Defragging my internal hard drive

Defraggng my internal hard drive
Yes, I know that it is impossible to defragment one’s mind. I look at this concept as a way to clear odd and now irrelevant ideas from my mind. I do this periodically; I think it helps me.

I was opening some mail after I returned home from school yesterday. I had let the mail pile up. I had a letter from an insurance company that threatened to stop sending me unsolicited and unwanted mail unless I responded immediately to their final letter. The only thought that crossed my mind as I tore the unopened letter apart was that the insurance company keeps its promise and doesn’t write me anymore.

The blog had a visitor from Chunky, Mississippi this past week. I was struck by the potential of the humor that might occur if you lived in Chunky. What if you were somewhat overweight and lives there?

For the record, I am slowing losing weight. I weighed 184.5 pounds on Friday morning after my shower. It has been easy for me to lose some weight; I eat smaller portions and I don’t consume as much sweets with their empty calories as I once used to do.

I stopped at Giuliano’s on my way home from school yesterday; Erica took my order for a large sandwich and a chocolate brownie. At one time in my life, I would have consumed the entire sandwich in one meal; now, I will take four meals to finish it off.

For the last month or so, I have been eating Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine dinners. I won’t argue the fact the dinners are frozen and microwavable and probably do not taste as well as a freshly prepared meal would taste. They are relatively low in calories so that I can get out of dinner with about 600 to 700 calories; I usually have a small salad with the main meal.

Last week, the blog had 180 visitors including one from Chunky, Mississippi, who viewed 214 unique pages. I do appreciate all of you who stop by the blog.

One of my former students sent me an email this week asking for help in how to properly cite a United States Supreme Court decision on a paper that she was writing. I will admit that I had to look the proper method up in my Publication Guide because Supreme Court cases do not usually appear in business school dissertations. I sent her the answer about two hours after I received her request. She thanked me when she saw me at school.

It does feel nice to be helpful and appreciated.

My drive to school on Saturday was epic. The roads were almost empty of slow moving traffic; that is such a joy to be able to drive at full speed. The five or six days of ran washed all of the oil and other stuff off of the road surface so the traction was great; I took some turns faster than I normally would have and the Prelude held its grip of the road perfectly. Granted, I was driving east into the rising sun. The sky was clear and close to cloudless so I was very glad to have my Bausch & Lomb sunglasses on yesterday.


I took this photo of our local mountains this morning. It is not the best photo of snowy mountains because my camera is an older model and the mountains are about forty or fifty miles away. The series of rainstorms probably dumped five or six inches of rain on the area and left several feet of snow in the mountains. It was a good start at ending the drought that has hit Southern California.

I don’t think I am going to be doing in the next week or so because of the scheduled surgery and recovery. I will be back when I feel better.


Be well and stay happy.

Earthquakes, Fires, Floods, Mudslides, Drought and now Tornados

Earthquakes, Fires, Floods, Mudslides, Drought, and now Tornados
I thought I had lived through all that Mother Nature could toss at Southern California. I have been here for every major earthquake since 1952. I thought I had seen it all.

Yesterday, a tornado or tornados struck the Orange County coast; none were near Doug. Compared to tornados that strike our Midwest, our tornado was a minor one; an overturned SUV, some roofs blown off, some boats blown out of the water, and some damage to homes. I don’t think there was any damage to trailers or mobile homes.

Of course, there was thunder and lightning. There was what seemed to be a large strike that was about two miles from the building.

This was all from the weakest of the three storms that are supposed to roll across Southern California for the next few days.

It is raining again. I heard some thunder but I think the lightning strike was fairly far away because I didn’t see any light flash.

Driving to class was a nightmare yesterday because a tractor trailer rig crashed and blocked four lanes on the freeway at the beginning of the afternoon commute. There was only one lane open and traffic was rapidly backing up. I exited the freeway as soon as I could and took alternate routes to get around the accident.

