morrowlife

Here’s a bunch of peach-colored roses.  I’m not too happy with the composition of this particular Great Art, but the flowers themselves are so beautifully colored that I decided it’s Great Enough Art.  Great Enough Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken at the City of Hope rose garden, previously published on my Facebook page, and part of my famous Garden series.

Pretty good weekend.  We didn’t do much.  LRN4 felt well and continues to get stronger and healthier every day.  Her blood levels are pretty fair.  The white cell count was up just a little this morning, which was a very good sign.  Platelets were low, so she got some this morning.  Other levels seem to be okay, although we forgot to pick up today’s sheet with the actual numbers.  So all we know is that she got platelets, her magnesium was a little low, and her creatinine was a little low.  But the doctor decided the latter two weren’t low enough to warrant any additional treatments.  So it was a normal day.  Can’t complain.

Our doctor is on vacation this week, so we saw another one.  This guy wasn’t our favorite, but we seem to always learn something new from everybody we see.  Today we learned that taste buds usually take about three months to start working again.  So we’re maybe a month out from LRN4 being able to taste things again.  She reports she’s currently able to taste pretty much only vegetables.  What a horrible fate!  Now I know for sure I don’t want to get cancer.

Also, we got something for her poor sore, numb feet.  We’re hopeful it will help reverse things.  Today’s doc said the numbness is a typical side effect of chemo and that if it becomes annoying and painful, it can be treated.  LRN4 said it’s annoying and painful, so he’s treating it.

On Saturday, I started working for real on my iPhone/iPad program.  It’s going frustratingly slowly as I come back up to speed on the development system, including all its many changes since the last program I wrote.  I’ll get there, but it’s kind of rough right now.  There’s a bit of progress so far, at least.  But not much.

And that’s about it for today.  I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: Swedish sausage attack!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s a yellow and pink rose.  As opposed to yesterday’s pink and yellow rose.  Completely different things.  Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken during the same rose garden visit as yesterday’s picture, also previously published on my Facebook feed, and part of my famous Garden series.

Actually, I think yesterday’s rose was more pink-orange, now that I look at it.  What do you think, Loyal Readers?

Welcome to post number eleven hundred!  That’s a lot of posts.  Some of them have been worth reading.  Well, maybe a dozen or so.  Three or four, anyway.  Okay, one.  I’m sure at least one was worth reading.  Maybe not.  I like ’em, at any rate.

Fine day today.  LRN4’s looking and feeling pretty good.  She reports her sore toenail is doing a bit better, while her feet are still somewhat numb and there’s a pretty substantial amount of swelling in her legs and feet.  Although nothing even close to what was happening in her early days in the hospital.  So there’s that.  She’s hoping for improvement in that area after she gets off the ‘roids.  I hope so too.

I finished my class today!  Mission accomplished.  Programming starts tomorrow morning.  I’m pretty excited to finally be making some progress.  We’ll see how I feel after a day of pounding away at it.  But I’ll get it done on schedule.  Working draft: one week from today.

I’m watching [amazon asin=B000FFJYA2&text=The Big Sleep] on TCM tonight.  LRN4 appears to be asleep right now.  Fortunately, not the Big Sleep.  But maybe I should turn out the lights.  Anyway, it’s a very good movie and pretty much the definitive film noir.  And Rotten Tomatoes likes it.  Plus, Bogey and Bacall.  What could be better than that?

LRN16 mentioned that I should get one of the helicopters with my Amazon gift certificate.  LRN4 correctly pointed out that I already have two of them.  And I love my helicopters!  I was specifically referring to quadcopters in my earlier post.  One of them would be fun, I think – they’re supposed to be very stable and easy to fly.  I’d want a good one, though, and I don’t think my budget brings me anywhere near a good one.  Maybe I should just get [amazon asin=B001HA9JOA&text=one of these] instead.  Believe it or not, that was grouped in the “gifts for men” category.  So was [amazon asin=B000SA07AU&text=this].  You know what I always say: one granny with a walker is geriatrics.  Two grannies with walkers are a sport!

And I’d better get to bed.  It’s late.  I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: garlic scam!

See you on Monday.

Here’s a pink and yellow rose.  It was growing in the rose garden here at the City of Hope just the other day.  They have some absolutely beautiful roses in that garden.  Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, previously published on my Facebook account, and part of my famous Garden series.

