Wednesday morning's weigh-in was rewarding. I have now lost a fraction more than 15 pounds. Yippee! Although my weight has shifted a bit---and not necessarily to the good---this is the least I've weighed in more than 25 years.
If I'm careful, my clothes will fit during the entire cruise---which leaves Civitavecchia in just 17 days. (We will leave Williams on the 26th and get to Rome a few days before sailing.)
Late in the afternoon on Wednesday, I got a strange call from the office of one of my doctors informing me that I was scheduled for a PET Scan Friday afternoon. When I asked why, I was told I needed to see the doctor for an explanation---which Becky and I did on Thursday. Dr. Mathern told us what Dr. Knutson had not bothered to do---that one of the tissue samples she had submitted to the lab on Monday turned out to be positive for another melanoma on my scalp.
Dr. Mathern had ordered the Scan to see if anything else was lurking in my body. In quick order, we met with my plastic surgeon, Dr. Boettcher (who did my surgery in April) and we decided to schedule the necessary operation on my scalp Saturday morning(!), before even waiting for the Scan. The reason for the urgency was to accommodate our leaving on our cruise---which we were not going to forego---as well as in recognition of the fact that one should not unnecessarily delay any cancer treatments.
I had the Scan on Friday and the surgery on Saturday. (The surgery apparently went well, as expected.) We'll see Dr. Mathern on Monday to discuss the results of the Scan to see if there is anything else to worry about. Whew! It has been an exciting three days. At the moment, I plan to spend the rest of Saturday in bed, watching football.
Also in the past few days, UCLA got embarrassed by Stanford (on Thursday night), I got a haircut (on Friday) after the PET Scan,
and I bought two new hats (also on Friday) to hide the two "shark bites" that will henceforth grace my head. I will now be stylish as well as less frightening to strangers.
One of the games I watched on Saturday was Michigan vs. Michigan State---with the most unbelievable ending EVER! The last play will be shown on highlight reels from now 'til the end of time. Explanation: Michigan had the game won with fewer than 10 seconds left, and just needed to punt the ball from its 40-yard line. It didn't really matter how far the ball went. Except for what really happened, the only negative possibility was that the Michigan State receiver would run the kick all the way back for a touchdown---which was very unlikely under the circumstances. But the punter dropped the snap from the center and tried to kick it off the ground.
It popped up into the hands of a Michigan State player who---with no Michigan players in the vicinity---proceeded to run it 38 yards into the end zone for the winning score. Wow!
Saturday night went well; I slept like a log and did not need to take any of the gonzo pain pills they gave me. Sunday was another day of rest, and football, and reading, and crossword puzzles. I had borrowed Mark Levin's new book, Plunder And Deceit, from the Williams library, and started reading it on Sunday. It's very interesting---and frightening, in that Mark explains quite clearly how the current generation of politicians are setting up future generations for financial disaster.
Monday we saw Dr. Mathern and he reported that the PET Scan was completely clear and we could breathe easily for the time being. That was very comforting.
We've been anticipating the closing of the escrow to sell Becky's father's house. The closing has been set for early this week. Last Wednesday, the escrow lady emailed Becky a form of deed to sign, which she printed out, signed, had notarized, and gave to me to mail. I dutifully sent it by 2-day Priority Mail, scheduled to arrive in Pasadena on Friday. Monday morning, the escrow lady emailed Becky to say the deed had not yet arrived. According to the USPS tracking system, the package had gone from Williams, to Phoenix, to Capitol Heights, Maryland, and to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where it had been sitting since Sunday afternoon. Since it was clear the deed would not arrive in Pasadena in a timely fashion, Becky had to reprint the deed, sign it and have it notarized, and we then drove to Flagstaff to catch the last FedEx pickup for the day.
Whew! When I confronted the post office about the screw-up, I was greeted with a shrug and the explanation that someone had simply tossed the package into the wrong bin, and, since nothing is guaranteed, we couldn't even get our money back. That was disappointing to say the least.
Tuesday was a day of relaxation. I finished Plunder And Deceit, and we puttered around.
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