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...

With Today's Chemotherapy Experience Comes Hope for Future

 This morning I walked around my home block (.7 mile). At first there was an elderly man ahead of me walking his old dog, which often would stop and sniff around in the off-road grass.  Finally, along the street after rounding the block's far end, he took his buddy back up, into ttheir house...leaving me alone to complete my exercise chore.  I slow-ran the last half-block, jogging past houses with brief walking breaks.  This strategy looks to be very promising..I wonder if it will help me complete Parkruns in the reasonable future. Later this afternoon Melissa drove me down to the UF Health Davis Cancer Pavilion off Gale Lemerand Drive.  There they drew my blood and took a urine specimen, then provided an IV chemotherapy Avastin infusion.  I'm back home now, feeling fine except for creeping anxiety about how my medical providers see the extent of my brain cancer, along with future prospects for my life and its quality.  I deeply wish that there will be no explosive growth of tumors like what happened to me in September and most of October last year, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens in the weeks and months to come. So I'm still hanging in there, wishing and praying for your health and, God willing, that my cancer will diminish and that my daily life will be fulfilling and marked by a high level of muscular  energy and cardiovascular fitness.Stay healthy, friends...

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ON Cancer, Late-NIght Political TV "Comedy, God in CONTROL, Mortality, Gratitude

 Today I made an earnest attempt to be more physically active with home-based exercise, combining walking, slow running and non-impact 'rock-running designed to increase my heart ratewithout putting strains on my soft leg and feet tisssue...total measured steps for today surpassed 14,000.  Now I'm being involuntarily exposed to TV news and so-called "comedic" late-night shows in which the hosts take potshots at our own depraved "leaders".  I am NOT a Jimmy Kimmel fan, and I've never been one.  And that Stephen Colbert..forget him!  I'd just like to live my life training for better fitness and endurance, and to train my reactions to others during my daily existence whenever processes test the limits to my patience. As a matter of fact, it's not the provocations I pass through that matter so much, but rather my own chosen reactions to them. I watch the local Gainesville-area news and am saddened by the stories about different folks who hurt others with  a kind of violence and abuse indicating that they've lost their minds.And there are the typically ugly mug shots I see                                                                                   slapped across the TV screen..no, they have taken leave of their senses, thoroughly impulsively reactive people that I deeply wish to avoid like the plague.  Well, now we have an ebola outbreak, a new variant of COVID, and the hantavirus scaring the general population.  And cancer is slipping in quite easily among the population, my own body struck with prostate and aggressive brain cancer varieties.  The medical care here provided in the Gainsville area by UF Health is state of the art, and the BOSS is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, running the entire show: I follow my health and medical providers' instructions and am at peace accepting that my physical life is limited by time and that I am in God's loving and powerful hands.  I am deeply grateful for the many wonderful blessings in my life and in those of my loved ones.  So I"m about to head back to the bedroom and briefly agitate our dearly beloved Pewee Daisy...may you all sleep well and enjoy tomorrow to its fullest...

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After Medical Consult, Looking Ahead for Fitness Rise

