Initial surgeon appointment changed

I had a call from the surgeon's office this morning. My initial appointment has been changed to Tuesday, Oct. 2 in the early evening. That's a few days earlier than had been originally planned. I'll need to start writing down my questions now so I don't forget to ask anything.

A day in the mountains

We had a spectacular day yesterday. We started the day in Rocky Mountain National Park hiking a trail that begins at Bear Lake, passes Nymph Lake and Dream Lake and ends at Emerald Lake. The weather was perfect and this happens to have been the best weekend for viewing the yellow aspen leaves. The hike was several miles. We started high up and climbed a total of about 600 feet to somewhere around 10,000 feet. The air was beautifully clear and the views were amazing. After that we took a drive up the Old Fall River Road to the visitors center at 12,000 feet and then drove back down Trail Ridge Road to Estes Park for dinner. A great day. I'm including two photos.

One is a picture of Long's Peak from the Trail. This was the first 'fourteener' that I ever climbed in Colorado. That was several years ago.


The other is a picture of all of us sitting in front of Bear Lake at the end of the hike.


This is being a great trip.

A wonderful day

What a wonderful birthday. The trip to Denver went without a hitch. When we got here they surprised me with lunch and a fabulous present - a hammered dulcimer. I couldn't believe it. I've always wanted to learn to play one. It's beautiful. I was thunderstruck. I cannot describe how lucky I am to have been given the family I have. We're off to dinner now. What a day!

Happy birthday to me

OK, it's official. Midnight has arrived and I am now 50 years old. I'm including a picture that Sharyn sent to me today. Cool, huh?

I'm leaving tomorrow for a trip to Colorado. It's a work trip but I've added some days in advance to visit my sister and brother-in-law who live outside Denver. My two brothers and sister-in-law are coming along to make a birthday celebration out of it. I'm looking forward to it a lot. It will surprise nobody that I'm up late packing, catching up on email, etc. I just finished laundry and should be done with the whole packing chore in another hour or so. There was a birthday surprise gathering for me today at work, too. This has been a great stretch of days! OK, off to polish shoes, fold clothes, check the pack list, write up cat care instructions, blah blah blah. Can't wait until I'm on that plane!

Many kind surprises

Just in case I haven't mentioned it a bazillion times already, my birthday is coming up shortly. I will be 50. I'm OK with this since I don't have to say that I'm OVER 50 until next year. This past weekend I went to a meeting of one of my book groups and also to a small fund-raising dinner for the Maryland Library Association. At both of those I was surprised with cake, wine, and all manner of good wishes. I continue to be astonished by the warmth and kindness of those around me. Knowing these people as I do, this shouldn't have surprised me in the least. Still, the fact that I didn't see it coming made it all the more wonderful.

Surgery scheduled - November 6

OK, I got the call from the surgeon's office first thing this morning. Things are a bit farther in the future than I had hoped but at least it's on the books. Here's the scoop...

I have a clinic appointment with the surgeon on October 5 and the surgery itself is scheduled for November 6. I'll have to have some pre-op testing done but I'll need to work that out through my primary care physician. So, there we have it. There's a possibility that the surgery will be moved up if someone cancels but I can plan for November 6 in the meantime. I'm glad to have this all set up! I'll get more information about the surgery, what's involved and how long the recovery will be when I go in for that October 5 appointment.

Birthday dinner

Mary Lou, Cindy and Sue took me out to dinner last night for my impending 50th birthday. I had a wonderful time - and raked in some good gifts, too. Among other things, they gave me a portable DVD player which was a very welcome present. I'm sure I'll be able to use it. I have already played with it, of course, and it's really cool. Yesterday had been a challenging day at work so this came at a great time. I'm very grateful to them. I'm looking forward to playing with all my new stuff as well!

