Roommates

Thought I’d talk about the Comprehensive Cancer Center, where I spend most of every Monday and Thursday.

Dale at Caner Center - Note Terry in Mirror

Most treatment rooms there feature two beds with two visitor chairs (along with all the medical paraphernalia). This has the potential to be pretty funky, but we’ve had good luck. Most of the time we’ll strike up a conversation with the other patient / spouse-sibling-friend duo. We compare tales of woe and “war stories” about our medical situation, discuss family cancer history, chat about aspects of our beloved Berkeley (gardens, history, restaurants, bakeries, street characters, current state of repairs on Chez Panisse etc), and get into stories of others with similar medical problems, usually balanced between the negative and the positive. The nurses and doctors get involved and it often evolves into a reasonably pleasant morning or afternoon, with a portion of the participants happening to have tubes running from them into beeping machines. Patients are given a “bye” to fade into and out of paying attention and take a quick nap as needed.

It’s not an interaction I envisioned six months ago, but it’s a societal gathering that helps pass the time better than expected.

Things are going along. My spirits are not quite soaring, but they see the light at the end of the tunnel and enjoy what they can, as described in the first paragraph. Maintaining weight is a constant fight. I dipped down to 124, but it seems I’ve perhaps stabilized in the high 120s. If I can push into the high 130s, I’d be happy. I’ve been walking around the block okay, so hopefully my body is not “eating” muscle mass to keep going.

I’m still sleeping (or hanging in that in between state), reading, listening to music, playing guitar and watching sports. Same old new reality. 

The new car issue discussed in “Retail Therapy” will soon happen. Stay tuned.