 This morning I had my medical appointment, seeing oncological nurse practitioner Amy at the UF Neuromedicine building off Archer Road.  I first had my blood drawn and analyzed (results encouraging) and provided their customary urine sample.  Knowing beforehand the often fickle, arbitrary and cruel way cancers can intensify and spread, I felt that the best strategy for this meeting was to be talkative and upbeat about engaging in life, particularly focusing on improving my level of physical fitness.  When I'm sitting at our dining room table looking at my reflection on the facing wall, I look a lot like John Lennon of the Beatles from early 1967 when he was making the controversial video for his song Strawberry Fields Forever that revealed how much he had already aged...appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show with Penny Lane and confusing and riling my parents at the time: they wouln't be buying any more Beatles albums after that!. Yet in spite of my more worn-out appearance, I feel that I have the potential to improve my endurance and fitness against the sometimes discouraging conclusions of physicians and their staff assigned to diagnose and treat my brain cancer, which can be aggravated by aggressive glioblastoma.  I can't rightly predict my exact lifespan, but then who can with their own?  My consultation went quite well, and I spent a good part of my time at home exercising, either running in place on the carpeting or emulating running advocate Martinus Evans in our backyard, slowly jogging back and forth across it from privacy fence to privacy fence.  Now, where I stand, I just might be able to transform this challenging athletic activity into something fun.   The morning after tomorrow has yet another Depot Parkrun 5K scheduled.  If rain and storm don't wash it out and the asphalt and concrete surfaces stay dry, I I'll have a good chance to walk the whole course...and get scanned and posted online.  My plan...should weather permit the event to go off and continue to its proper conclusion...is to listen to a lengthy recording of rock music I like a lot: Led's Zeppelin' first boxed set, which was originally released in 1990 and drastically improved my opinion of Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham.  Maybe my Amazon Music account will permit me to listen to many of its tracks while on the course.  And a good degree of self-control is in order.  I won' tbe able to keep others from being irritating during the Parkrun, but I can control how I react to them.  Right now our living room TV is set on a live baseball game, and I just brewed some flavored decaf coffee.  May tonight be enjoyable for you and yours, and that your lives have much in them to be grateful for.  Good night!

On Eve of Tomorrow's Medical Appointment

 I have a medical appointment for tomorrow morning at the UF Health neuromedicine building, right next to SW Archer Road, to see a nurse practitioner relating to the brain cancer trials I am passing through.  Sickness is something that I have, but I don't intend to be governed in my life by denial.  "Tell me something good" is something I feel I have the right, if not my duty, to bring up in conversation during our consultation.  The crucial question I feel that I'm left with regarding this horrible brain cancer situation is what do I do if and/or when the shoe drops about my condition and future prospects.  Feeling some hope and optimism about the future...knowing that I'm not going to physically live o this Earth forever(no one else will, either)...is something that I want to have coming out of tomorrow's appointment.  Well, my body resists but I still have hope.  There are still some baseball games on TV this evening, and before it turns pitch black outside I just might (or might not) do some slow AF running back and forth for a couple of minutes in the back yard.  And...I'm looking forward this evening to some good rest before I go back and get Peewee Daisy to bark and talk at me. Rest well, everyone...

Cancer Chemo, Martinus, Baseball TV includes Florida, Carbs and Hydration for Training

 Yesterday Melissa drove me down to UF Health Davis Cancer pavilion for my periodic Avastin anti-cancer infusion.  First I had a blood lab draw, after which I gave a urine specimen.  Then Melissa brought over an Opus hot latte coffee.  First I waited for the test results to come in, after which the nurse connected the IV line to the incoming infusion.  While sitting there waiting for it, I listened to some Amazon Prime Music on my Android.  Then I tuned in to my public library Libby app, which played the audiobook Slow AF Run Club, written by Martinus Evans.  It's a good, compelling piece of literature about running, and how you can swing it if you stick to the author's suggestions, backed by his own life experiences.  He says he's completed some eight marathons and more than 100 other races, simply by going through the prescribed courses without ever trying to pick up the running pace.  For the neighborhood I live in, I can see me running around the block "slow as F" and then applying that standard to longer road distances.  I'm already doing a tapered version of this in the back yard, trotting back and forth between the east and west privacy fences.  While at the doctors', Melissa got me hooked up receiving the 2026 regular season live schedule featuring visual coverage of the Florida teams Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins.Today I plan to review the rosters of Tampa Bay, Miami and Atlanta...should be fun.  Speaking of running slowly (for long distances} Martinus impressed me discussing pre-run carb-loading, along with his wise emphasis on proper hydration.  It makes me want carry a long a little bottle of Propel fitness water, easy AF to tote as I go..for this early morning, I was faithful in getting up just before three, when I did some bathroom business and ran in place for 16 minutes before writing this.  And now, another good day to look forward to...

