Another Day... (Update at end)

[DDT (12)]

Another Day…

More relieved than reassured, I had my initial looksee outside for weather conditions on my first morning away from home this time… Often those conditions are different than I’d come to expect, forecasts being what they are… This time, however, those drama pronouncements had been pretty much on the mark, and the appropriateness of my subsequent choices were happily affirmed… more or less.  Glad I wasn’t going to be riding/driving in any of that… sad I could not be riding in the first place… That was not even the fault of weather, either, as a matter of fact…

I could make out a hint of ‘rust’ on the eastern horizon, but that was very modest and not direct… Just a slight glow penetrating through a thin stretch of an otherwise rather heavy layer of visible atmospheric moisture suspended in the stratosphere… Had I been traveling with our girl; this would have been the time for me to call the front desk and arrange for staying another night…

Talk about forecasts! As is all too common, today’s forecast for this area of south/central Alabama, for central Florida, and for everything in between had been somewhat different each day with each unexpected change in condition variables… With the result being, again as is common, the actual weather on a particular date differing rather significantly from what the forecast of a week before had been.

Heck, I hadn’t even made the call to actually drive up yesterday until 8:30am or so yesterday morning. Not the forecasters fault, of course, but not making those advanced predictions completely reliable either… In the end, we must typically cross our fingers and roll the dice when we get right down to KSU or the fastening of a seatbelt.

Well, forecasts are still important to this sissy rider/driver in any event, in that I’m simply not fond of traveling and/or sharing the road with idiots on slick surfaces, plus I don’t particularly enjoy any of the other inconveniences of dealing with falling precip. (Example: I again left my umbrella home… Now I’m going to have to go find yet another, so I can later add it to the collection…)

The clouds continued to thicken and to darken even more… Whoa…! On a subsequent looksee, the roads had suddenly become rather wet, as well! Not a desired call to leave Sunday in the cage on a one-day trek for a Tuesday appointment, but for my money an appropriate one all things considered for sure… Better, I’ve found, to observe that damp phenomenon than to immerse oneself in it…

I have another follow-up doctor visit tomorrow… Having arrived a day early, I’m left with an entire day to fill up with some sort of mental atrophy-avoiding activity. Well, having so many friends is yet again paying off handsomely for this luckier than he is good bike wanderer… Some of my local buds are meeting me for lunch at Jan’s place this very day… I’d be willing bet no modest sum that a party this evening will be one of the several likely outcomes from this midday meal meeting… Reckon?

Another pastime… Since I’ve stayed here in this motel many times over the years, I’ve become casually acquainted with many of the long-term employees. A really nice and always cheerful desk clerk was on duty this morning, so… A pleasant conversation was had with the not busy person who also was happy to ‘renew’ my room keys, as the person checking me in the afternoon before had apparently set me up for one night and not all three I plan to be here… Funny, isn’t it, how a seemingly annoying incident can turn out to be so nice…

To name but one more activity fortuitously available is the gazing at the row of beautiful trees just beginning their annual contribution to the delight of locals… I don’t know what species of tree they are, but… The memories of others I’ve seen in full bloom do allow my imagination to have a grand time with possibilities and to recollecting times in northern Virginia and in Georgia discovering the cherry blossom treat, or to accidentally stumbling upon those Bradford Pears I caught at peak in Oklahoma City once upon a time… Not a bad way at all to spend an otherwise dreary day… Yes sir, I am indeed proud to be here…

Early stage of the blossoming of trees between our motel parking lot and a side street…



DDT

[Sweet Cheeks]

I am assuming you are in Montgomery.  You are welcome to cruise by here anytime.  I am about 80 miles NE of you.  Had I been paying attention to the board, I could have made a visit your way today.  As it stands, I have a PT appointment early tomorrow, so I need to stick close to home.   Fingers, eyes, and toes crossed that you get a good report tomorrow.  Stay safe my friend.  If all goes well, I’ll see you at Mississippi Madness in a few weeks.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Cool pic of the flowering trees  We happened upon miles and miles of Almond groves at their peak a couple years back. It was beautiful.


Hope the checkup goes well. (Don’t party too hard)

[Farside]

  Prayers for a good follow up Bruce.  It's ugly here too. 

[Crazyhorse]

Hope everything went well. See you soon my friend.

[Rams]

Bruce,
Please feel free to share any good news you have.   We are all thinking about you.  Looking forward to seeing you in April.

Rams

[Bigwolf]

I believe that I recognize that parking lot and the trees! 

The weather has been really damp and dreary here too.  It’s been slowing me down on chores that need to get done.

I just said a prayer that your doctors have great news tomorrow!

See you in Hattiesburg, or before!


Bigwolf

[DDT (12)]

I am assuming you are in Montgomery.  You are welcome to cruise by here anytime.  I am about 80 miles NE of you.  Had I been paying attention to the board, I could have made a visit your way today.  As it stands, I have a PT appointment early tomorrow, so I need to stick close to home.   Fingers, eyes, and toes crossed that you get a good report tomorrow.  Stay safe my friend.  If all goes well, I’ll see you at Mississippi Madness in a few weeks.