A positive attitude and two poems about hills

They say that having a positive attitude is important when dealing with this sort of thing. I'm generally fairly good at that. I can tell that it's important for the people around me as well so I'm making an effort to be as positive about this as possible. Some times are more challenging than others. I suppose that's typical.

I was talking yesterday with a friend who has had something similar. We agreed that even the potential for scary news causes you to look at everything with more appreciation and perspective. That is certainly true.

All of this made me think about two poems with similar themes but very different attitudes. I'll include them below. The first is Up-Hill by Christina Rossetti. I learned this one years ago from my friend Kay who recited it from memory. It has a resolute and positive tone. The other is The Long Hill by Sara Teasdale and carries a feeling of fatigue and capitulation. I learned of Sara Teasdale when my friend Nancy recited her poem Wisdom to me from memory. I think I'm doing a good job of it so far but I'm going to work to keep on the Rossetti side of things and keep those Teasdale times to a minimum.

Up-Hill

Does the road wind up-hill all the way?
        Yes, to the very end.
Will the day's journey take the whole long day?
        From morn to night, my friend.

But is there for the night a resting-place?
        A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.
May not the darkness hide it from my face?
        You cannot miss that inn.

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?
        Those who have gone before.
Then must I knock, or call when 'ust in sight?
        They will not keep you standing at that door.

Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
        Of labor you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
        Yea, beds for all who come.

- Christina Rossetti

The Long Hill

I must have passed the crest a while ago
And now I am going down--
Strange to have crossed the crest and not to know,
But the brambles were always catching the hem of my gown.

All the morning I thought how proud I should be
To stand there straight as a queen,
Wrapped in the wind and the sun with the world under me--
But the air was dull, there was little I could have seen.

It was nearly level along the beaten track
And the brambles caught in my gown--
But it's no use now to think of turning back,
The rest of the way will be only going down.

- Sara Teasdale

Chest CT scan video

This is probaby in bad taste but I'm doing it anyway. I had the CD with images of my CT scan and I was curious if I could make them into some sort of animation. I did that this afternoon. I was just going to post an animated image but then it would be playing whenever people loaded this page. Some people might prefer not to see that so the video link seems better. Still, I had never seen one of these and I thought it was interesting.

Anyway. Here's one of the three views of the chest CT scan I had at the end of July. It shows views going from my sternum down through my backbone and my flabby, I mean well-muscled, back.

At this quality it doesn't show any evidence of the tumor. Still, I thought it might be interesting to some. Click the play button if you'd like to view it. Or skip it if you aren't intrested in this level or type of info.!

Document Delivery

I picked up the films yesterday and dropped them off down at Hopkins today. They told me that I should hear something from them Monday or Tuesday. Another Friday arrives and I can go into the weekend knowing that I've made some progress. That's a very good feeling.

On several occasions I've been in places where people have been picking up, carrying or delivering their radiology films. I've sometimes accompanied people who were doing that. It has always struck me to see them forging along to someone that might help them. They seem brave, resolute. They bring out a feeling that's both hopeful and forlorn. Now I'm in the club, too, and from this side it feels pretty much the same way.

On a brighter note. Seton Imaging was able to put my CT scan images on a CD. Of course, I made myself a copy. If I get a chance, I'll see if I can find a way to post some sort of "3-D trip through Jim's torso" animated image. That would be an interesting challenge.

Records roundup

No more news.

Yesterday and today I talked to assorted people trying to get the records that are needed sent to the people who need them in the format that is required. Hopkins needs my medical reports plus my CT scan results. The reports were faxed once but didn't seem to make it. They're being sent again today, I hope. I'll pick up the films tomorrow afternoon and will deliver them to Hopkins on Friday morning. The films will be on CD - I hope - but Seton Imaging couldn't verify for me whether or not they'd be in DICOM format. That would be compatible with the system that Hopkins uses in their operating rooms. So far all the appointments, discussions, tests and reports might not have been good news but they all went well. This is the first red-tape style roadblock I've hit. I guess that's better luck than average.