Looking Ahead to Medical Appointments Today, TV, Peewee, Reading, Baseball ,Exercise

 Becky, I enjoyed reading your comments about your training recentlybringing you something resembling a dopamine rushfor you, and may your physical fitness come out enhanced from it.  I missed out on some of that recently, but see some more coming my way.  So, they say, embrace the discomfort,knowing that the brain is good for protecting yourself by playing it safe and to avoid dwelling on 'what ifs" when a simple problem can easily be solved by stepping into action.  Yesterday I listened to a good amount of Marianus Evans's audiobook Slow AF Run Club, which is loaded with good stuff. After watching the MLB channel, including a walk-off exciting ending to a New York Yankees game highlighted by a wild pitch if you're leaning toward the Bronx Bombers. I am looking ahead to further cancer chemotherapy today at UF Health's Davis Cancer Pavilion.Today was another early-rising morning for me, and I'll be going to the back to greet Daisy Peewee soon to greet the sunrise later this morning.   

Run Club Author Evans Providing Fitness Hope and Workout Information

 I woke up at at little past one this morning.  I had to linger in bed for time to "catch up", but eventually it did and I set out, in the living room, to do some 12 minutes of running-in-place.  The air conditioning in the house was mostly on, but I took some of the "off" time to brew a pot of coffee.  Yesterday I took some time to switch around running-in-place with walking back and forth through the house, using the initial training formula of Slow AF Run Club author Martinus Evans' suggested timed ratios of running to walking at a ratio of one to three, building up to a total of twenty minutes leaving pace out of it...I worked my way up to ten minutes.  Later today my plan is to go a little further with the Slow AF workouts, without going overboard with them...I'm enjoying reading through this funny, helpful book. Melissa earlier gave me a good report on my most recent MRI brain scan.  It's still something I need to be cautious interpreting, since these tests can easily quickly turn toward the worse.  I have to be reasonable about my own medical expectations, especially regarding the detection and growth of cancer in my own brain. Living onward for a multitude of years is something I'd like to be a part of, and being effectively active during that hoped-for span places high on my list of priorities...especially concerning running and walking long distance endurance events.  Completing race events of 5k to half-marathon length, regardless of finishing times, are goals I'd like to attain as 2026 progresses into the spring,summer, and fall months. I've already experienced a severe, seemingly random brain cancer diagnosis bomb dropped on me from last October, with the brain surgery and subsequent chemo and radiation treatment side effects having their own negative effects on my athletic endurance and general fitness level.  Let's see if this morning I can't at least approach the exhortations of Mr. Evans, who believes that factors limiting running and walking distance attainment are more than 90% mental in origin.  I say let's get mental with it all and crush it...

Medical Consultation Set for This Morning

 As my medical treatment for glioblastoma brain cancer enters another week, I find myself with an oncologist appointment early this morningin the Archer Road Neuroscience Building, coupled with a request for a lab blood draw...if it's a no-show, I expect a nurse practitioner appearance instead.  The oncologist should at least be present to discuss her interpretation of my recent MRI. Other than the visits, draws, scans and medications, my fight for recovery is mostly a matter of complying with doctors' orders and not letting things get out of hand.  I have been keeping up with running in place, also doing a few difficult inner perimeter walking laps in the back yard.  The time is now approaching four thirty in the morning, and I finally got up and ran in place for eight minutes.  I don't expect ecstatic proclamations out there from any physician, but should get through today's consultation without too much frustration, patiently sitting back through all of the technical overdrive.  Melissa is such an incredible blessing with her driving and expertise and concern about treatments and tests. Let's see, how about a little more rest this morning, after I get little Peewee all happily agitated when I go back there? I thought I would hold back on brewing any coffee until later on in the morning...