Janice,

Yeah, too bad about a meet-up of any sort... oh, and yes, I am in Montgomery. We must be aging more than we knew... both of us have medical issues complicating any such meet-ups! Oh well... at least we're still around to have those... No expectation one way or the other on the doc's visit... just a routine follow-up visit, as far as I know... with my urologist, not my radiation guy. If anything more does come of that, however, it is entirely possible I may sing a tune about it here... I've been known to do such things, ya know. I do hope both of us can make it to Hattiesburg. It'll be good to catch up on stuff... thanks for the encouragement... back-atcha, as well!!!

DDT

Cool pic of the flowering trees  We happened upon miles and miles of Almond groves at their peak a couple years back. It was beautiful.


Hope the checkup goes well. (Don’t party too hard)

Rob,

WOW! That is a great shot! I've never seen those almond arbor delights in bloom... couldn't have guessed about the color of the blossoms either. Thanks for posting... Yes, there was a party last evening; no, I didn't overdo it... not even any dancing attempts. Life is good... so far, anyway... Last night was mostly a 'dress-rehearsal' of sorts, though... we'll likely do it again tonight for real... Got to get back in shape for the Mississippi thing upcoming, ya know... I guess you know you'd be welcome if you chose to show up...

DDT

Prayers for a good follow up Bruce.  It's ugly here too. 

Keith,

Thanks, my friend! I'm hoping for the same!!! In any event, the ugly weather yesterday morning has turned even nastier this morning... And, I chose not to pick up an umbrella after all yesterday afternoon, as I figured the worst was over... Not following through on a plan can have some drawbacks...

DDT

Hope everything went well. See you soon my friend.

Mac,

Thanks, ol' bud! Well, that doctor visit still lies just ahead for this novice old guy... I'm still trying to get the hang of a geriatric lifestyle, but in the meantime, I'm still suffering lapses of youthful folly... like last evening, for example. Nothing extreme or outlandish, but still I was bellied up to the bar with a beautiful blond on either side of me... I think I might have laughed rather loudly some, too, probably said some things that will come back to haunt me... Oh well... it's all good. Plenty of time to act old later, I reckon...

DDT

Bruce,
Please feel free to share any good news you have.   We are all thinking about you.  Looking forward to seeing you in April.

Rams

Ron,

Thanks for the well wishes and kind thoughts! If anything out of the ordinary should pop-up at the doctor's 'meet and greet' (but definitely not eat!) I'll probably yell out about it on here... Frankly, I'm thinking more about the return to Jan's place this evening... Funny, I have the body of an older guy, but I still have the mentality of a teenager! All of this to get in better shape for your big thing coming up in a few weeks...

DDT




Jerry,

Yep, those are the trees! You and CB were just here at this very motel a couple of weeks ago... And, as before, I'm preparing for another... well... I've already gone into all of that... I still am seriously pondering the purchase of an umbrella... My collection needs no further contributions, but it is danged damp outside just now, and it's expected to continue! I may just have to flip a coin on that...

DDT

[DDT (12)]

OK, just got back from doctor's office. Everything looks normal, fine, going the way we'd wanted it to... shoot, even the diarrhea issue has pretty much subsided. The 'good news/bad news' thing was also normal and expected... What's that last thing, you ask?

The good news is that I was fortunate enough to have missed all those decades of monthly periods... the bad news is that I have apparently not managed to escape menopause... well, hot flashes anyway. See in addition to everything else that's been going on, I've also received a couple of 'shots'... Not just run of the mill shots, either, but large harpoons stuck in one of my butt checks... not exactly chemo stuff, but sort of like that... Two so far, at least one more to go. Those are responsible for the hot flashes, so no alarm there... Everything else I described was expected and is OK... with one possible tinsy exception.

I occasionally do have a light-headed feeling, queezie and/or not quite there. My urologist thinks that might be associated with the strength of my BP medication... I'm to call my regular doc tomorrow and see what he thinks... Other than that, it appears I'm good to go... for now anyway... Hattiesburg is looking downright doable now!!! Shucks, I may even attempt another BBQ run on our girl later this week! In the meantime, there will be a mini-celebration down at Jan's tonight!!!

DDT

[John Schmidt]

Yup, those shots were not so graciously administered to me as well. Mine started well before the actual treatment. When visiting with my daughter here, she'd bust out laughing because I'd be pulling off my outer shirt, then back on, then off. Almost got embarrassing...one time she gave me a hug and said "welcome to my world dad!" Now well into her 50's things are changing for her as well, husband Andy is learning fast. 

Those shots knock down the T-factor to or near zero since that type of cancer sorta feeds off it. Mine is now back up to near 130 and climbing. I might have to begin shaving every day instead of every 2-3 days. 

