Prognosis - Not Good

I will try to keep this short. I have been alive for 83 years. I probably will not reach 84. Just over a month ago I noticed that I was having pain in places that progressively got worse. An annoying breathing resulted in a trip to the emergency room at Lakeview Hospital. Multiple scans and tests suggested possible cancer of the lung, and I was hospitalized for three days. With no definitive conclusion as to what was wrong, I returned home. A few days later I awoke to a feeling of suffication and Judy called 911. A few minutes after the EMS team administered oxygen they prepared me for transport to the St. Tammany Hospital's emergency center. They promptly added tests and admitted me to the hospital for five more days, most of which were waiting for the growing data to be studied. Then I was released. A few days later, I was once again forced to call 911 due to my worsening breathing problem.This time an oncologist joined the growwing team of doctors, all of whom were pretty sure it was cancer. They also agreed that I had a blood clot travel from my leg to my heart, and then to my lungs where it scatterd into many pieces, thereby causing my breathing issues. Medications were administered to address that problem. The next day the oncologist determined that I had cancer of the esophagus and gastric stomach cancer. It was stage 4 and had probably been active for some time. It had spread to my lympth nodes. They could treat, but not cure it. My oncologist said I may have six months to live with treatment and maybe only three months without it. Without hesitation, I passed on the treatment. My oncologist agreed with my decision and suggested that we call Hospice. The following day we called Hospice and the following day someone came to explain Hospice care to us and get necessary papers signed. By that evening a bag full of comfort drugs were delivered. They were meant to provide only comfort, not cure me. The following day a Hospice nurse came to explain how and when to use the drugs, if needed. Already, I am trilled to have Hospice's help and support. Today, we will receive equipment and devices that help me get around safely to enjoy the days I have left. Meanwhile, my Judy has been a real trooper through this challenge. It is just another reason why I worship her and her equally supportive family. Do I have any regrets in life? Yes, I do. I wish I had learned to play a piano, or guitar, or violin, or even a French Harp. And to create my own music would have been icing on the cake. To all of those who were a part of my life, thank you. I'm a greater person for having known you. We had a lot of good times over the years and I hope some memories remain that will make you smile.

Cancer Raises Its Ugly Head Once Again

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer over twenty years ago.  I had it removed and I've been finc since then.

Today, we got word that I have "Adenocarcinoma." not lymphoma as we first thought after multiple tests, scans, and opinions.  

 By definition, Adenocarcinoma is:"Adenocarcinoma is a type of cancer that starts in the glands that line your organs. These glands secrete mucus and digestive juices." 

It took almost three weeks, three visits to emergency rooms, and one trip via ambulance to get a diagnosis, not to mention eight days in two hospitals with five days in ICU.

I will meet with the oncologist on Tuesday to plan how to treat it.

For now, that's all I have.

Dry Rain

 It must be raining dry water lately  Except for one nice wet rain in the past two weeks, it has been dry.  And HOT!  But the infamous Louisiana humidity has been dropping into the mid-40 % range.  That's good for us humans, but it makes for faster evaporation of anything wet or dependent on wet water.  

Meanwhile, the costly water we have come to know and love must be called upon to feed the grass and other plants that crave it.  However, the mechanical sprinklers that deliver the costly water to the grass began to encounter problems spraying evenly.  It is clearly because some of the grass was interfering with the spray pattern. because the actual spray head does not rise high enough. 

Neighborly suggestions included various types and shapes of protective rings to be placed around the sprinkler heads.  Knowing that the heavy commercial lawn mower would press the rings into the ground and mute their purpose.  But to see if it would help, I came up with these which I cut from a piece of PVC pipe and drove into the ground around the sprinkler head.

The "teeth" allowed me to rotate the device as I pressed downward, thereby cutting away the annoying grass over-growth.  Then I used a rubber mallet to drive the device down to the most effective height.

The first one I tried appears to help but only time will tell.  Otherwise, I will have to dig up the area surrounding the sprinkler head and raise it back up to its proper height.  This is easier, unless it does not solve the problem.  

"Easier" is a good thing.

Mini-Wok Egg Foo Young on the Mini-Egg

 Thanks to our friends, Darian and Lora, we have a Mini Big Green Egg.  We had one for years but gave it to those who bought our house in Texas.  We missed, and now we are trying to catch up on what we missed for the past seven years.  This is what I posted on Facebook this morning.

The Mini Big Green Egg is a favorite to cook on among the various size Big Green Eggs. A few years ago it was so popular that I collected photos of what our Egghead friends were cooking on theirs. It didn't take long before I created seven video-slide-shows with over 100 images each of what some really creative people can cook on their Mini Egg.