Trying to Recover Endurance After Cancer Treatment

 After I was dispatched from my stay in the cardiovascular surgical hospital on July31, 2021, Dr. Miles sent me to the UF Cardioversion, which brought my stabilazation away from the acute atrial fibrillation that had been bothering me immediately following my heart valve replacement and aortic aneurysm.  For some months I felt very weak as I tried to remain with enough energy to be able to run around my home block for the ,7 mile block.  But it wouldn't be until I could maintain that distance when I was finally able, to run my Hampton Inn to the Daytona Beach Pier at the pier and back.  Right now I'm wondering whether I'll have enough to go on to allow me to be able to be maintain my light jogging level at a high degree.  Today, fot a little past few minutes, I was able to run on my run own on the living room alone for 8 minutes before taking a break.  Now I feel I'm making some marked improvement with some walking endurance.  I have an apppointment to get a chemo injection today at the Davis UF Avis Cancer Center at the UF Davis Pavilion Center, under the authority of oncologist Dr. Jones.  As for new habits, I am working on a new system including incorporating water hydration.  Way to go, Bill. Now let's see if I can't throw in a few new little home habits...

Fresh New Day Lies Ahead, Possibility for new Routines

 I fell asleep on the narrow living room couch last night and woke up around 1 AM, feeling itchy and irritated.  By after three I was procrastinating getting up, but just before four I finally arose, and after running in place on the rug for 8 minutes, here I am on this chilly morning! Yesterday I had a pretty eventless chemotherapy infusion session at the UF Health Davis Cancer Pavilion, taking care now to avoid excessive eating. Spending a lot of money to do Dunin' Donut mobile app order seems to be taken off the table, too. We're expecting some good company to visit  us tomorrow.  I'll see if I can't put in a solid block of reading Khan's monstrosity novel Shadow Magic for today, March 18th.  Maybe all the unlikable characters (and I don't like any of them) will get wiped out and I'll be spared the anxiety of a suspenseful plot development.  Averaging about 20 pages of reading per day should keep me on pace to finish the book by month's end, and that is very possible considering how quickly I tore through the first four Harry Potter books at Books-a-Million 25 years ago.  And how about all those Stephen King/Richard Bachman novels? Of course, I tended to like those stories, and King has always been a master at character development.  Melissa has expressed expectation of me finlly getting my updated voter registration card in the mail today (or soon)...let's see if this can happen without me having to come out of retirement.  Yes, I'm tired of Trump on any level, and may the Iran ordeal settle down.  Our president seems to be content settling into Netanyahu's errand boy role, and the USA might get sucked into an expanded conflict against Hezbollah on "Bibi's" behalf.  Well, let's just see what today will bring: hopefully more and better sleep...

Early A.M. about Awards, War, ''allies", Exercise, Day Ahead

 One of the funniest commercials I've seen lately has a man standing behind a loud microphone on a lit-up stage, in front of a large audience, demonstrating his prowess at being able to access files online, only he seems completely unable to key in the proper password.  He awkwardly glances around, chuckles and grins as the AI-on-duty repeatedly notifies him of his failures, to the consternation of those standing around who will ultimately decide his public-relations career fate. Very funny...and a little sad. Yesterday evening Entertainment Tonight was obsessing on the previous evening's Academy Awards, and how Michael Jordan won best actor for the movie Sinners and ate an In-and-Out hamburger holding his trophy in the left hand. I am determined to stay away from celebrities and their overhyped shows that merit avoidance.  Yesterday I worked on reading a few more pages in Joshua Khan's tedious, depressing juvenile fantasy novel Shadow Magic.  I can't wait to be done with it, to say the least.  This afternoon I have an appointment for some chemotherapy infusion at the UF Health Davis Cancer Pavilion, preceded by a blood lab draw, urine sample and IV line.  Looks like Trump is trying to get other countries to pitch in and help the USA with the Straits of Hormuz, and they're coldly snubbing him in response.  Today it will stay cool outside with nighttime temperatures to dip solidly into the thirties.  May all go well with my family, especially Melissa, Amy, Anita and Keith, regarding their health and feelings.  I'll be returning to bed soon, hopefully to get some good sleep.  I'm not sure what to make of this prolific bombing campaign instigated by the current commander-in-chief, but I think that those countries that are turning their backs on us will have something to answer for what I'm inclined to believe is a wartime betrayal of America and our soldiers.  I think that many of them are rooting for us to lose, so that they can later smugly claim they "told us so".  Well, I at least am confident that I did right in changing my party affiliation.   The late Jim Rohn, in one of his podcasts, made a big deal about urging listeners to spring up out of bed hours before sunrise with purposeful behavior.  I did so this morning, running in place for 8 minutes after I started brewing coffee.  Now I'm finishing this blog article.  Soon it'll be back to bed and loudly growling, snorting and barking Peewee Daisy, with whom I plan to be exceedingly sweet and gentle...

