scans for a holiday

it's time for a solid test of my new tablet... If i can type an email then it's good for half of what i do :-)

===

it's flu vax season. our grandson bravely faced the injection. our daughter tells me, your grandson would be really impressed if you too had a flu jab. Meaning... i should go and get the jab, so i do.

I'm chatting to the GP, the nurse sneaks up and... Jabs without warning! Probably the best way to do it :-)

But i don't get a give-me-sympathy bandaid :-(  Oh well. jab done.

While I'm with the doc i mention shortness of breath. do i want a lung function test? she asks. Perhaps also a heart scan?  Damage to heart and lungs are both possible dide effects of chemo. Not this week, I say, perhaps later. Well...

The doc points the right way out of her office, i had turned the wrong way. She makes sure that i find may way back to Deb. Your vision must be really annoying, she says, ah well, I'm learning i say.

As i leave I'm feeling cheered up, that's the real reason i visit this GP, i always leave feeling cheerful.

i mention heart and lung tests to Deb. past 70 and you need a doctor to sign that you are fit to walk the Routeburn Track in NZ. What are the chances, i ask. We could do it says Deb... Oh.

i walk back into the surgery. ask if i can have a referral for a heart test and a lung test. oh, i forgot, Deb had asked me to ask the doc if she would sign off on us (me) walking in NZ, that's when the GP said no, not without heart and lung tests. so, guess I'll have the tests... if i pass then we are a step closer to New Zealand :-)

Back home, we get me in line for tests. both would be at Murdoch, an hour's journey either way. or almost makes me sympathetic to people who live out of the city.

I'm now booked in for my next MRI, August, a heart scan in August, and waiting for a lung function test... some time in the far future.

I'm glad that Deb is considering a holiday as far ahead as November. that's the next NZ hiking season.

so. scanning and planning :-)

===

okay. the new tablet is no worse, for typing, with a lot of correcting, than the old :-)

--

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper ... Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved === "I have seen the TRUTH -- and my chains have been broken" … Thrall === Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

live longer

fail the flamingo test and you will be dead within a decade...

That is, can you stand on one foot for ten seconds? no? then you will probably be dead within ten years... according to research.

so I stand on one leg - and struggle to reach ten seconds... uh oh.

then i move off the rough shag pile carpet. onto the hard level lino... and can stand for ten... fifteen seconds. Phew! looking good :-)

relativity

Every so often I am reminded that my own problems are -- relatively -- trivial.

This morning I phone my favourite aunt. I tell her the results of my latest scan: not really good but not bad. ie Carry on as ever.

My aunt has had some problems: medical issues in her family, that sort of thing. Today, after a bit of general chat she tells me that another family member is ill. It's the sort of story that causes her to end our chat because she is crying.

I'm upset. I go round the lake, as I do when I'm upset.

I am able to go round the lake. I'm terminal but not actually dying. I get miserable. I'm still active, fit and healthy enough. I have no symptoms, only side-effects of treatment. Plus lack of fitness due to being too lazy to exercise.

I'm living so long and so well that it's almost embarrassing.

Everyone dies. My death is promised to be sooner that I would like. Meanwhile, I am very well. Deb and the rest of our family are well.

My problems are so very trivial

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ... Saint Augustine

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

phew

It's been raining overnight but is fine as we start walking. Cold but fine. Later, it rains. Just drizzle. Barely enough to need a raincoat.

Deb navigates. I try to follow on the map. It's hopeless, trying just annoys me. So I tear up my map and follow Deb. No worries :-)

We're back at the hash house by 5:30. There's food but we are not ready to eat, we take a drink and a cheesie.

We've walked 19.5km in 5.5 hours. Enough... okay, we'll be back for a short walk tomorrow.

We drive home (to our rented cottage) in the dark. We have two GPSs to follow. Google wants us to go to Cuballing (a small spot on any map) then circle the "town" and head back. Hema wants us to go 80km off the beaten track. I can explain both but we just laugh and go our own way.

We get home. Have light dinner, hot showers oh bliss and relax.

Phew!

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper

Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


As Conan says: What does not kill you
does not kill you

rogaine weekend

We drive south for the weekend.

We stop for fuel, toilets and snacks. The toilets are out of order. Sorry for the inconvenience, says the sign :-)

Have a good weekend, says the proprietor. it's raining.

We're in Wandering for a rogaine. We arrive just as the rain gets heavier. The rain sets in. somewhere between soaking and drenching.

Not to worry... we are staying in a warm and cosy cottage. 

Next day. Another couple of hours before we have to get out to Dryandra for the rogaine.

The cottage comes with bread and eggs, we have boiled eggs for breakfast. outside, the rain is just occasional showers. Rogainers camping at Dryandra are probably glad the the rain clouds keep the weather from being too cold. rofl...

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


As Conan says: What does not kill you
does not kill you

scan results -- uncertain

Typical: We've been waiting a week for an electrician. Finally, he'll be here in fifteen minutes -- but we have to go see the cancer doc.

I tell Deb she could see the doc while I wait for the electrician, Deb says no.