But for now, I'll just show what I cooked for dinner last night.

Sweetie said she didn't want anything, so that gave me license to do what I wanted with whatever I could find to cook. But whatever it was going to be had to be cooked in the Mini-Wok and on the Mini Big Green Egg.

Within minutes I had cabbage, Jalapenos and bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, and roughly chopped Jimmy Dean smoked sausage being briefly steamed while the Mini Egg was warming up.

By the time the oil was hot; the steamed stuff was stirred into a couple of well-scrambled eggs and stirred into slurry ready to fry in very hot oil.

It went well, and when I covered the stack of Egg Foo Young with some heated Pork Gravy, I knew it would be good.

It was delicious, and I asked Sweetie if she wanted to try it. She did, and came back for more, saying, “You can cook that again anytime.” And I will.

I took some pictures.

Thank you Darian and Lora.

Mid-Year Approaches

 It is hard to believe that today is the 167th day of the year.  Time flies when you are 83. And by "you" I mean me.  Heck!  I haven't gotten used to February yet, and June is already half over.  At this rate I may make 100 before I know it...  Or the undertaker.

I like to think I'm aging six months at a time.  My reasoning is that when I visit my doctors, they all say, "You're fine, come back in six months."  I take that to mean I can buy items that say "Use by ..... (six months away) and not be wasting my money.

With that said, some projects that needed doing, got done.  No, not by me but by friends who could see and knew how to apply their youth to do it.

The biggest task was the taking down of the Red Maple tree next to The Coop.  It was one of those impossible tasks for us but only a four-hour project for our 'working guests, Lora and Darian,'  We are already getting used to it being gone.  The same is true for the retainer wall, fill dirt, and sod that was made necessary by the tree.  Neighbor Colonel Scott not only designed and did much of the work, he also picked up the tab for it.  It too now looks like it has been there all along.

We're still mulling what to do with the new paved area behind the house.  A couple of comfortable chairs to sit and watch the deer and crows play in the big open field behind our house would be fun.  We're working on it.  It's too hot now.

Another exciting thing that I personally could do myself was to cook on the Mini Big Green Egg that our friends from Galveston gave us.  We had a Mini BGE in Texas but gave it up when we moved here.  I really missed it.  And so far, I've cooked on it multiple times.  I think the Mini Egg has magical powers.  Believe it or not, we now have four Big Green Eggs.

 Finally, we figured out how to turn our old cell phone (it no longer works as a phone) into a walky-talky for when I get lost in the store.  I don't carry a phone anymore.  But I do tend to wander off occasionally as I see something interesting and try to read what it does.  Within seconds, Sweetie is somewhere else and I'm holding something I want to add to the shopping cart.   The good thing is that the walky-talky app works using the store's free WiFi.  No cost to us whatsoever.  And since it is a private communication, I can hold down the speak button and ask, "WHERE YOU AT???"  Yes, it's acceptable English here...

We're both healthy and happy.  What more could we ask for?

Tree No More

 When our house was built in 2017, two Red Maple trees were included in the landscaping.  Both grew fast and one became a problem.  It was too close to The Coop, our outdoor kitchen.  But erosion also started exposing the roots.  And the tree was sapping all the water from the ground, starving the grass and some hedges that we wanted to grow taller.

Our friends from Galveston, Lora and Darian, wanted to come to visit, and Darian said he would take the tree down for us.  Being so close to The Coop and generator, not to mention the fence and other plants, we were hesitant to say yes.  But he insisted that it would not be a problem.

By yesterday afternoon, the tree was down and all the limbs and the trunk were ready to to be taken to a burn pile tomorrow morning.  

It actually looks much better.  Here is a photo of the tree about five months after being planted.  The Coop is being measured for the posts.

This is the tree yesterday before and after being cut down.  Brother-in-law, Allen in shorts, and Clay the Coop Builder in the hat.

The limbs and trunk are headed to the burn pile tomorrow.  

Thaanks Darian, Lora, and Judy for doing all the work.

Birthdays

 Birthdays…

Interesting thing about birthdays – there’s no going back.  But there’s no reason to assume we have to feel older. 

I’m three days into being 83 and nothing has changed from being 82.  Or for that matter, being 79 or 75.  And the clothes that I wore at 75, and even 65, still fit. 

My brain is also functioning well, as evidenced by my continuing desire to learn, to create, to explore, and to be aware of the events going on in the world.  And most of all, challenge my mind with ideas, regardless of the subject or where they take me.  I find this to be one on life’s greatest pleasures:  ‘excitement,’ something I never want to lose.  And when mixed with ‘enthusiasm,’ life is wonderful.