Up Early, Am-Way Presentation, Medical Visit, Later Plans

 Jane came to be one of my sweetheart wife Melissa's good friends in the 1990s.  She always had a sweet and gentle disposition.  One morning Jane invited me to attend a "recruitment" meeting regarding a multi-level marketing project called Am-Way, to which I complied and was shocked by its aggressive nature.  Turns out  that, starting out, I would be on the bottom, under other Am-Way members.  Over time my sales and recruitment efforts would pay off in my gradual elevation and enrichment, and my wealth and reknown had the potential of becoming possibly legendary, like that of "the" Bubba Pratt, the company's star multi-millionaire.  The not-so-subtle dig at those who choose not to engage with Am-Way is that they are hum-drum losers who are missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime...why, I could be off somewhere ice-fishing with my big-shot mentor instead of working shifts on the clock!  Ron, one of my former USPS co-workers who was eventually fired for insubordination, used to even insult me and colleague Rick about our so-called dead-end jobs.  I always believed that being a postal service clerk was an honorable undertaking, and over the years appreciated the respect and esteeem directed my way for consistently showing up and properly performing my duties.   Melissa and I both demurred on Jane's offer, but God blessed our humble little lives just the same...we still enjoyed that trip to Dahlonega, Georgia.  I never was very materialistic about wanting "stuff", and for me spending money was something I felt some caution about avoiding building up too much financial debt. Now it's nearly 3:30 on Wednesday morning, and I have an 11:00 appointment to see my prostate cancer oncologist at UF Health Davis Cancer Pavilion. After brewing some coffee I ran in place for 8 minutes and see myself extending that "run" a while longer.  Well, I still have that horrid Joshua Khan Shadow Magic book and want to read a little bit further into it before I lay it down in disgust.  Protagonist boy Thorn is always fighting and offending people, and the narrative never seems to have any "down" moments for folks to just get together and talk things out.  Let's see, I think I'll post today's article, shut down the computer, and head on back.  Good morning, all...   

First Anniversary of My Prostatectomy

 Today marks the one-year anniversary of when I underwent a radical prostatectomy operation at the UF Health Cancer Hospital on the south side of Archer Road.  My dear, late sister-in-law Krista was staying in the same building when I entered it, climbing up its winding stairway to the second floor.  The procedure went smoothly enough, but in the early evening when I fully awoke it was very sharply painful for me 'down there'.  Melissa promptly got me on my feet for a brief post-op walk around the floor, and the Foley catheter had already been inserted.  For the next ten full days I would have little trouble with my urinating and emptying the bag...on the 17h all pain disappeared when it was removed.  Dr. Joseph performed the meticulous surgery, which took a few hours.  We left the hospital for home early on the 7th.  Krista remained there until she was released into hospice in early July.  God bless her, I miss her so much.  A few weeks after the catheter was gone, I speed-walked another Depot Parkrun 5K. The Director, Shauna...who has yet to give me volunteer credit for the end of last September when she asked me go far up and beyond the call of duty for a simple tail-walker assignment...was not at all happy with my participation, claiming health concerns. Too bad she treats it all like a competitive race whenever she runs it.  So today I got up early, ran in place a few minutes, and brewed some coffee.  And what do you know, here's Melissa! And what do you know, it's 4:30...

