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...

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...

More Morning Sleeep Plans and Wishes with Melissa's Appointment Ahead

 I  woke up early this morning, at 4:30.  The A.C. seems to be on overdrive, and some more home exercise is in order for me today, as Melissa has some important medical diagnostic activity scheduled ahead.  I think a little remedying for a headacheshould work for me, and today's weather should provide some dry outside surfaces on which to walk, run, or sit and observe with the company of Pewee Daisy,our Big Baby. yesterday evening was a bit frustrating with me lying on the living room couchwaitin for time to pass to enable me to sleep in the chilled air through a significant amount of a night's sleep.  Looks like i'll soon be returning to the back where our little dog can start barking, growlingm shaking...and talking. I may be spending spending some good time tomorrounder the blanket sleeping and resting, hoping an praying that Melissa' appointment goes well and that her procedure goes off well, with a good and promisin diagnosis.  So it's now back to bed, and may you all enjoy a good, healthful amount of quality rest...

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...

Wednesday's Final Book Sale, Mentally Preparing for Upcoming Parkrun 5K

 Retirement for me has given way largely to a lack of time management structure in my daily life, with medical appointments providing a sense of having to be somewhere by a certain time.  Otherwise the day has opened up...that is, until the day before yesterday.  The Alachua County Friends of the Library Wednesday  finished their twice-annual used book sale, hopefully (for them) clearing out their warehouse offering books for a dime each.  Melissa drove us down there near Main Street and downtown Gainesville, and we walked an uncomfortable distance from the car and back.  The foreign language book section had already been completely cleaned out.  I quickly found some Junior-level novels and a copy of Marilyn Ferguson's 1980s' fad best-seller The Aquarian Conspiracy practically lept up at me from the display...it sure has declined in influence and availabilityover the years.  I remember once going to the public library decades ago, picking up a copy, and comfortably sitting down with it, reading for a few hours.  Now it's again in my possession...no telling where I'm going with it.  Tomorrow morning will be the weekend again, Saturday and (at 7:30) time for yet another Depot Parkrun 5K event.  If things go according to design (that is, Lord willing), we'll be there as I try to cover, mainly walking slowly, the park's four-lap course and then get scanned and posted.  My main aim is to show up and give it all a good effort while maintaining civility among the event staff and participants without trying to "beat" anyone.  Just enjoy listening to the loud, silly birds and keep trudging on ahead.  I exercised a bit today, but feel that progress at improving my endurance hasn't been as forthcoming as I have hoped.  Recognizing that there is a huge mental component to giving up during races (Martinus Evans and Andrew Huberman concur), I have decided to take it all one step at a time and to extend my efforts tomorrow long before my mind convinces me to stop.  Well, sleep a bit tonight, get up early enough tomorrow, and keep a positive mental attitude toward things.  And you, too...