| Life on the Road with Paul & Kathleen: "Not bad for two dumb kids from Ohio" - Proving once again that it's never too late to have a happy childhood | |
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| Our Lazy Daze at Kirk Creek Camp on CA Hwy 1 40 mi N of Hearst's Castle 11/24/03: Shortly after full-timing began. | Turkey Buzzard at our campsite in Big Bend NP 5/24/06 |
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10/29/09 - Health Update Click to add your comment Well, I just finished my most recent series of three BCG treatments for bladder cancer - each a week apart. The day of the first of these three I also had Lupron Depot plus a flu shot. I don't know if having these three on the same day did it, or something else, but I was sure a whipped puppy when I got home. "Home" these days is Fremont, CA as we continue to work on getting one of our apartment units in Oakland, CA ready to rent. BCG Treatment is in San Diego, CA so that meant I flew to SD for the BCG's. For the first I rented a car to go from SD airport to Kaiser. For the last two I took a taxi. This was cheaper and faster than renting a car. And less hassle, which might have been a contributor to my being a whipped puppy that first day. I recently learned the full scope of BCG. I completed two years of three BCG's every three months. I am now in the stage of three half-dose BCG's every six months for two years. The next stage is ?-dose BCG's every year for two years. About six weeks after each BCG series my doctor performs a cystoscopy to look inside my bladder to SEE my cancer stage. He is also apparently able to go further and look inside my kidneys - and pronounced them in good condition. Prostate cancer-wise I'm tested for testosterone level every six weeks or so. If it's greater than 50 (what ever that is) then I receive Lupron Depot to suppress testosterone production (prostate cancer needs testosterone to grow - ironic, eh?). Of course, since my prostate gland was pretty much killed by the radiation treatment IT no longer manufactures testosterone. But the testes do. THEY may be the next to go. Yikes! My favorite description of the effects of Lupron Depot hormone is it turns a man into a menopausal woman. I'll let you fill in the details... I almost forgot. I'm fine. Just the usual. The bladder does not like BCG so it spasms from time to time. Many times all too short a time. Which means I need to wear pullups. And use them for the purpose they were designed. But don't tell Becky. That last time Christina told Becky papa was wearing diapers she had the strangest look on her face.... Love and peace, Paul "What this world needs is more compassion and less criticism" Paul Smith 10/29/09 | |
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| "NO DEAL BASICALLY means that if we can't find a solution that wold benefit us both, we agree to disagree agreeably--No Deal. No expectations have been created, no performance contracts established. I don't hire you or we don't take on a particular assignment together because it's obvious that our values or our goals are going in opposite directions. It is so much better to realize this up front instead of downstream when expectations have been created and both parties have been disillusioned. When you have No Deal as an option in your mind, you feel liberated because you have no need to manipulate people, to push your own agenda, to drive for what you want. You can be open. You can really try to understand the deeper issues underlying the positions." (9/9) |
| Paul & Kathleen Smith | 173 Rainbow Dr #7329 | Livingston, TX 77399-1073 | (510) 386-8973 |