MY TOp 3 Songsof June 2,2026

         BEETHOVEN: 7th SYMPHONY

         2-The Smiths:How Soon Is Now? 

         3-BEETHOVEN:Fifth SYMPHONY

                                

Medical emergINCIes bring on on rrehab stretch

 Melissa a I expi2ncd a diffiult 2-week stretcha UF Helath rh paten, wih our eating and bathoom acti carefully monitored n contollloed t lest until our release Saturday morning. Preced thiw I hd  bd hit th hard  dining room floo no-fir(wih profuse bleedin0 I thn n ino two dp gGrand ML EPileptic seiures, bin on the hospital trip befoere our admission there.motre bou ho UHealth Rehb went fo an oou optct n  later article...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   m l                                           lth R                                                                              l                                                                                                                    ,sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Close Call With Kitchen Floor Gives Me Pause

 Early in the Morning od Jun e 11th, on which my late mother would be turning 86, while chasing down a roach before heading to the back of the house,, I lost my balance and collided, nose-first, with the hard kitchen floor. At first I was convinced that a tooth had been broken, but the effect was to violenty twist the cartilage of my nose, bringing on some scary, acute nosebleed before the needed clotting set in. Melissa quickly drove my sorry ass down to the UFHealh Emergency room on  NW 39th Avenue.    After my session there, I returned home and slept off the rest o the morning, grateful to God for His divine protection during that time of my personal foolishness that I hope I learned something important from.  The rest of the day saw me being much more careful with my movements while honoring my wonderful mother's memory..Now onward to June 12th..    

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Beethoven"s 2 Symphonic Masterpieces 'Floored" Me

 Today I have listened through two diffrent, complete YouTub presentations to ludwig van Beethoven's 7th and 8th  Symphonies which he composed in 1811 and 1812..some 15 yearsbefore h prematurely succumbed to illness in 1827, only 5ee6 years old.  He had severe alcohol-induced liver disease and lea poisoning. when he died on March 17,1827.Whil not officially credited with being born on December 16rh,1770, hi birthday was faithfully celebrated through his lifetim onthat date.Hence little Schroeder ofPeanuts would make a point o wishing everyone a happy Beethiven's Birthday fo December 16th. KNown for rhhisshort temper andsocial awkwardness, hi music'squality fo me ...wespecially the nine symphonies...were by far his greatest creations.  The Seventh Symphony is one of my all-time favorite classical music pieces. At 41-plus minutes in length,whene I first heard it a couple of days ago, i was stunned myself by how deeply 2emotionally compelling it is: Ican't get enough of it!If you go out toYouTube, y can hear just about anything Beethoven did..or the works any other notable musical artists.  Of course, you'll probably have a nice picture or video to look at while listening...

Still Weak But Feeling Better

 While avoiding attempting further physically depleting workouts like in recent days, I find myself today feeling a little better...but just as weak as before.  the medicine I'm taking to lower my blood pressure seems to be working.  I am now ready to call it a day and lie down on the couch and watch some TV. Earlier on I heard Beethoven' s 7th Symphony and really liked it. It's now one of my favorites.  To all, sleep well tonight...

Walking Progress Seems Absent, Even Reversing

 This morning, amidst the high humidity and stifling heat, I got up and steadfastly took a painful walk/run around my .7-mile home block,doing very brief, slow jogging on the road back.  It was difficult and punishing, doing this. I don't feel that I am making the degree of progress that I had wanted:maybe there's no improvement happeningat all!  In fact, I feel like I am sliding.  Simple motions are getting harder for me. I prefer to avoid outings that demand physical endurance, balance, and the strength required for me to adequately lift my feet and legs from the ground while maintaining a sense of functional balance.  It's very discouraging when I just want to turn up the air conditioning and go back to bed and hide beneath the sheets...

Upcoming Speech Therapist Visit: Will It Help?

 Today I felt too tired to train.  Melissa said this may be due all the chemotherapy I had been taking recently against my glioblastoma brain cancer. My oncologist feels that the treatment..including Avastin infusions... fed into my weariness, and temporarily relenting on it could restore more energy to give me better strength and endurance.  Tomorrow a speech therapist will b visiting to assess how I am doing with my speech. Cognitively I don't think I have a speech problem, but that while engaging in speaking my voice tends to weaken and even break...this is frustrating when I get the impression that folks simply don't want to invest the needed time and attention to hear me out...

Skipped Exercise on Beach Excursion

 On Friday June 5th Melissa drove us to Daytona Beach to spend the weekend there, returning home today.  We skipped Gainesville's Saturday morning Depot ParkRun 5Kwhich in 2026 coincided with historic D-D-Day, 6-6-44,when Allied forces staged a successful amphibious landing in Normandy, France. For the trip I intentionally avoided exercise...this extended through today...

Cardiologist Visit, ExercIsing, Baseball, TV, Beach, Depot Parkrun, Typing

 This morning I visited my regular cardiologist at northern Gainesville's UF Health Medical plaza in Spring Hill. He endorsed prescriptions to help lower my recent high blood pressure...and the exercises continue! I also did a good amount of rock-running, mainly while watching baseball games on TV. Also, I slow-ran for 40 seconds across the back yard.  It's now early in he evening following sunset, and I'm ready for more television.  As for tomorrow, we'r e still considering a brief stay at the beach..Depot Parkrun is now "off the table." My typing accuracy has worsened a lot, so, I'll leave it for you to read the best that you can,errors and all. So for the time being, good night, everyone..sleep well...

Abnormal readings set the Tone for My Cardiologist Visit on Thursday

 This morning I awoke with the intention of walking around my home block with Melissa . but after getting two unusually high blood pressure readings, we instead decided to cool it with the intense physical activity. My nurse Jennifer visited and we had a good conversation.  I have a mid-morning appointment tomorrow with my cardiologist, but I suppose the main focus will be my recent high blood pressure spikes. I hope he has some good solutions to get me relief with this problem.  Later on today, I did some milder rock-running exercise while watching baseball on TV.  So right now I'm closing out today's blog article, preparing to go back to the bedroom to try to get a decent night's sleep.  And then it will be onward to the cardiologist again...

Exercise and Baseball Following Medical Tests

 After having some of my medical concerns addressed yesterday at Shands Hospital, today I was more into exercise, doing a single home block walk/run... and then i earned more than 10K steps while rock-running as I watched TV, mostly baseball, on our MLB channel.  My favorite specificgame this evening?  MIlwaukee'e 8-3 home field victory against their struggling National League rival San Francisco, as "Front RowAmy, the Brewers' top fan, meticulously watched, cheered and kept score for this interesting game's duration.Well, it's time now to go to the back of our house for some overnight climate-controlled rest and relaxation. Good night, Y'all... , and calm down, Peewee Daisy...

Alleviating Clotting Concerns Reason for Return Visit to Shands for Tests

 Late afternoon today Melissa came back to me, woke me up from my nap, and declared she was driving me to Shands Hospital toundergo an ultrasound and a ct-scan to rule out the risk o blood clots appearingas side effects of some of my brain cancer treatments.  Later in the evening I would be building up exercise steps while watching baseball on our MLB channel.  Later on I recall getting a reasonably good night's sleep.   A couple of good friends met us at the UF Health Neuromedicine building on Archer Road to consult with my neurooncologist, Dr. Serendipity Rinonos, and her nurse practitioner.Although the additional tests took place in a hectic setting and I felt  little roughhandled by thet ech who efficiently and competently performed the ultrasound, the result seemed reassuring to me.  Life for me happens one day at a time and I intend to live it that way.And I stand grateful to God and Melissa for looking after me...