That was no fun at all.

I expect the drive to school tonight will be worse. How much worse is open to question. I will be leaving on the early side for school though.

On the plus side, my third hospital book arrived yesterday so I am set for reading while I am recovering.


Be well and stay happy.

Writing in the Rain

Writing in the rain
I am not actually writing in the rain. That would be silly for so many reasons. First, I would probably develop a case of pneumonia and that would cause my surgery to be put off for some undetermined time. Second, the new Lenovo T500 laptop would get soaked. I know that water and electronic equipment do not play well together.

I ducked out of the flat this morning to run a few errands. Rain began again as I was out. I heard some thunder as I went into my building at the end of the trip.

I am not looking forward to the drive to school tonight. It will be long and on the messy side. Southern California drivers, as a rule, do not drive well in adverse conditions like wet pavements.

Yesterday and today are shaping up as days when former students, co-workers and current students are phoning or emailing me.

Two current students emailed me last night about getting some extra tutoring in one of my Project Management courses. This is not the best time for tutoring since I am going into the hospital on the 27th for surgery. I gave them a couple of days when I will be at school.

One of my former students asked me how to properly cite a United States Supreme Court decision for a paper she was writing. This was relatively easy to help her.

Then, I had a former co-worker call me and ask for help on how to prepare a motion for his credit union’s board of directors. It seems the examiners would like to see more detail in the reports and minutes. I gave him a couple of solutions for the board of directors’ reports that should work for him and a suggestion on how to increase his income without taking on any undue risk or asset liability management problems from the examiners.

ethel’s Chocolates sent me an email saying the candy I had ordered for Molly, Natalie, and Rachel will be delivered on Thursday. That should make them happy.


Be well and stay happy.

My hands seem to be better

My hands seem to be better
I was looking at my hands this morning while I waited for the toaster to brown the muffins inside of it. Based on a quick once over, non-professional look, they seem to be better.

Of course, Natalie would be able to tell me more accurately; she is studying to become an esthetician. Natalie told me that an esthetician works with a person on the condition of their skin and how to improve it.

She could probably do a term paper on my hands.

The current widely recommended H1N1 influenza treatment plan of washing your hands regularly in hot, soapy water plays havoc with my skin. The washing seems to accentuate the drying and cracking processes.

By my count, I have been off of Xeloda now for three weeks.

Excellent.

I still have my symptoms of peripheral neuropathy in my toes and heels. It feels like I am walking with pads on my toes and heels. The feeling seems to be going away. The peripheral neuropathy began two years ago when I was taking a combination of Xeloda and Oxaliplatin for my cancer drug therapy.

I did my full tour of duty, eight cycles, with the Oxaliplatin and I can truly say that I do not miss the drug. I am extremely happy that I was able to endure the treatment because it helped kill off the cancer cells. One of its most pronounced side affects is an extreme sensitivity to cold; obviously taking it in even what passes for Winter in Southern California was no fun for me. I looked silly driving the Prelude in April with heavy fur lined leather gloves.

Getting ready for the hospital
I spent part of the weekend putting things in order for the hospital stay. I finished up most of my lesson plans and I only have one set of lecture notes to prepare. Then, I need to photocopy the material and put everything in envelops for the substitutes.

I have resisted the temptation to read one of my new books. I started to read Lords of the Sea before I knew that I was scheduled for surgery.

Planning ahead, I ordered the candy for St. Valentine’s Day. I expect that it will be delivered before February 14th but I do not believe anyone will be terrible upset about an early delivery.


Be well and stay happy.

Getting ready for the Hospital

Getting ready for the Hospital
I have been busy getting ready for my hospital stay. I have been practicing sleeping on hard or lightly padded surfaces, think hospital beds. I have also focused on the dinning pleasures of broth and jello.

I have not had much success with those ideas. I keep returning to thoughts of much more pleasurable dining experiences like at the L. A. Food Show, the Original Tommy’s Hamburgers, Fatburger, and Morton’s The Steakhouse.

