Checking in, checking up, but not checking out

It's time to dust off the old blog and check in with the faithful followers.

I've been feeling very, very well, thank you — almost to the point of denial that I have cancer. But not quite. I am reminded by my digestive system several times a day that my pancreas is not up to snuff. My pancreas: "The old girl. She just ain't what she used to be". Oops. Sorry for the female gender attribution to the pancreas. My growing up in East Freeman has permanently etched associating gender to things. In East Freeman tractors and farm machinery that didn't work well (ie Old Grey Mare) were often characterized as "she". That, of course, has changed and is no longer the case in our modern era. It was a slip of my fingers on the keyboard. Because the cancer tumor on top of and grown into my pancreas appears lethargic and not motivated, I will henceforth refer to my pancreas as a "he". 

At my last check up with my oncologist in early Sept. I was given the option to continue with oral chemo pills or lay off the chemo. The doc seemed to hint that I should maybe continue the chemo because my side effects were minimal. I reminded him that while they could have been worse, I had my share of side effects: sleeplessness, diarrhea, headaches, dizziness, fatigue.

He said there is no right or wrong answer about whether to take or not take chemo. He said he would do monthly blood tests for the pancreatic tumor marker CA19-9 which measures cancer antigens until we take another picture of the pancreas in mid-November. My CA19-9 level was very high after detection and then was remaining very low after radiation and chemo so Dr. Yee said with a low level it should be fairly reliable, but not definitive, indicator of cancer activity. I opted to go chemo free and don't regret it one bit. I had a blood test last week, but don't know the results. Like my absence of blog postings, hopefully no news is good news.

My life has been just grand this summer and fall. (other than that kidney stone episode)
• I am taking only two pills: CREON (enzymes) to aid digestion and vitamin D supplement.
• I am working full time.
• My weight loss has stopped and I am maintaining about 173 lbs.
• I can eat any food I want. Yippeee!!
• My energy level is a little higher since I'm off the chemo and kidney stone drugs

Last week my brother John and wife, Sara, from Santa Fe, NM visited here for five days. We took a trip to Virginia where I checked off some bucket list items: the amazing Luray Caverns, beautiful Skyline Drive, Shenandoah Valley and the humungous Smithsonian Air and Space Museum just south of Dulles Int'l Airport outside Washington, DC. They were all excellent. The fall colors were great. The weather was great. 

Brother John, sister-in-law Sara, frau Barb and I sitting on one of the numerous overlook walls in Shenandoah National Park.

The rock formations in Luray Caverns are unprecedented.

The "professor" and Discovery space shuttle. One retired and one just plain tired.

The Concorde was so long I couldn't get it all in my camera view. Notice the tiny windows. Also saw the Enola Gay, the strange all-black Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Cold War reconnaissance jet and many other fantastic planes, satellites, orbiters, etc. The "other" older Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the mall in DC will fit inside this building - the entire building - bricks, mortar, roof and all!! This is a very nice museum.


A few weeks ago Barb and I helped host a 60th birthday party for our friend Jim King. I made the BBQ baby back ribs and Barb made an awesome six-layer chocolate cake.

This is the first time I've barbecued four baby back ribs (each cut in half) using a rib rack and a layered configuration. It worked quite well.

I bought the ribs at Walmart and when I opened the package I noticed they were processed by Cargill Inc. Barb used chocolate we bought at Wilbur Chocolate in Lititz, just a few miles from here. Cargill also owns Wilbur Chocolate. So Cargill had a hand in both the meat and the dessert!! Not necessarily a favorable review for those who are suspicious of, or, outright hate huge ag businesses. And there seem to be a fair number of such people in PA. 

Birthday man Jim King with the chocolate cake with fewer than 60 candles (to avoid a fire) in front of him. I should have taken some closeups to show the craftswomanship in the cake building.

On Halloween our son, Charles, from Seattle, WA, plans to fly into Philly to visit us for a week and we look forward to that. I hope the crappy weather is past us by then.

Right now we are being bombarded with weather hype and told to be proactive in preparation for hurricane Sandy when she hits PA on Tuesday. Barb spent much of the afternoon getting our basement ready for possible infiltration. We had water come in when hurricane Irene dumped on us last year. We are to expect between 4-6 inches of rain and 30-40 mph winds. There has been a run on bottled water, flashlights, candles, groceries at all the stores. I went to buy groceries on Saturday and Oregon Dairy parking lot was the fullest I've ever seen it. Many schools have cancelled for Monday and will likely do the same on Tuesday. Also, some government workers have been told to stay home. My biggest fear is likely power outages. I love electricity and would miss it very much.

I must go watch game #4 of the World Series. The Tigers are sputtering badly but just took the lead for the first time in the series.

More later and thanks for your concern for my well-being. I didn't expect to be doing as well as I am at this point and give credit to the Creator/you for that.