I recently hit a rough patch in my treatment.  My latest progression of  cancer has spread to my esophagus and at least one lymph node.  The radiation oncologist proposed 10 sessions of radiation to treat the latest metastases.  The approval process from my insurance company took weeks and involved back-and-forth communication and peer-to-peer discussions between my doctor and the insurance company before the sessions could be scheduled. Radiation treatment was the strangest thing.  I started by going in for a “mapping” or “simulation” session.  During this appoin ..read more

When I was in second grade, I read a book titled, “Fortunately, Unfortunately.”  As I recall, it was a story about a child whose day began with one misadventure which led to another and another and still another.  I don’t remember how it ended, but in the last few weeks, I feel like I could have written my own version of that story. Recent events resulted in my neurologist ordering an MRI of my brain. Fortunately, I was able to schedule a STAT appointment within a few days.  Unfortunately, when I arrived for the appointment, I was told the MRI equipment was down that day.  ..read more

My husband and I consider ourselves to be part Italian.  For many years, he worked with a woman whom we referred to as his “work wife.”  She was Italian and adopted us into her large Italian family.  We were fiercely loved and well fed. There are, as with my Irish ancestors, many types of Italians.  Enter Columbo and Vinny.  Columbo was a rumpled, seemingly inept police lieutenant who investigated murders.  The crime drama television series ran in the 1970s and starred Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo.    Columbo ALWAYS got his man (or his woman).&n ..read more

I grew up attending church and heard all sorts of stories about God.    There were many stories from the Bible about the times God saved one or more of his faithful servants from certain death – Daniel in the lions’ den, the three Hebrew young men who were thrown into a furnace when they refused to bow to the king, Jonah (well, he kind of asked for the trouble he found himself in), and many more.  Those are the Bible stories that end up in children’s books.  An artist portrays colorful drawings showing the saved person with light from heaven shining down on his or her ..read more

A few months ago, my husband and I were driving from San Diego to Bishop to see our kids.  In case you didn’t know we had kids, we were adopted by our son at his tender age of 20-something.  When he met and married the woman of his dreams, we gladly welcomed our new daughter-in-law into our lives.  We are truly blessed by them.  But I digress. The drive to Bishop takes approximately 5 1/2 hours if we time it just right.  If we want to avoid Riverside traffic, we need to leave either very early (before 4 AM) or very late (after 10 PM.)  This time we chose to leave ..read more

I finished graduate school in 1982, earning a master’s degree from the University of Redlands in Communicative Disorders.  I spent those two years living in Loma Linda, California, after four years of college in the Napa Valley.  I remember arriving in Loma Linda in June 1980, and was struck by how brown everything was.  By “everything” I mean the sky, the ground, the buildings – just everything.  The friend who showed my roommate and me around the town said, “You won’t believe it, but there are mountains right there.”  She pointed at a brown wall of haze.  She wa ..read more

I had a visit from a couple of dear friends recently.  A woman who used to be our neighbor sent me a text message asking if she and her daughter could stop by for a visit.  My husband and I hadn’t seen either of them for at least a year – maybe longer.  We responded with a “Yes!” They arrived bearing gifts from a favorite bakery, and we sat on the front porch and visited.  It was so wonderful to catch up with them.  We got to talking about life and death and how fast life is going with no guarantee that we will see tomorrow.  If it sounds like it was a depressing ..read more

Change can be difficult for someone who likes things to be predictable.  I prefer familiar routines, my favorite old movies and books, and grocery stores that don’t rearrange their inventory.  (Where is the toothpaste???  It used to be on aisle 4!  Why would they move it???)  I like the old familiar versions of software programs, even if the newer versions come loaded with new features I will come to appreciate once I know how to use them.  (“Hello, Geek Squad?”) One of my favorite routines was the Christmas party my husband and I hosted every year.  I planne ..read more

It’s funny how a particular song gets stuck in your head.  It gets set on “Re-play”, and it won’t shut off.  Lately that song in my head has been “On and On.”  It was released in May 1977 by Stephen Bishop.  If you’ve heard the song, you’ll understand why some days just feel like those lyrics. I remember, as a child, when someone I knew died.  It’s funny that I can’t remember exactly who it was.  I think it was my grandfather.  I do remember being driven somewhere in my mother’s car and hearing  music  playing on the car radio.  I distinctly re ..read more

October has arrived.  It’s the time of Halloween decorations, pumpkin spice lattes, and hopefully cooler weather.  We pull out our home décor items with Fall colors of red, orange, and brown.  We walk past the candy aisles in the stores and wonder if it’s too soon to start buying Halloween candy. October also means we are going to be inundated with all things pink.  National Breast Cancer Awareness Month dates back to October 1985.  It was originally intended to raise awareness of breast cancer and to encourage screening through mammography and self-exams.  Pink h ..read more