Early Rising, Lunar Eclipse, YouTube Guru, Chemotherapy Infusion

 This morning I woke up early, a little past four.  The Blood Lunar Eclipse is scheduled now, to peak in totality between six and seven as the sky begins to lighten just before sunrise.  Fog is expected to roll in, obscuring the view.  I ran in place ten minutes, read through chapter four in my dubious Shadow Magic book, and brewed some good-tasting coffee after I ran the heat through this chilly place for a few minutes.  Last night I listened to Jim Rohn dispense some hard-ass personal development advice on establishing self-discipline habits and a positive, productive mindset.  The dude says what needs to be said and heard, and although at times it seemed like a bitter bill to swallow, I got past the message's abruptness and am listening once again.  Getting my sorry ass out of bed and going to the bathroom is just step number one of a great time in my daily routine.  After adjusting the temperature, I brewed that coffee and did the ten minutes of ipfs, lightly of course on the living room rug...and now here I am. Early this afternoon, I'm to be at the UF Davis Cancer Pavilion for a lab draw and then have a chemotherapy infusion, thanks to my wonderful Melissa's driving and advocacy.  During this period I plan to listen to more of Rohn's YouTube channel.  His shows are usually around 40 minutes in length...I should get to hear maybe two of them before needing to recharge my phone after returning home.  After getting back home I'm usually physically and mentally spent and feel like crashing out on the couch or the bed.  God bless this day, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to "get busy living' in it, as Morgan Freeman says on his pharma TV ad. Maybe I'll venture forth and do some 'rock-running' exercise as well.  One thing for certain: I'll be steering clear of those war-obsessed news and opinion channels...

Final Radiation Round, Difficult LIves, Exercise

Yesterday marked the last scheduled round of radiation therapy, set to end at the close of six weeks just before the year's end.  Sweet Melissa drove me down there to the Davis Cancer Pavillion at UF Health and we saw two oncologist physicians nearly immediately afterwards.  Then I "rang the bell" to mark this minor milestone.  Before that I wrote a couple of sobering sentences into their guestbook. This is that text:

It is good to complete the six weeks of brain cancer radiation treatments, in spite of the headache side effects. My struggles against GBM continue, and it promises to be difficult and challenging. God bless you all!

The reactions I received to this somber message weren't exactly exuberant, but then again, I never asked or prayed for an easy life for myself.  After all, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee had a difficult go at it throughout their J.R.R. Tolkien-authored Lord of the Rings saga.  Harry Potter also had to undergo quite a bit of suffering throughout J.K. Rowling's excellent Harry Potter series,too. Yet these characters' experiences strengthened them and provided transformational growth because they showed up for the challenges and followed through.  This is the optimistic message I add to the first somewhat abrupt lines.  I didn't exercise this afternoon or evening, but I have confident hopes that I won' t let myself down and will dutifully perform some C-V exercise while watching virtual runs on TV..  More virtual miles to come.  Now it's eight in the evening and I just finished my daily exercise, closing out at 4.8 total virtual miles...

Cancer Treatment Prospects After Radiation Rounds

 Today was one of those days that for me have been split up into appointments, mainly medical, in which I underwent a few minutes of radiation therapy to hopefully target and zap any glioma blastoma malignancy holding fort there.  Tomorrow should be the final time for my six-week prescribed radiation rounds.  Then I get to ring the bell.  I don't think for a moment that, with this, I will have thoroughly eradicated this extremely aggressive and dangerous pathogen, known to shorten life spans down to as few as a few weeks.  So I'll be entering the year 2026 with a great feeling of uncertainty, doubt and mistrust: do the oncologists there assigned to my case really know what they are doing, and do they practice their ptofessions proactiively to aggressively combat my afflictions?  I guess I'll just have to see about that.  In spite of the gloomy doomsday prognosis laid out before me after brain surgery, I have continued with my cardiovascular exercise, on the rug in our living room.  This evening I covered 5.1 virtual miles while watching a virtual ideo on YouTube of the 2022 NYC Marathon.  Now it's up to me to get myself comfortable on the couch and see whether I get some decent sleep tonight...