[Valkorado]

The buttocks weren't meant to be pincushions!     Sounds like you're an uncaged bird.  Fly freely, Bruce!

[Danny McMillin]

DDT......Keep me informed as to "get here day and time". We may even start early. We gotta eat before we start too......

[DirtyDan]

https://youtu.be/g92vl5lsWVM

Post title got me thinking.....

Dan

[DDT (12)]

John,

I have great confidence in the medical folks looking after me, so I'm pretty sure I simply did not register a 'BOLO' when we first started for those 'power surges', aka hot flashes. As a result, they slipped up on me and surprised this mostly bewildered weak guy missing normalcy a bunch! I had reached out to my brother a few days ago, who had had these treatments himself a year or so ago, and he confirmed the surges were quite normal (his had been annoyingly strong as yours had!).

The other stuff I'm confronting is sort of variations of expected and usual stuff, all somewhat different depending upon the individual and other factors. In other words, nothing alarming going on, apparently, but I still ain't completely out of the woods either. This patience stuff is proving more than a bit trying, as well... I'll be checking with my regular doctor on BP medication in a little while... Thanks for your 'news'!

DDT



Seth,

I can't argue with that! I do have to say that I ain't ready to just fly freely, either. Nothing serious holding me back, it doesn't appear, but I still have some recovering to endure... One baby step at a time, I reckon...

We did party some last night, and I celebrated a little more vigorously than I apparently should have... Had a bit of a less that stellar night, so... my perspective this morning is modestly subdued and something less than all rosy... I will get there, it seems; it'll just take some time...

DDT



Danny,

Will do, my friend! I might not be able to party as hardy as all y'all, but I can laugh and holler just as much! It'll be good to see ya again and do some catching up!!!

DDT


Dan,

'Just another day' has a very different connotation for each of us... All things considered, I'm pretty happy with mine! Hope yours are pretty good, too. Oh, FYI, I believe the Italian word for 'up yours' is innuendo... just in case you find yourself needing some vocabulary assistance... or for 'updating at the end'...

DDT

[Earl43P]

Bruce, I'd be insistent to your GP about adjusting or changing the BP Meds' due to that adverse effect.

My buddy Mark had a BP med change, stopped by my house a few days later, played a round of darts (no beers) and drove home. Called me 20 minutes later asking me to come pull his truck out of the ditch (which I did).

First he blacked out on an overpass, drifted left across the oncoming lane and scraped his driver side bumper to bumper on the guard rail, came to and KEPT DRIVING  .

Less than a mile later, he blacked out again and drove right through a T stop, coming to after hitting a tree head on - AT LEAST 30 yards beyond the perpendicular ditch. Fortunately, there was little traffic on those rural roads. When I arrived, he was in the ambulance (refused transport - he was 1/2 mile from home) and had to talk to the State Policeman (accident report, but no ticket). Two drivers had reported his erratic driving to 911 and a nearby homeowner reported the final crash.

His GP changed his BP med completely (again), not just a dosage change.

Fun part that night was that his truck wouldn't crank to start, no dash lights, NOTHING. The responding firemen had cut his Battery Negative cable "per their protocol". State cop ordered a wrecker, then left before it arrived. So, Earl E stripped enough insulation back and rejoined the battery- cable ends with a pair of vise-grips so he could drive it home.

Truck ended up getting totaled, but he drove it "to get 3 estimates" and I never got my vise-grips back.

Word to the wise! 

[Bigwolf]

That’s good news!  Well, it sounds like things are progressing back towards........what is it they say now........”the new normal”.  It will be good to see you and Ali out in the “back yard” again.

[DDT (12)]

Earl,

Holy cow! I did make the call this morning to the doctor's office and told his nurse about my recent experience including the comments by my urologist. Doc was busy, so she took notes and saw the doc when she could. Later she called and said my prescription had been changed, and that it had been called to my druggist.

I didn't think to ask if the usual stuff had been downsized some in strength, or if it was new stuff entirely... I'll know that tomorrow when I get the new script... In the meantime, I've stopped taking the old stuff, and I seem to have noticed an improvement today... Not sure if that's mental or real... we'll see soon enough...

Thanks for sharing that harrowing tale about your friend! Sure wouldn't want any of that myself, especially if I were aboard our girl!!! Hope things work out for y'all and for this weakened rider... Modern medicine is incredible, but ya gotta watch those synergies!!!

DDT



Jerry,

It will be grand to get back out in the back yard... whenever I eventually do. I'd naively thought things would progressively improve as time lapsed between the end of treatments and the date for AOS. Not so, it now seems...

The radiation, I now understand, isn't the primary reducer of energy, the drugs are! And, they will be continuing... Alas, that light at the end of the tunnel may have been a freight train! I'm now back to taking it easy, and taking my time with expectations... Being naive can frequently set one up for disappointment... Long term I still expect to be back out there... it's just that the term looks to be a good bit longer than I'd wanted...

DDT