Category: Daily life

The Cancer Diaries, Part 17

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Well, it has begun. Today I drove to RVH for my first radiation treatment session, the third stage of my treatment. One hundred forty-one days since my prostate surgery, and roughly 290 since I was first advised of my dangerously elevated PSA level. This is the first of approximately seven weeks of sessions, one every weekday. I have to admit I was somewhat anxious about it when I left home. Going through something for the first time can do that, and, of course, having cancer … click below for more ↓

Still Watching the Three Stooges

Culture / Daily life / Film & Reviews / Humour & Satire / Personal Reminiscences / TVLeave a comment

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There’s a bittersweet pleasure in watching the Three Stooges these days, knowing about them, their careers, their lives. What seems like zany comedy on screen was, like so many celebrity stories, much more complex, contentious, and even tragic at times. But there’s also an insuppressible joy in their work that keeps drawing me back to watch more. Moe, Larry, and Curly (and Shemp) will always bring a smile to my face. The subsequent replacements for Curly sometimes will, too, although not as often. And with … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 16

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Yesterday, I went for my second bone density scan — aka bone densitometry or dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry — the one that had been planned, but scheduled then delayed twice previously. My first bone scan, like my first CT scan, was done in June, before my surgery. This one was ordered by the oncologist prior to my radiation treatment. Bone density scans are used for many types of diagnoses, including measuring bone loss and osteoporosis, but also to detect the spread of cancer cells. My previous … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 15

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“… my only object was that all the world should enjoy itself and live in peace and quiet, without quarrels or troubles; but my good intentions were unavailing to save me from going where I never expect to come back from, with this weight of years upon me and a urinary ailment that never gives me a moment’s ease…” Miguel de Cervantes: Don Quixote of La Mancha, chap. 22 I was listening to an audiobook of Don Quixote while driving to the hospital recently, and … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 14

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More back and forth to RVH, this time for another CT scan today. I arrived early, as usual, and then spent most of my time there waiting and reading. Not as long as I’ve had to wait in the past, but still a lot longer than the process itself. Like I always tell people: bring a book. Or books. You remember me writing last post about a mixed-up bone density scan I was supposed to have last Wednesday? Well, by Monday morning, I hadn’t been … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 13

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It’s been an emotional, roller-coaster week for me (if you’ll pardon the cliché…). Back and forth to Barrie for consultations, scans, and tests, more blood work, phone consultations with doctors and hospital social services staff, schedules set, schedules changed, confusion over medication, appointments upset. All in all a rather trying time. Prior to my next stage of treatment — radiation — the oncologist told me I needed another blood test (for PSA levels: even without a prostate the cancer cells produce the prostate serum, remaining … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 12

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Well, that was easy. Relatively, so. Last Monday I got to remove my catheter all by myself. Not the sort of thing one looks forward to — doing the removing, that is — but I was looking forward to having it gone and able to go back to some normality in my daily life. While I have grown somewhat adept at wearing, caring for, and changing the urine bag, it certainly isn’t something one wants over a long time. Actually, it was quite easy and … click below for more ↓

Back to Montaigne

Aging / Books & Reviews / Daily life / Personal Reminiscences / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

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When I find myself in times of trouble, I go back to read Montaigne. Seeking words of wisdom, Read some more… (to the tune of Let It Be, with apologies to the Beatles) I was up late these last few nights reading Michel de Montaigne into the wee, dark hours. Although I used to read him rather frequently and found him an inspiration for several posts, some years back, I hadn’t picked him up in ages. But a passing mention in Sterne’s Tristam Shandy made … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 11

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Anaesthetic must be one of the most remarkable inventions of the 20th century. While various forms of anaesthesia have been used since the ancient Egyptians (with varying degrees of effectiveness), it really wasn’t perfected  until the last century. It’s difficult to imagine the horrors of surgery before it became commonly used and as effective as it is today. Here I was, lying on a table in the operating room, Thursday morning, being covered with a warm blanket by one nurse, while another nurse held a … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 10

Cancer / Daily life / Family history / Health & Medicine / Musings / Personal Reminiscences3 Comments

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My father died of esophageal cancer several years ago. It was a horrible, lingering death, and I watched him shrivel and die, in constant pain towards the end. On one of my last visits to his bedside, he asked me whether I thought it was better to die with the full knowledge of what was happening to you, or to be unaware. It was a startling, unexpected question. My father and I had had few, if any, philosophical discussions in our lives together. Without giving … click below for more ↓

It’s *NOT* Junk Mail

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I recognize that we all like to apply labels to categorize things, as shorthand in communication and in conversation, and to identify common views and beliefs. I do it myself; we all do: labels are our everyday metaphors. They are fast and easy shortcuts. But I weary at times of trying to explain to people that the unsolicited material they get in their mailboxes several times a week is not simply “junk” mail to be tossed into the recycling bin without another thought. Or worse: … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 9

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Well, I suppose it’s a good news/bad news story for this post, although I dearly wish it was better. Would that I could have put it all behind me, finished my recovery, and moved on. Not to be: I receive comfort like cold porridge (to quote from The Tempest). Still, I came away from my consultation with at least some sense of relief: after all, it might have been much worse. The anxiety of waiting for the results was far more stressful than actually hearing … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, part 8

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Diseases desperate grown By desperate appliance are relieved, Or not at all. Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act 4 Sc. 3 Those Kegel exercises sure work. I had my doubts at first, but I stand as living proof they are effective. My pelvic muscles could probably lift a car — well, whenever the doctor tells me I can start lifting things again, that is. And my anus can clench more tightly than a conservative’s when he is confronted by a liberal suggestion to raise the minimum wage to … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 7

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I don’t want readers to think I’m being narcissistic in writing these posts about my cancer or how it has affected me. Sure, I can be accused of being all sorts of things for writing my other posts, and a narcissist is the least of them. I’m sharing these because I felt — I hoped —others might benefit from my experiences: men and their partners. I think partners (be they men or women) should be as fully informed and engaged about what happens and what … click below for more ↓

The Cancer Diaries, Part 6

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I’m sitting here, on my back deck, in the late Friday afternoon, beside Susan, trying to take stock of my life over a glass of wine, and read a bit while the light’s still good. I’m 30 days past my surgery and recovering reasonably well, but still three weeks away from my next set of tests, and almost four until I sit down with the urologist and learn if I still have cancer. And what happens next. All the rest of my life is on … click below for more ↓

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