antibiotic. What's one more pill, right?
I had a busy three days in New York, "sleeping around" in three different locations: with my cousin Nancy in an apartment she rented in the Village, then uptown to Riverside Drive to stay at my friend Margie's, and finally at Ben and Meghan's in Fairfield on my way home.
Don't ask.
It was a crazy time to be in the city. The UN was in session, and it took forever to go just a short distance. But it was worth it. It was amazing to see Raining Jane and Jason Mraz play at Radio City Music Hall Tuesday. Wednesday was a "day off," followed by Rosh Hashanah services at the 92nd street Y and lunch with Ben and cousins at a nearby deli, where I enjoyed my traditional meal of a club sandwich and a Coke.
I had planned to take a subway after services to a family gathering in Queens, but when I thought about lugging my luggage back and forth, it fell into the "what were you thinking" category.
I simply cannot walk up or down stairs without holding onto a railing, and going into and out of subways sometimes turns into a challenge. People jostle for handrail space, and I run the risk of being picked off, even though like a true New Yorker I try to stand my ground. I am just not as fast or nimble as I used to be, and that does not help.
Yesterday I went to the Big E – the giant fair near us – after not having gone for many years. You would think I might have rested, but it just kind of came over me that I wanted to go. My friend Mary had the same idea, so we went together with her husband, Jerry.
The meals in New York were delicious, but the baked potato with "the works" at the Maine building was equally yummy. It definitely was an interesting contrast to go from the streets of New York to the fairgrounds of Massachusetts.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Chip chipping away, cont.
I knew I would have one squamous cell cancer removed yesterday, but I wasn't expecting two.
The one on my arm (right arm again, no tennis) looked just like the others, but the one on my lip manifested itself in just a piece of peeling skin. Anyway, they both are gone – hopefully the whole thing – but it was bad timing for driving home yesterday and for going down to New York today.
Both areas hurt enough for me to take one of my strong pills last night. Obviously I can't do that when I drive, so I'll probably take some Tylenol. I need to limit it due to the effects it has on the liver, but taking a little is better than being in pain.
After it was done I thought I probably should have pushed it ahead a week, but then again it's better to get these things off sooner while they are still small. So.
I would have stayed an extra day in Newton, but I powered back home, having things to do.
The traffic around my two Starbucks was pretty heavy, so I got on the Pike and thought I might drive un-caffeinated. No luck with that. I needed coffee.
At the first rest stop I saw a sign on the door advertising a free coffee during breakfast hours at the McCafe. The doctor had told me to avoid hot coffee, so I went up the counter and asked for a small iced coffee. The woman said she had only medium and large. OK, I said, I'll have the medium. I saw that she charged me, so I asked about the free coffee. She said that was only for a small, whereas iced didn't come in small.
I thought of doing a Jack Nicholson act and saying, "Well, can you fill that medium cup half-way and then it will be a small?"
Maybe they were charging me for the ice cubes.
It was not the best coffee and it was not the worst, and in any case it kept me awake.
First world problem for sure.
The one on my arm (right arm again, no tennis) looked just like the others, but the one on my lip manifested itself in just a piece of peeling skin. Anyway, they both are gone – hopefully the whole thing – but it was bad timing for driving home yesterday and for going down to New York today.
Both areas hurt enough for me to take one of my strong pills last night. Obviously I can't do that when I drive, so I'll probably take some Tylenol. I need to limit it due to the effects it has on the liver, but taking a little is better than being in pain.
After it was done I thought I probably should have pushed it ahead a week, but then again it's better to get these things off sooner while they are still small. So.
I would have stayed an extra day in Newton, but I powered back home, having things to do.
The traffic around my two Starbucks was pretty heavy, so I got on the Pike and thought I might drive un-caffeinated. No luck with that. I needed coffee.
At the first rest stop I saw a sign on the door advertising a free coffee during breakfast hours at the McCafe. The doctor had told me to avoid hot coffee, so I went up the counter and asked for a small iced coffee. The woman said she had only medium and large. OK, I said, I'll have the medium. I saw that she charged me, so I asked about the free coffee. She said that was only for a small, whereas iced didn't come in small.
I thought of doing a Jack Nicholson act and saying, "Well, can you fill that medium cup half-way and then it will be a small?"
Maybe they were charging me for the ice cubes.
It was not the best coffee and it was not the worst, and in any case it kept me awake.
First world problem for sure.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Tales of a wandering Jew
The next five days will involve a lot of hopping, skipping and jumping.
Tonight, I am going to the house Where They Do Not Overcook the Fish (Diane and David's), because I have an 8 a.m. dermatology appointment tomorrow in Boston, scheduled that way to back up to the Dana-Farber appointment that I thought was this week but was actually last week.
(I thought of canceling but I want Dr. Lin to look at the suspicious spots that seem to appear all the time.)
Tuesday I head down to New York via Fairfield and the Metro North to see Raining Jane and Jason Mraz at Radio City Music Hall; after that exciting event I will spend the night in the village at an apartment that my cousin Nancy is renting. She is leaving the next morning, and because I need to be in the city for Rosh Hashanah services at the 92nd Street Y on Thursday, I'm going to hang around Wednesday and sleep at my friend Margie's apartment that night. Thursday I'll meet Ben for services, have our traditional lunch out and then take a subway to Queens for dinner with my father's side of the family, spend the night there (at my cousin Betsy's) and then take a subway to Grand Central for another Metro North train to Fairfield, where I will pick up my car and drive home.
If you haven't managed to get through the whole preceding paragraph, I will summarize: three nights, three different places, both sides of the family, much to celebrate, friends to see, music to be heard ...and much to make me tired.
Someone asked me why I planned so many things in a short amount of time. The answer is that I didn't plan them, they just happened.
I can sleep on all those trains and hope I don't miss any of my stops.
To all of my Jewish friends and relatives, best wishes for a "gut, gezunt yor" – a happy, healthy New Year!
Tonight, I am going to the house Where They Do Not Overcook the Fish (Diane and David's), because I have an 8 a.m. dermatology appointment tomorrow in Boston, scheduled that way to back up to the Dana-Farber appointment that I thought was this week but was actually last week.
(I thought of canceling but I want Dr. Lin to look at the suspicious spots that seem to appear all the time.)
Tuesday I head down to New York via Fairfield and the Metro North to see Raining Jane and Jason Mraz at Radio City Music Hall; after that exciting event I will spend the night in the village at an apartment that my cousin Nancy is renting. She is leaving the next morning, and because I need to be in the city for Rosh Hashanah services at the 92nd Street Y on Thursday, I'm going to hang around Wednesday and sleep at my friend Margie's apartment that night. Thursday I'll meet Ben for services, have our traditional lunch out and then take a subway to Queens for dinner with my father's side of the family, spend the night there (at my cousin Betsy's) and then take a subway to Grand Central for another Metro North train to Fairfield, where I will pick up my car and drive home.
If you haven't managed to get through the whole preceding paragraph, I will summarize: three nights, three different places, both sides of the family, much to celebrate, friends to see, music to be heard ...and much to make me tired.
Someone asked me why I planned so many things in a short amount of time. The answer is that I didn't plan them, they just happened.
I can sleep on all those trains and hope I don't miss any of my stops.
To all of my Jewish friends and relatives, best wishes for a "gut, gezunt yor" – a happy, healthy New Year!
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