There's no real point in my seeing the doc. Whatever she suggests, I say Yes. If she has nothing to suggest then I do nothing.

Deb doesn't accept my logic. So we both see the doc, I cancel the electrician.

Now I'm sitting in semi-dark, wishing I had a better sight of the keyboard.

The news from the doc is -- about the same as for the last scan.

There are areas of damage, well-known, no change from the last scan. That's a case of "no news is good news"... read that as a positive comment :-)

The last scan showed two spots (5mm across?) which could be new cancer. If they grow then... it's bad news.

Well... they have grown. How much? No idea. The doc is very weak on solid numbers. Speaking of which:

It's the usual story. If I have new symptoms then that's a bad sign.

What symptoms? I ask (as usual). For example, I ask, does that part of my brain control my left leg? If my left leg starts to kick is that a symptom of damage?

We finally nail her down. No, that is the vision part of the brain, so beware of changes -- more changes -- to vision.

Has my vision got worse? she asks.

Well. Expletive deleted. She has never even suggested a quantitative measure of my loss of vision. I did once manage to argue Deb into watching -- and remembering -- where my vision cuts out. (We've forgotten the results.) The doc said, oooh, so your peripheral vision stops there... but no attempt at a real measure.

So now she wants to know, has my vision got worse.

 .Asking me. I didn't notice when it first went. Until Deb told me that I was driving too close to parked cars.

Anyway. If the spots were tumours then they should be drawing in extra blood, a growing tumour needs food. No sign of extra blood flow. So... it may not be tumours.

So I'm lined up for another scan... to see if anything is changing. In a show of pessimism, the doc wants the next scan in two months instead of three.

And that's it. Something growing on my brain. Not growing enough for immediate treatment. Still on watch and wait.

While I can't see any new symptoms -- that's good news :-(

Actually there is a positive side to this:

It's like my asthma. Ventolin no longer makes a difference, so I don't need to remember to use Ventolin.

Similarly: All cancer treatment options have been tried. And reached the limit of their possible effective use. (Except for surgery -- if/when there is a definite tumour.) Okay, perhaps chemo can be restarted; as a guineapig measure.

There is no available useful treatment. So... I can relax. With no worry about whether or not any treatment will help. And that's something to be glad about :-)

So we carry on as usual. For another two months, Or until symptoms change...

Ignorance is... rather stressful bliss.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ... Saint Augustine

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

still here

I've been quiet for a while. Not to worry... it's a case of can't-be-bothered.

There's a whole lot of stuff that I should -- or could -- be doing but I just can't be bothered.

Physically I'm fine. Still going round the lake once or twice a week. (8km, takes me 1.5 hours.)

Today is typical: I'm sitting at home. Feeling miserable. Drag myself up and out the door, go round the lake. I enjoy it. And it's a lot better than sitting round all day.

Day by day I enjoy life. I can't shake the thought that I have terminal cancer. Puts a real pall on my day. Still...

I've passed seventy years old! So old! (With no apologies to all the people who are even older :-) Doesn't actually feel any older.

Deb and I spend Sunday morning on a trail run. We each win our class: at our age the competition stays in bed on Sundays. Especially rainy Sundays... We ran, finished, returned to the car -- and drove home in the rain... good timing :-)

Going back a week: 

Orienteering over several days, on a farm near Brookton. So Deb and I spend a night in Brookton, with orienteering before and after. We are fresh and rested from our night in a warm & comfy chalet (others camped, it's 6C in the morning. We win our event. It helps that we are the only ones who do that course on each day.

We have Sunday dinner at the only pub in town which serves dinner. It's a full house for roast. The only choice is, large plate or small. And it's delicious. We call it "my birthday dinner". Just the two of us. Very nice, a romantic pub meal :-)

I've had trouble with my old Android tablet. It's older than this blog, it's been round the world, round WA, I type most blog posts on it.

It's underpowered, can't fit new apps, sometimes locks up. I tossed it across the room, power switch is now a bit loose, otherwise it's fine.

So I bought a brand-new Apple tablet. It's a pile of crap. It wants me to change the way I "work", to suit its software.

Speaking of software: I accidentally touched the screen and deleted an entire document. And I tried an online course, tried an obvious option -- and lost all access to the course.

My son has sorted out some problems.

For example: If my mobile phone rings then the tablet also rings. Really? If I can't be bothered answering the phone then no way am I going to answer the tablet. So that "feature" is now stopped. Just as well... another app wants to use the microphone but I can't get any microphone to work... which would make it difficult to answer a phone call.

Oh. And, along with every new Apple tablet -- every so often it locks up. And eventually restarts.

Sometimes it stops and claims to be too hot. In winter.

The old tablet is well past its use-by date. The new tablet is back in its box in a cupboard. I'm already depressed. I don't need a crap device which also makes me angry.

Having unburdened myself, I always like to end a post on a positive note. So...

That document that I deleted. I can recreate it on the PC. That's the device with a real keyboard. And a screen that I can touch and the worst that happens is that the screen gets dirty.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ... Saint Augustine

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)