One of my better plans has been to stock up on good books to read. I have two books on hand now and a third should arrive the week before my surgery. Both of the books are histories and were written by academics. I have never been able to finish one of these types of book in a day like I can with a good Clive Cussler or Tom Clancy novel

Excellent; slow reading takes up a lot of time.

One book is about the birth of the Athenian navy and the rise of democracy in ancient Greece. The other book is an alternative view of the fall of the Roman Empire.

The books will help me kill time while I am in the hospital when Doug is not there to visit me. Doug is planning to stay up at my flat while I am in the hospital. This will make it is easy for him to see me and also spend some time with his girl friend.

Perfectomundo.

Everyone is happy.

I wonder if I will be visited by any of the Oncology Clinic nurses.

I guess that I will have to wait and see what develops.


Be well and stay happy.

No More Xeloda

No More Xeloda
I saw Doctor Karen on Friday for our regular, once every three weeks, visit. She asked about my Christmas and the holidays. I said that I received my best and last Christmas gift this past Monday.

Dr. Karen had a surprised look on her face since this was not what she had expected for an answer.

I told her the colorectal surgeons had scheduled me for a colon reconnection at the end of the month.

Apparently Dr. Karen did not know about the procedure scheduling.

“Oh, that’s so wonderful.” Dr. Karen was smiling broadly and very happy. The surgery marks a very significant and positive milestone in my battle with cancer.

The balance of the visit was mostly fun for me. I kidded her about making a house call to visit me for the next regularly scheduled which would be the day after the surgery. I said she could drop by anytime it was convenient for her; I wasn’t going to be going anywhere and I had no other plans for that day.

Dr. Karen giggled.

We also talked, very briefly, about the Poinsettia Bowl. Dr. Karen’s University of California Bears lost to my Utes.

I did manage to be serious during the visit. I asked her what medicine she planned to put me on now. Dr. Karen said that we would talk about that when I had my next in clinic visit with her on February 19th. She had not had time to consider what drug to put me on.

But, Dr. Karen did say the magic words for me, “No more Xeloda.” This was the first time that I have not had to persuade Dr. Karen to not give me a prescription for the drug. I was so happy when I left the clinic on Friday.

I did stop and speak briefly with Nurses Wendy and Vhrunda. Wendy was not a happy nurse because she had missed out on the candy that I dropped off at my December visit; Wendy had been on vacation. Vhrunda just sat at her terminal smiling like a Cheshire cat when Wendy said that she didn’t get any candy. I’m guessing that Vhrunda was not as generous or in the sharing mood when it came to really good chocolate.

I reminded Wendy that St. Valentine’s Day was coming and that I knew there wasn’t any type of chocolate that she and Vhrunda did not like. They both giggled. Wendy gave me a big hug and thanked me for remembering her.

Molly the Stylist and Me
On Wednesday, I had my hair cut. I was about two weeks late in getting it cut. I decided to wait until after the holidays because I knew Molly would be busy with her female clients and parties. I was on break from school and my family doesn’t get very excited about longish hair.

The Princess and the ex-wife both liked my longer hair but did not like the idea of a moustache at all. The both said no to the idea; my ex-wife called in a “lip wrap.” Molly understood that she had been outvoted on the idea of growing another moustache.

We talked about our holidays. Molly had a very successful holiday dinner for her extended family. I was happy for Molly.

Then our conversation drifted on to what type of candy would she and Natalie and Rachel enjoy for St. Valentine’s Day. This caught her without a quick answer. One reason why I like and enjoy having Molly cut my hair is that she is a truly great conversationalist.

I said that, “there isn’t any type of chocolate that you don’t like Molly.”

Molly giggled and said, “Oh Charles.”

I said that I would select a perfect chocolate gift, one that had been previously tested and approved by the Princess.

