My New World
My New World #14: My Patient Voice
Recently, I was asked by my doctor, Dr. Wolff, to speak at a national symposium on pancreatic cancer at M.D. Anderson. The audience were researchers presenting papers on their latest projects, and, although I didn’t stay ’til the end of the day, Dr. Allison, M.D. Anderson’s Nobel Prize winner, concluded the conference. I wish I […]
My New World #13: Happy 2019!
A very Happy 2019! While it’s been a long time since I posted on my blog, the New Year has been good for me. My life has settled into an every other week chemo routine, and the treatments have been very effective. My little monsters have not grown and seem to be resting: they’re not […]
My New World # 12: Celebrations and Tribulations
I have a wonderful feeling of accomplishment in achieving my two goals: In April, I made it a year (50% don’t), and then celebrated my 81st birthday in June. I spoke words of appreciation to my doc about getting me this far, and I believe it has been one of my best years, I think, […]
My New World # 11: Spring Forward
SPRING HAS SPRUNG: It has been a very frosty winter for Houston, and our landscapes are littered with dead sago palms and other tropicals. Nevertheless, spring is beautiful this year as some plants seem to have benefited from the cold weather, the azaleas are stunning. And like me, for example. My frosty winter is turning […]
My New World: # 10
A TMI Health Update: As you know, I have been taking chemotherapy every other week for the last ten months. It’s been very good, my new normal, but after my last evaluation, we discovered that the tumors are growing a little again. This calls for a new strategy and an eight week round of two […]
Groundhog Day Revisited
Almost everyone knows about Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog in a small Pennsylvania town who predicts the weather each Spring. If he sees his shadow, he runs back into his burrow for six more weeks of winter. This centuries old tradition comes from German folklore that holds that many animals can predict the weather and that […]
My New World #9: The Season of Friends & Family
It’s been a long interval between my posts as the trifecta of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are upon us all. My favorite time of the year, I suppose. I love Jitterbug’s joy at Halloween as she anticipates and greets the children most enthusiastically at the words, “Trick or Treat!” She, of course, understands that phrase to […]
My New World # 8: THANKFULNESS
May I take back all my petty complaints from my last post (Everything’s Breaking Down (Except Me )? Now, so much THANKFULNESS: JITTERBUG has recovered from her bout of severe pancreatitis and has adjusted to the meds which control her Addison’s Disease. Before, during, and after Hurricane Harvey, she was a very, very sick dog and […]
My New World #7: Everything is Breaking Down (Except Me)
Let me say first, that my tests yesterday showed good progress and no new growth; however, I am about the only good news in my world this week. Most distressing is the illness of our little Jitterbug. She has been in the hospital for almost a week, and poor baby is very sick. Her blood […]
My New World # 15: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
PanCan: The Purple Stride I am so very, very grateful for the 200 plus of you who donated to my Purple Stride campaign. We exceeded our $5000 goal but did not meet our goal of 500@ $10 each. However, due to your incredible generosity, PanCan received their full donation plus. This was my poster with […]