Saturday morning was clear and cold. We had originally planned to be in Washington, D.C. on this day to join in the celebration of the graduation from George Washington University of our granddaughter Meghan. She majored in Theatre and minored in Art History, and is graduating summa cum laude. Well done, Meghan!
We were going to make a week out of the celebration, to include a side trip to Maryland to visit out friends Linda and Scott Hamilton. But all that changed due to my involvement with what seems like the entire medical profession of Flagstaff. Life does not always allow us to follow our plans, but I have no complaint. Today I assembled a storage cabinet for our garage, something in which I take a bit of pride.
And we mapped out the installation of the trac lights in our bedroom.
We chose Sunday to go to Flagstaff to get Becky a new smart phone. The Verizon store was remarkably empty when we got there and we got immediate attention from a fellow named Josh. For the 45 minutes it took to complete the deal, we connected our personal computers to the Verizon store "hot spot" and updated a lot of things.
That way we didn't have to use any of our usage allotment, which was already at 90% with four days to go in the current billing period. (Becky hates to go over the allotment. We could increase our allotment, of course, but that would be giving up the challenge.)
Before we left for home, we stopped for lunch at Oregano's, one of our favorite Flagstaff restaurants. We always order the "small" Pablo Picasso Mexico Salad, which is more than enough for two and we had enough left over to take home for dinner. It's really tasty.
I had bought a miter box and a vise at Home Depot on the way into Flagstaff, and, after we returned home, I used the miter box to help me make the necessary modification to my tiny work bench to be able to install the vise. The rest of the day was just plain relaxation.
We had two doctors' appointments on Monday, first with Dr. David, followed by Dr. Mathern. Dr. David immediately began explaining the PET scan results---which were terrific.
The scan showed NO cancer anywhere in my body. No machine is perfect, though, and things can change, so Dr. David recommended radiation treatments on my neck (where the lymph nodes last revealed some evidence of cancer) and we agreed. The treatments will probably start next week, and will be a five-day-a-week affair for six weeks. Because it is necessary that my head not move during the treatments, I was fitted with a mask, formed to my own head, that will hold my head steady. It's pretty amazing.
Dr. Mathern then went a little deeper into the subject and we discussed having interferon treatments, as well, to help ward off a recurrence of the cancer. We decided to defer that decision until after the radiation treatments were finished.
Becky and I were thrilled with the scan results and celebrated for the next few hours.
Tuesday, Becky's birthday, was clear and bright, but still cold. We puttered our way through the day. Our destination for a celebration dinner was the Mountain Ranch Resort, ten miles east of our home. We'd never been there before but had heard great things about it. It's a very nice place, and suitably expensive. The menu was interesting and varied, but we stuck with our favorite---Filet Mignon. The food was outstanding in general and the filets were magnificent.
Oddly, the wine was very nice (a Bonterre Cabernet Sauvignon) but its service was bizarre under the circumstances. The bottle arrived already open and the server (Anjelica) simply plopped it down on the table and walked away. Also, our courses were served out of order. (The appetizer---stuffed kumquats---was served after the entrée.) We will let the management know that a little training is in order.
Wednesday, we had our final checkup meeting with Dr. Boettcher. He pronounced everything to be OK with my head surgery. Yippee!
At Becky's insistence, I had my first haircut in several weeks. The barber was very careful around the hole in my head and did a good job. I am no longer shaggy.
We also stopped at The Lite Company to get some parts to enable me to move our dining room chandelier a foot or so to better locate the table underneath, and we stopped at an optometrist and Becky ordered a new lens for one of her several pairs of glasses---to replace one that got scratched when the glasses fell off while she was chasing the dogs a few days ago.
Altogether, it was a successful day.
Thursday was Ramsey's day to get his teeth cleaned.
Becky gave him a pill to start the process of calming him down. It was only partially successful and the doctor had to do some magic to get Ramsey in the right condition. But it all worked out and Ramsey now has shiny, clean teeth. We took a large quilt (it's more than seven feet wide) that Donna made for us many years ago, and hung it in one of our bedrooms. It's dazzling.
Late in the day, the UPS man showed up with our six-bottle Spring selection from the Justin Winery in Paso Robles, California. Other than that, it was a hum drum day.
Early Friday morning, the FedEx man showed up with a new dog bed for the living room. Now the two almost match and we were able to toss the old one that was rather worn out. During the day I changed some electric switches to dimmers and fixed a couple of chairs we took from Becky's dad's house. A normal day.
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