Although it sometimes produces a strong emotion, I can review and assess the merits of complex legal cases before the courts, and form my own opinions as to the proper application of law and justice.  I adjust my opinions when deemed necessary to balance the misapplication of either law or justice, especially when an injustice is obvious. 

My only physical deficiencies are my fading eyesight and my occasional bouts with dizziness and balance.  But I can still see, and the dizziness and balance challenges are never permanent, or even a concern for very long.

I figure the accumulation of aches and pains is probably due to my not religiously performing all of the recommended and scheduled preventive medical suggestions, intaking the proper fuel, not going places and doing things, and being horizontally stationary far more than being vertical and in motion. 

Finally, I accept the fact that I’m on the short list of life.  But I like to think I have some control over when and how the end comes.  I will die with a few regrets and fewer apologies – the most notable being that I never learned to play a musical instrument, and I apologize to those who were forced to listen when I tried. 

As for the greatest of all human traits, Love is by far the driving force of a fulfilling life.  To love and be loved has no boundaries and encompasses everything important in life.  It is the measure of a truly wonderful life.

In other words, I’m okay being me just the way I am right now, and hopefully for a few more birthdays. 

I think my goal now is to simply enjoy the rest of my life.

 

y

I Just Turned 80 (for the third time)

 Yes, another birthday.  83 and a new record for me.  Or as I prefer to count it 70/13.  

Today is the second day of it and I'm as full as a tick from a high birthday lunch with my sister-in-law, Joyce, who was also celebrating her birthday.  Yes, May 8th, just ten years younger,  We both had big lunches yesterday as well, but in separate places.  We carry over birthdays anyway.

I could use a nap right now.  Birthdays wear me out.  All the 'eating' and doing nothing but opening cards and presents, you know...  

Yes, a nap it is.

Retainer Wall Needed for Landscaping Repair

 Even when you live on relatively level ground there's probably going to be some amount of erosion.  And it is not always due to the weather.

In this instance, the erosion is actually outside our property and is mostly due to the heavy and powerful lawn mower used by our HOA's lawn mowing service.  The weight of the mower, combined with the speed of rounding the corner, along with the uplifting power of the mower's blades, literally sucks the dirt out of the ground and blows it in every direction.  The mower's tires push the grass and remaining dirt toward the edge of the corner.  A 30' Red Maple tree will have to be removed because its roots are so exposed that the mower damages them to the point of killing the tree.

That said, we knew we had to do something to stop the problem from worsening, so I spoke to the mower company owner and he agreed to skip the mowing and only use his string-edger until we came up with a plan to fix the problem.

Our neighbor didn't think I should build the simple retainer wall I had in mind, and haul in soil and sod to fix it.  He and my Sweetie thought the work would be too much for me, given my age and poor health, so he decided to do it himself with the help of another younger neighbor but in worse health than me.  And he would pay the costs of doing the job.  Okay by me!  I like that plan.

But as all plans evolve, they change.  Neighbor One was having some pain n his back and legs, and Neighbor Two was out of action.  Another neighbor's wife reminded him that he has heart issues and wears a pacemaker.  So he too was out.

I stepped in, not only with my knowledge, experience, tools, and strength to help Neighbor One build the retainer wall.  And he decided it was best to pay a landscaping service to haul in the fill dirt and sod.  He was right about that.

Ten years ago and owning a pickup truck, I could have knocked out the entire project in one day by myself.  But now it took two old men and some good sense two days to do it.

I took some pictures.

We've Been Busy

Growing older makes doing the "hard stuff" more "impossible" than just "difficult."  At least for me.  But Sweetie keeps at it, and only occasionally asks for my help.  Or, sometimes, help from a neighbor.

The good news is that whatever needs doing, gets done - eventually.

Today seemed to be a good day to clean windows.  Not to make a fuss about it, I just used the window cleaning tool and some spray-on 'streak-free' cleaner that worked quite well, followed by a dry cloth wipedown that left the windows crystal clear.  The outside world looks much nicer now.

Last week, I clay-bared the car.  I had never heard of such a thing until a couple of years ago, and even then I could not believe that a clay-like substance would bring back the shine of a car.  

I had mentioned that I might try it, and he was kind enough to buy me a kit containing the clay-bars and spray-on liquid, along with micro towels.  And just as he said it would, it worked.  I was totally amazed at how well it worked, not to mention how easy it was to apply.  Now our eight-year-old car looks showroom shiny again.

I also pressure-washed the Coop and any other painted areas that were starting to get mold.  There was also a lot of Saraha Desert dusst on everything, not to mention pollen.  Looks great.

