Category: Encouragement

SPRING IS ON

MARCH 24, 2023 – Today in these parts, the spring melt was final on, full force. The mercury soared well into the 40sF under a sky monopolized by the sun. As I skate-skied up and down the Bernese Oberland of “Little Switzerland”—my 109th day of the season—I reveled in ideal “spring skiing” conditions. These occur …

“GLASS HALF FULL”

MARCH 17, 2023 – As a “glass half full” individual, I greeted favorably this morning’s blinding sunshine off the heavy blanket of snow that still covers the landscape in these parts. I chose to ignore the temperature (a high of 17F for the day) and the brisk, northwest winds, gusting up to 30 mph. At …

ANXIOUS SPECIES

MARCH 9, 2023 – At the outset of last year’s personally notable medical expedition, I experienced unusual anxiety. Physically, I was feeling, well, not so well. The worst occurred when my side of the earth was turned away from our local star, and the worst of the worst was when I climbed into bed each …

MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS DAY: FUN PART, BEST PART

JANUARY 17, 2023 – Today I had my monthly follow-up appointment with Dr. Kolla, followed by an encounter with the “infusion center,” where nurse Patty administered two butt shots plus a rabies injection. In more professional lingo, the butt shots were doses of csxzysesisterkappalambdaiotazonifer and xylicriminelamndanumuomicronpiclomyaquavazine, otherwise known as mono-clonal antibodies packaged under the brand …

THE GLASS HALF FULL

JANUARY 15, 2023 – Today the weather gods smiled, and gave a taste of spring-skiing. As I skated down the ski track, up and down dale, I noticed a number of weekenders on the course—friends on a lark; parents with young kids; older folks, gliding along slowly but surely. Citizen racers were few. Doubtless they …

LILI IN WONDERLAND (PART II)

DECEMBER 28, 2022 – (Cont.) I think of people as candles, each bearing a flame. Most people illuminate their immediate surroundings, then fade and disappear; some people light up the world before their flames flicker, then die. A few burn most powerfully after the wax and wick are long gone. Mozart is an example of …

LIVIN’ THE BIG DREAM

DECEMBER 18, 2022 – When you’re young, you dream big dreams. When you’re old, you light your pipe, lean back in the recliner and recall the big dreams that might’ve been but for circumstances . . . beyond . . . ahem . . . your control. In my case, the big dream derailed because …

BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS

DECEMBER 16, 2022 – Today, shortly after an hour-long ski workout in ideal conditions, I received a call from the coordinating nurse of a study in which I’d agreed to participate. The study is designed to test the efficacy of a combination of two medications in post-stem cell transplant, multiple myeloma patients. One of the …

BIG NEWS!

DECEMBER 12, 2022 – Nuclear fusion. Sorry to burst your bubble. With a title like “Big News!” doubtless you were half-expecting . . . big news. If it’s not exactly how we or the media would define “big news,” tomorrow’s official announcement about a breakthrough in harnessing energy produced by nuclear fusion is a critical …

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

SEPTEMBER 25, 2022 – Yesterday’s crankiness was overcome by my friends. To these accidental therapists I am especially grateful. As noted in yesterday’s post, I’d taken a break from the Ken Burns documentary, The U.S. and the Holocaust. The “pause” button, however, didn’t extinguish my angst. I experienced continuing dread by the very fact that …

POWER DOWN, POWER UP

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 – Soon after I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma last January, I started regular online sessions with an excellent therapist. In today’s session I described recent anxieties: e.g. What if Wednesday brings such severe conditions that piloting the boat to the landing two miles away turns unduly treacherous? What if the new …

DAY 26: CLEARING THE TREETOPS

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022 – (Cont.) Today marks Day 26 of my bone marrow transplant “marathon,” but as Yogi Berra famously said, “The game ain’t over ’til it’s over,” and to remind my readers, a marathon is 26.2 miles long. Accordingly, the finish line is an all-critical 385 yards—some 300 strides—beyond the 26-mile marker. As I …

MILE 25: ROUNDING THE CURVE

SEPTEMBER 17, 2022 – (Cont.) Today marks the 25th mile of my bone marrow transplant marathon. As a professor said at the outset of my second year of law school, “Now you’ll finish whether you like it or not.” His point to us students was that we now had such a vested interest in our …

DAY 23: THE MATTERHORN AND MILE 23

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 – Blogger’s note: Photo credit to my cousin, Russ Gordon, who, coincidentally, sent me the image early this morning–from Zermatt, Switzerland. (Cont.) Today I hiked a mile to my scale model of Switzerland—Como Golf Course in St. Paul—and from the summit of “St. Moritz,” admired the distinctive profile of the “Matterhorn.” It was …

DAY 21: MALAISE CUT SHORT

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022 – (Cont.) The dream last night must’ve been triggered by yesterday’s appointment with Dr. O’Leary, “BMT doc of the month.” I’d met the good doctor on the day of my “chemo-blast.” Back then, Dr. O’Leary, a bit of a killjoy though a life-long downhill skier, had told me I’d have to give …