It would have to be delivered by mail since the next appointment would logically fall on the day I will be discharged from the hospital following the surgery. Having my hair cut was not that high up on my plans.

I will see Molly again in March when I am going to be more ambulatory and energetic.

When I got home from Molly’s salon, I trolled across my favorites list of chocolate vendors’ web sites. Naturally, they all had appropriate gifts. After conferring with my chocolate advisor, the Princess, I selected what should work well for all and result in a short or brief silence at either the Oncology Clinic or Molly’s salon. Eating rich chocolate and talking is difficult because someone might pick the piece you wanted while you were busy talking.

Other Drama in My Life
I somehow managed to pick up a rather nasty sinus cold this past week. Since my immune system has been somewhat compromised by my chemotherapy, it has taken longer to overcome. It should be gone by Monday with any luck.

I spent part of the week finding substitutes for my classes since I will be out from three to four class sessions. All of the instructors I approached were willing to fill in for me; they get to pick up an extra USD$120 for each session.

Visitors
We had a total of 653 visitors during December, a good turnout for the blog. Last week, we had 139 visitors who viewed 188 unique pages. The blog is the second most visited page after January 1, 2007. The blog had a total of 19,253 visitors during 2009.

I do appreciate all of you who stopped by and spent some time at the blog.


Be well and stay happy.

Did my Christmas come early or later?

Did my Christmas come early or late?
I asked Doug whether he thought my Christmas came early or late when we were sitting in the waiting room at the Colorectal Surgery Clinic this morning after my appointment with Nurse Practioner Jacquelyn Marsh.

Jacquelyn had just told us that I was scheduled for a colon reconnection surgical procedure on January 28th. She said that Dr. Kumar would perform and supervise the procedure. Dr. Kumar is the head of the Colorectal Surgery Clinic

This was my first knowledge that I was going to have the procedure. I know that Dr. Karen and I had talked about the procedure off and on over the last eighteen months. We had never had any indication that the surgeons were with us or not and my desire to have the procedure done.

The decision by the oncologists and surgeons to go forward with the procedure means that they are confident that there is a low risk of reoccurrence of the cancer. All of the tests for the last two years have been unable to find any traces of cancer in my body.

The balance of the appointment was sort of anticlimactic for me after her bombshell announcement. Jacquelyn went over the time line and schedule of the procedure. I need to check in the day before the procedure and I suppose try to get used to an uncomfortable hospital bed mattress.

There is one open question. I have two very small lesions on my liver. They have remained the same size since they were discovered in 2007. The doctors have gone back and forth over whether it made sense to remove that portion of my liver or not. Since my liver will grow back, I have always leaned towards having that portion cut out when the surgeons do the reconnection procedure.

Jacquelyn didn’t mention this when she talked about the procedure. I asked why not cut the portion of the liver when I am already open and never have to worry about them again? She said Dr. Kumar was undecided about this aspect of the procedure plan. Jacquelyn said she would speak to Dr. Kumar about the liver resection, I think that’s the proper medical term, later this week.

The only reason to go forward with this approach is that I will be reducing, in my mind anyway, the likelihood of an additional surgical procedure in the future. The fewer times that I have to think about and undergo an operation the better it is for me.

The bottom line for me is that I will no longer have to wear a colostomy bag. I think I will end up with a couple of unused bags but that doesn’t seem like of a concern for me. I will have to check and see if the plastic used to make the bags is recyclable or not. I can’t say that I will miss the bags because I won’t.

Having the reconnection procedure means that Dr. Karen will be taking me off of the Xeloda much sooner than I thought she would.

Excellent.

Maybe my hands will be closer to normal by Christmas this year. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Xeloda, one of its major side affects is an erosion of your fingerprints and severe drying of your palms.

This was an unexpected turn for the better for me and I am so very grateful to the doctors and nurses who have worked to bring this event about.


Be well and stay happy.