I'm, still having a bit of a vision problem, so I have been hesitant to use my tablesaw to make anything out of wood.  But Sweetie asked if I could just make a basic birdhouse without all the frills.  She wanted to cover it with stained glass.  That - I could do, and did quickly, without the loss of blood or body parts.  It felt good to do it, and now that she is applying her stained glass magic to it, I'm sure I could make more.

I see (pun intended) my optometrist this week and will ask her if I need better quality 'reader glasses' than those sold in drugstores.  Maybe I can see better with better glasses. 

So Far, So Good

 So far this year it takes about the same amount of time to answer someone's question, "How you doing?" 

"Great,t and I've got my doctor's okay on it." 

Eight seconds...

It hasn't always been that way.  But one by one, every medical challenge has met with success.  Well, except for some vision issues due to glaucoma, dry-eye, and vision loss. 

I've always liked the phrase, "    He's in full possession of all his faculties". 

I feel like it describes me best as I approach my 83rd birthday in 48 days.

Exactly 64 Years Ago Today I Became A Soldier

Yes, I swore my oath on this very day, sixty-four years ago in the Federal Building in Dallas Texas. I remember it like it was yesterday. A Leap Year, it was.

I was both proud and honored to commit myself to the good of my Country. And I would honor that commitment until I died, whether it be on a battlefield in some God-forsaken place where my blood would make little difference in the world of politics, with all its ugly faces, ill-purposed goals, grandiose dreams, and ego-satisfying bluster, none of which I could understand, much less care about.

By morning, I was awakened on a Greyhound Bus and told to "GET OUT" It was dark, cold, and snowing at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

From that moment on I followed the advice of a friend who had been in the Army. I did nothing except when told to do something. I did not talk unless I was told to talk. I did not move unless I was told to move. And I was not to volunteer for anything, no matter how good it sounded. I felt good having that advice.

I was standing in the snow, wearing thin dress shoes, dress slacks, and a thin cotton dress shirt. I put my hands in my pockets to warm them up. I should not have done that.

A gruff voice with stripes was suddenly blasting words in my face from three inches away. He was saying something about my hands in my pockets and did he tell me to put them in my pockets.

Before I could open my mouth to say something, he was yelling at me to drop to the snow and do some impossible number of pushups, apparently because I did something to anger him.

I dropped to the snow but tried not to go all the way down into the nasty stuff. His boot pressing down on my back clearly indicated that he did not care for my thoughts at the time. I did something over ten (could have been thirty) push ups, and he removed his boot and screamed at me to stand up.

Apparently, I missed the part about me 'snapping' to the standing position without brushing off the snow and black coal soot and something that made it stink.

Then he yelled at me to pick up two baseball-size stones and hold them. They were as cold as the snow, but I instinctively knew NOT to ask the obvious - How Long? He answered it for me.

He ordered me to stand at attention and say, "I WILL NEVER PUT MY HANDS IN MY POCKETS UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO!" 100 times.

That was when I learned to say, "SIR..YES SIR! THANK YOU SIR"

Then I started saying "I will never p....." "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!"

I started again, " I will never put my....." I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!!!"

It was at that moment I grasped the gravity of the situation - He wanted me to hate him so much that given the chance I would not hesitate to kill him and any other SOB that got in my way.

"I WILL NEVER PUT MY HANDS IN MY POCKETS UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO...!"

"I WILL NEVER PUT MY HANDS IN MY POCKETS UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO...!"

"I WILL NEVER PUT MY HANDS IN MY POCKETS UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO...!"

And so on until another gruff voice stopped me. Apparently, I had learned something about the Army.

A few days later my fellow soldiers were on a parade field in uniform, lined up on snow, with M-1 rifles with bayonets afixed going through the motions of thrusting at the invisible enemy, while yelling KILL KILL KILL at the top of our lungs. I could not help but smile.

Now I was not only living up to my oath, but wearing the uniform and being trained to kill the enemy. And I was getting to be pretty damn good at being a Soldier.

I smiled because I was now a real soldier.

64 years ago, and I still think of those rocks every time I put my hands in my pockets, for any reason.

I also think of my oath a lot lately. And I smile. It still works for me.

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Surprse

My ancient desktop computer crashed few months ago.  I got it working again, but it does strange things, some of which pushed me to breaking down and buying another computer.

One of the very annoying things it did was to forbid me from posting or updating my Texas Soring Chicken blog site.  That forced me to start a new blog site - Covngton Spring Chicken.  That forced me to have to switch between the two if I wanted something from the old site.

I've had my latest computer a few weeks and decided to post a link on my new blood site.  When I posted it, I was surprised to see the links show up on my old site instead.  Now I want to merge the two into one - the original blog.  But now that we live forever in Covington, Louisiana, maybe I should merge the old blog into the new one.  

I'm actually typing this to make sure it posts on the old blog site.