Fine day today.  As predicted yesterday, LRN29 was here.  She accompanied LRN4 to her clinic and doctor visits, both of which took place in the morning.  I remained here in the Village and worked.  More of which below.  The medical visit appears to have gone well.  LRN4’s steroid intake was reduced yet again.  There’s a good chance that she’ll be completely off them by next week.  If not, the next week for sure.  Unless she’s not, of course.  Getting her off the ‘roids means no more daily clinic visits, a consummation devoutly to be wished.

Let’s see, what other LRN4 news do I have?  Her toe continues to improve, although it’s obviously still hurting.  The doctor didn’t have much to say about it other than that it appears to be improving.  So there’s that.  She and LRN29 stopped at the weekly farmer’s market on their way back to the Village.  LRN4 bought a couple of vegetables and LRN29 bought a couple of bags full of vegetables and other stuff.  Looks like they had a nice time.

My work news: I got my four classes in.  On schedule.  Turns out there are five left, so it will be a slightly longer day.  No deviation from the schedule is authorized.  Programming begins on Saturday.

Following up on my recent musing about how to spend my Amazon gift certificate.  LRN4 correctly noticed a coincidental similarity in all my contemplated items.  Well, here’s another possibility: [amazon asin=B000OEUUG6&text=a flying, screaming monkey]!  What do you think, Loyal Readers?

Or maybe I should just buy [amazon asin=BT00CTOZCE&text=one of these].

We’re watching an interesting movie this evening: [amazon asin=B00005J760&text=Thirteen Days].  According to this Wikipedia article, it’s been very well received.  Also, it lost a lot of money.  As of this writing, Kennedy is just about to make a speech on TV and start the big showdown with the Russkies.  The tension is palpable.  I wonder how it’ll turn out.

Nothing else going on here, so I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: cheeseburger rage!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s a white tree here on the campus of the City of Hope.  Well, the whole tree’s not white.  The leaves look rather green to me.  But the bark is certainly white.  Well, I guess it’s kind of grey.  But that’s white enough for this blog.  Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken here at the City of Hope in beautiful Duarte, California, and part of my famous Garden series.

By the way, my Loyal Readers may be surprised to know that I never retouch my Great Art.  It’s brought to you exactly as it was captured by one of my exclusive cameras.  Any Loyal Readers not surprised by this fact are welcome to submit a comment.  Keep ’em positive, Loyal Readers!

Fine day today.  LRN4 has been feeling pretty good.  I think she still doesn’t see the improvement in herself as well as I do, but she’s coming around.  Our daily series of stair climbs (30 steps at a time in the hospital building after morning clinic visits) still kind of tires her out, but she’s climbing them faster and doing more sets.  Today we did five.  That 150 stairs climbed in just a few minutes.  Take credit where it’s due, LRN4!

Also, she continues to look healthier.  Her muscle tone is gradually coming back and she’s pretty much entirely lost that slightly gaunt look that so many long-term hospital patients get.  Especially the ones going through chemotherapy, radiation, and stem cell transplants.  I’ve even started to detect a few dark-colored hairs growing on her head.  She’s ready to have her hair back, so that’s a good thing.  It’s coming.

Her very sore toe is still draining.  It looked to me like there might be a little blood in the drainage.  Kind of gross, but hopefully not a bad thing.  The PA we saw on Monday had suggested she soak her foot occasionally in water with hydrogen peroxide added, so we did that this evening.  If nothing else, it certainly made it look a lot better.  I’ll suggest it more frequently unless our regular doctor, whom we are visiting tomorrow morning, advises otherwise.

We have a friend here in the Village.  His name is Tom and he and his wife were coming to the clinic at the same time as us every day (they no longer have to go daily; what’s the deal with that?).  His wife is a much stricter caregiver than I am – she won’t let him go to the store or anywhere else off-campus, drive, wear shorts, go anywhere without a mask, etc.  Much of that is sound advice, but LRN4 found out yesterday that they haven’t been to the post-release caregiver briefing we had several weeks before we exited the hospital, where they told us it’s just fine to go places as long as you stay away from crowds.  The crowds pretty much take care of themselves when they see someone with no hair wearing a mask.  Driving is just fine, as far as I can remember.  The shorts and masks are actually a bad idea and a good idea, respectively.  So she has that much right.  But Tom is feeling a bit restricted.  LRN4 suggested the class and he’s very excited about it.  They hold it at least once a month.

