It Appears We Are Winning

Health Report:

My oncologist tells me we are going to start immunotherapy on September 6th. We are waiting for this procedure because of the continued action of the radiation treatments despite having completed the round of treatments.

That is also why we are not doing evaluative scans (CT, MRI, PET). They would be unreliable and probably unreadable because of the radiation activity.

However, I can have a camera inserted into my penis for evaluative observation and possible mass removal. I can't tell you how excited I am about that procedure.

There are two things to celebrate. My stamina and cognitive functions are noticeably better. I can even keep the characters straight in my favorite Brit Box dramas.

The Doctor tells me not to expect any side effects from the immunotherapy except for diarrhea. (I'm aware I might be oversharing here.)

On The Easel:

Bench by the Birch Tree

Pastel 12 x 16

If you saw the photo Jeanne took of me sketching, this is the scene I was working on.

Going Back To The Fox River Valley;

Since meeting Jeanne (pronounced Jean), I have seen where she was raised in Kenosha and met some of her relatives and friends. It was time I took her to the Fox Valley.

It even surprised me how long it took to tour my homes and neighborhoods. It didn't make sense to tour my history chronologically, so we drove through Sherwood, Menasha, Neenah, Town Of Menasha (Now called Fox Crossing), Grand Chute, and Appleton.

At every stop, I regaled my captive driver with stories of my deeds and misdeeds. But what surprised me was how much had changed. My landmark restaurants and businesses had new names, or in the case of one of them, Polly's was utterly gone, lost in a fire, I'm told.

The day's highlight was introducing Jeanne to my son PJ, his wife Stacey, and my big girl granddaughter, Violet. We spent time over some dinner and conversation, introducing Jeanne and listening to a delightful and entertaining Violet.

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Ring The Bell

It appears there is a tradition in the radiology department at Ascension Hospital that patients, upon completing their course of treatment, ring a bell. ( We know not for whom this bell tolls.) Ring the Bell with My Sweetheart Jeanne. Jeanne drove me to all but two of the appointments. Pam Frautchi took me to the other two. Today, after being zapped thirty-two times, I rang the bell. This begins a roughly one-month recovery period where the effects of the radiation abate and, I'm assured, a return to normalcy occurs. In my case, I anticipate more energy and greater awareness. Books, Books, & More Books I am simultaneously celebrating the end of the third year of volunteering for the All Saints Hunger Book Sale. Next week, we will wrap up the preparation for the sale and open our doors on August 3 for the public. I ran into this humourous but quite accurate cartoon on a T-Shirt that shows most of the volunteer's sentiments at this point. If you think the printed and bound p...

One of my latest efforts. Sketch: The Lady Is Blue Gouache 9 X 12 Reporting: I enjoyed a pleasant evening with my friend Michelle Mooney. I took her out for dinner to celebrate her birthday and to thank her for the many first-rate haircuts she's given me. We were surprised at the number of people who dined alfresco in the balmy night air. Whatever we've done to please Mother Nature, she had deemed acceptable by giving us a shot of summer just when late fall weather was wrapping her fingers around our throat. If I have one complaint about the friendly confines of The County Claire, it's the noise level that makes it difficult to converse. The rumble is an acoustical problem with the customers speaking in normal conversational tones. This is without audible TV showing some game or background music selected by a dance DJ. I know! We should have eaten outside, where the only noise is the occasional 14 bus snorting by. Maybe It's Me Since my two soccer teams are not doing...

It's time again.

It started in 2004 when we moved to our condo off Downer in Milwaukee. Then we mover to the Westside of Milwaukee when we rented from Ken Karr, the former landlord, now a current friend on Highland and 29th St. Then we moved to Mandeville Louisiana for a little less than a year. Returning to The Fox River Valley, we rented a home in Fox Crossing, formerly The Town of Menasha. When the tree fell on the roof, and the landlord felt no urgency to fix it, we moved to W. Commercial in Appleton. Here is a shocker. Are you sitting down? We are moving. No, I don't mean off the couch and out to the patio. There are too many damn mosquitoes for that to happen. No, we are packing our stuff, or at least the stuff we unpacked from the last move and moving to a home Maria purchased on Mason and Glendale in Appleton. Let me unpack that last sentence (pun planned for). We are moving at approximately the end of September to a house. The house has been in t...

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