Songs of the Month and Year, Exercise and Cancer Treatments

 Today was an open Sunday spent at home, with me largely withdrawing to our living room couch.  I did exeerise a bit, doing a total of 3.1 virtual miles...don't feel like I did anything, though.  I have Steve Miller Band's minor 1968 singles hit Living in the USA as my Song of December.  Also, Garbage's 2025 song There's No Future in Optimism gets my nod for 2025 Song of the Year...more about that one later.  I'm due to get another round of brain cancer radiation treatment at the UF Health Davis Pavillion.  To all of you a very good and blessed day... 

College Football Playoffs Commence...in the Evening

 Today we paid the UF Health Davis Cancer Pavilion another visit.  There I went through a radiation therapy round.  Later our dear friend Lisa paid us a visit and we had chili for dinner.  In the evening ESPN was overhyping their first broadcast college football playoff game for the 2025 season, with Oklahoma hosting Alabama in Norman.  The Sooner fans pregame seemed pretty smug about their team's superiority over the Crimson Tide, whose reputation for winning was tarnished following legendary coach Nick Saban's retirement.  Knowing that a Depot Parkrun 5K is scheduled for tomorrow morning and that Melissa is planning to walk it with me, I settled comfortably on the living room couch with the TV set on the game.  When I woke up toward midnight, it was late in the fourth quarter and Oklahoma was ten points behind, desperately trying to catch up before the game clock expired.  Twice they stopped their own drives to bring in their own placekicker, who missed both makeable attempts badly.  Then the camera panned out to the crowd of spectators, showing people looking aghast with their mouths open in shocked dismay.  So "Bama came from 17 points down to improbably win and advance. Next, they play Indiana on the road in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.  Tomorrow a lot of college playoff games are scheduled, and I'll probably be dutifully following them as well.  As for today's exercise, I had 2.4 virtual-equivalent miles...  

I'm a Sick Billy-Boy, They Say

 Up until the October 21st ct-scan done on my head that determined a presumably cancerous, rapidly growing golfball-size tumor in my brain, my general state of health, medically speaking, was determined to be good.  But after the brain surgery done three days later, it was confirmed that I am afflicted with an aggressive variant of brain cancer called GBM, or Glioblastoma Multiforme.  It's an open question as to whether treatment strategies like chemotherapy or radiation will arrest the GBM development or reduce it, but I've been enthusiastic about going along with the prescribed program.  So far, my adverse reactions to treatment...mainly radiation...have been brain inflammation and headaches, partially remedied by steroid capsules and OTC capsules like extra-strength Tylenol.  But I'm still susceptible to getting tired over the course of a typically long day, and on weekdays I usually spend a substantial amount of time with Melissa meeting doctor and radiation therapy appointments at UF Health.  Doctors like my oncologist and the skillful surgeon who operated on my brain encourage me to be physically active while listening to my body in a cautionary way.  I've already scaled back my running training, avoid gym treadmills and show up consistently to Saturday morning Parkrun 5K events in which walking takes center stage, usually with Melissa and me.  Still, it can be a matter of testing my will power to cover the race's course from start to finish.  At home, I have been using my living room floor...with a lot of rug covering...to exercise while watching TV and dutifully record  my times spent in Zone One movement.  Today I covered (virtually) the equivalent of 4.4 miles before finally calling it a night.

The medical authorities say I'm sick with an aggressive variety of brain cancer and the prognosis for a reasonable number of years ahead to live is limited and subject to how my brain responds to the prescribed treatment regimen.  Yet, by all acounts, I do well with blood tests and vital signs.  I have a good appetite and food gets easily digested and passes though my body without trouble.  I don't know how much time I have remaining on Earth before my body dies...or the Earth around me from my own subjective point of view.  That far-reaching video by the alternative rock band My Chemical Romance titled Welcome to the Black Parade vividly presents this notion, and I recommend it if only to broaden your perspectives.  Just copy and paste the title, once you're on YouTube, into the site's search engine.  It is , in my opinion, that band's crowning achievement and can really bring on the tears for how the singer deeply honors his father.  As for my own life, I'll just carry on, although at this stage it seems like I'm in a decaying orbit, destined to burn up and crash.  Let sustained life and quality of life be my true destination, both short and long term...