LRN29 wasn’t able to make it on Tuesday of this week, so she’s coming tomorrow.  Very kind.  We’re looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.  Since she’ll be here on Thursday, she’ll be able to visit the farmer’s market with us.  Which we enjoy every week.

As discussed yesterday, I made a plan to get some progress made on my education app.  I have felt like I needed to go through some refresher training before I could make much progress with the app, so I’ve been reviewing the 2011 version of the excellent Stanford iOS development course in iTunes U.  Why the 2011 version and not the 2012 version?  I’m glad you asked!  I was about a third of the way through that series before LRN4’s recent little series of events.  Also, I think it’s probably a good idea to check out the iOS 5 version of things before I move to the iOS 6 developments.  Which I need to hurry up and do before the iOS 7 videos come out.  Which should be in just a few more months.  Also, I don’t have the 2012 series downloaded yet, and with the lousy wifi connection we have here at the hospital, it’s going to take many, many days to get it.  So I’m watching the 2011 version, and it appears to have pretty much exactly what I need to know.  So that’s what I’m watching for now.

It’s been taking seemingly forever to get through those classes, though.  There are 26 sessions, most of which are a little more than an hour long.  As of this morning, I had about 12 classes remaining.  So I decided to spend four hours a day finishing this class.  By my reckoning, that means I’ll be done on Friday.  Got my four sessions in today.  I’m committed for Thursday and Friday.  And the first draft of the app will be done next week.

But don’t get me started on watching the 2012 and 2013 WWDC session videos.  There is more absolutely critical content I need to consume than I can possibly find time for.  I despair.

Speaking of which, I checked out three very interesting-looking electronic books from the library last night and I have two weeks to read them all.  Plus, I put a few others on hold and received notifications today on two of those.  Plus, I have four paper (old school!) library books with their own ticking clock.  There just isn’t enough time in the day for this stuff.

Note to people considering learning how to write iOS programs and compete with me.  Do not view this course.  It would be very bad for you.

And that’s about it for today.  I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: corn heist!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s our back yard in Las Vegas.  I’ve been thinking about the house a lot and wishing we could be there.  It’ll happen soon enough, but it’s encouraging to have a look at some pictures every once in a while.  Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken shortly after the back yard was completed, and part of my famous Garden and Las Vegas series.

Desert landscaping can still be a garden.

Quick note.  All the Loyal Readers were here today, plus my mom.  Mom and LRN9 arrived Wednesday night and we got together Thursday morning.  LRN23 and spouse arrived yesterday evening.  We spent the day today visiting, with LRN23 and Sara leaving in the early evening (to drive all the way directly to Tucson – long trip!).  It’s now about 10:30 in the evening and LRN9 and Mom just left after a delightful day.  I loved it all.

They’re here again all day tomorrow and are flying to Orlando Sunday morning.  We may have to think of someplace to go or something to do.  My mom’s not comfortable walking long distances right now, so the day might have to be adjusted accordingly.  Or maybe we’ll just hang around the Village.  Time will tell.

LRN4 is doing very well.  Her white cell count was down some on Thursday, but her doctor seems to think that’s just how these things go.  He’s watching everything very carefully, so I feel like he’ll be on top of anything bad that might happen before it becomes a disaster.  Otherwise, we’re just moving forward and trying not to worry about day-to-day variations in the numbers.  Progress continues.

LRN4 and I have been walking up and down a fairly long staircase in the hospital building every morning after our clinic visit and again sometimes in the evening.  This morning, she graduated from three times up and down to four, so there’s good progress there.  In addition, she’s getting up there faster and with less exhaustion.  I see strengthening every day.  Unfortunately, I can’t say the exact same for myself.  I want to eat Atkins-approved foods, but I’m not, so I’m not getting back down to my starting weight before this mess all started.  Things will continue to normalize and I’ll get there.  Just not as quickly as I probably could.

Haven’t worked the past two days.  I’ll start up again after company leaves.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this extremely rare toilet news: toilet scam!

See you on Monday.