Helpful hint

A friend at an AA meeting said he tried to control his drinking by only drinking on days with a "y" in them.

Car blocking driveway

An AA friend of mine left to go to a meeting and  found someone had parked their car blocking his driveway with all the windows open. He slowly inched his car around the car, thought about putting a nasty note on the windshield,  but got out and dropped an AA meeting guide through the window on the front seat, and drove to his meeting.

I finished my 4 rounds of chemo on August 1 and had a PET scan on August 20 to see the results of the chemo.  On September 12, yesterday, I finally got the results of the PET scan. There is no trace of cancer in me and I am again CANCER FREE.  I have been on disability for about 5 months and can go back to work on Monday.

I had two big helps in this ordeal (in addition to God of course, and AA) - my partner of 33 years Tony and my new addition to the family - Toni, a white 3 month old chihuahua puppy. Toni was my "service animal" and kept me too busy playing with her to feel sorry for myself. 

Now  I will do the 6th annual Disability Art Show and then think about retirement, etc. 

Another Surgery

Well, I had a cancerous mass in my right kidney so I had to have a kidney removed April 9th and am mostly recovered from that, some 6 weeks after the surgery. However, they removed 15 lymph nodes, of which 12 were cancer. Since they couldn't remove any more and were not sure there were any, I have to chemo.

Yesterday I had my first treatment at the chemo lounge at Kaiser Hospital in Hollywood and it lasted about 2 1/2 hours because that had a whole bunch of people - nurses, pharmacists, etc. telling me what to expect and to sign a bunch of things.  Next time it should be less than an hour.

It is now 4 pm on the day after chemo, 25 hours after I left the Chemo lounge, and I don't have any side effects. WHOOPEE!!!!!   One down eight to go.

I hope this all goes as well as the first time. 

All of this seems bad but it isn't. That is one of the things I learned in AA. I do have good doctors and they are optimistic and a wonderful life partner who is there for me 24/7. And I have a Higher Power who has been with me for many years.  She  got through two major surgeries and am OK this time. Plus I didn't die of alcoholism at age 40 or so, and turned 74 this year. Great results of turning things over to God, I would say

My plans don't always work out

Well, my plan for this year was to find out that I was cancer free for five years  but that isn't what happened. The CT scan showed a mass in my right kidney and I will have a biopsy surgery March 5th to be sure it is cancer (probably is) and then deal with it. 

 I am pretty sure what happened - my kidneys were talking one day and were really upset that my bladder was getting so much attention that they had to get into the act.

The surgeon may be able to take out the mass with the less invasive surgery March 5 but he didn't think so. I would probably have to have surgery to remove the kidney. It this keeps happening I am not going to have much of the original body parts, at least in the same places.  I wonder if I will walk lopsided with the removal of the weight of the kidney on one side of my body. Oh well.

Meanwhile I am grateful to be alive and sober and able to deal with these things. A dear friend of mine -Jennifer Robin- died a couple weeks ago of cancer.  She had long time sobriety and enjoyed life.  She was my hero (still is) and I listen to her CDs on my iPod all the time.

I am also grateful that age 61 I found out what I wanted to be when I grow up - working for the Department on Disability. Better late than never!

National Day of Service January 21, 2013

Photos from National Day of Service in honor of the inauguration of President Obama and Martin Luther King Day at Washington Irving Junior High School in Glassell Park, California. I am not in these pictures but I was in a group of 5 cleaning trash and leaves and applying mulch around several trees across from where the lockers were being painted.   A ground of over 200-300 showed up and painted the school, cleaned the grounds and moved old unused books and supplies from the classrooms to dumpsters. Also it was a celebration with music and dancing with all groups represented - Caucasian, Asian, African American, Pacific Islander, etc. Also Latinos and Latinas, gay and straight, old and young.

National Day of Service - Glassell Park Elementary School

January 19, 2013