I felt pretty good this morning, actually. I don’t usually get as verbose as I did unless I’m feeling good. I still had the fatigue, but I wasn’t as tired, and my mood was pretty good as well.
I went to radiation therapy and breezed right through it. I had to stop at Shopko to get a prescription refilled. Usually I get everything on the same schedule, so I can get them refilled all at once. It’s going to be a long while before I can do that again.
The consult was kinda funny. The pharmacist came over, looked at the prescription, started to ask if I had any questions, when she looked up into my face. Then she says, “Oh, I see it’s a refill.” Why is it that no eyebrows thing gives it away almost every time?
~~~~~~~~~
A couple of weeks ago, Ben and I were in the kitchen when I happened to actually look at my fingernails. There were four strange ridges going across the nail. It looked like a corduroy road, or am I dating myself here?
We surmised that it was due to the chemotherapy. Every session kills fast growing cells and probably slows down the rest of them for some time to come. Should work the same way for the nail bed.
So I started paying attention when I went in to the clinic, and sure enough, there were more than enough nails that looked like mine. It's interesting when I see the same nails on a nurse. I know that she knows exactly how I feel.
Back to the Internet to do some research. It turns out that the lines are called Beau’s Lines. The photo only show one line, so you’ll have to imagine what four lines look like. It seems like I learn something new every day.
Now, if I had only gone with Amy to get that pedicure, I might have learned something back around Christmas time!!!! :-P
~~~~~~~~~
After I got my prescription at Shopko, I wandered over to the junk food aisle to see if there was anything worth taking home for lunch. Then I remembered my daughter recently sending some candy home to Ben and I as a belated St. Valentine’s Day present. Hershey’s Kisses. New York Cheesecake KISSES!!!!! BTW, Amy, they were the first thing I sampled!!! I can tell that when I get my taste back, they will be a favorite!
More than six different bags of chocolate, and I can barely tell the difference in taste.
Anyway, I wanted to see if they were here in Wisconsin. I couldn’t find ‘em. But I did find something else. I finally found Green & Black Organic Chocolates!! We had tried them the last time we were in Tampa, as I recall. Shopko didn’t have my favorite, the Ginger (60% cocoa with crystallized ginger) but they did have another favorite, the Maya Gold (55% cocoa with orange, cinnamon, and vanilla).
I bought two bars, one for Ben and one that is half gone. We’re talking 100 grams of chocolate here! I keep waiting for the flavor I remember to magically appear in my mouth. But I can barely taste the orange. That’s why I was looking for the Ginger. There they at least have pieces of crystalized ginger root.
There was also a gift in the package for me that I’ll tell you about later.
~~~~~~~~~
Now I hope that you understand why I keep a close eye on, and drool over, Sunni’s Truffles. Right now, and apparently for some time to come, I can only imagine what they taste like. And I’d like to think that I had a (small) hand in her Inca Gold truffles. I added to the discussion about them on her site, back when she was just getting started making them!! The only thing missing IMHO is the café! But, I can’t offer suggestions for something that I haven’t tasted, and probably won’t be able to for quite some time.
Now, I’m not normally a caramel fan, but her Dirty Girls just might tempt me. Or maybe her Dressed Dirty Girls! How intriguing!
~~~~~~~~~
Oscar shared some photos of his kids out fishing last year, and the results of one of their trips that got mounted. Nice looking fish, and one proud kid! BTW, Oscar’s wife, Dee, is my resident expert on the Oneida language.
That got me missing my “woodsy ways.” So I dug out my CO2 Gamo P23 BB gun and the pellet trap I dug up last night. I loaded it with lead BBs and tried to hit the swinging plate targets in my trap. Ten BBs and I could count the number of times I hit a plate on one hand. Not a very happy camper.
So, I switched over to pellets; they should be more accurate. NOT! Or at least it didn’t seem that way. The first pellet went poot! I opened the action only to find the pellet still in the chamber. So I seated the pellet and tried again. At least this time I heard the pellet hit the trap. But I didn’t hit a target. I had to seat every pellet before it would fire. I don’t know what was wrong, and I’m too fatigued to try and find out tonight. But I thought it was me.
So, back to the basement I went, and dug up my old pump action .22 caliber Crosman pellet pistol. The first four pellets through the old standby hit every size plate—there are three sizes—and hit the smallest one twice. I still got it!
So, I don’t feel so bad.
It may not seem like much to you, but when I lose my taste, lose feeling in my feet and hands, lose some of my hearing, and have a continuous ringing in my ears that won’t go away, when I sometimes have trouble understanding what I read, when I sometimes have trouble expressing what I mean, when I can’t trust my muscles for very long without them starting to shake, it’s simple things like controlling a pellet pistol that gives me hope.
So, I don’t feel so bad, now.
Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
Friday, February 22, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
My First Choice
I knew it! I should’a went with my first choice.
I was actually feeling a little better today, not as fatigued as I was yesterday. So, there still is hope!!
I still have the stomach pain, and I did discuss that with the nurses today. BTW, Nurse Diane has moved from chemo over to the radiation side. She’s gone over to the dark side. Or the light side. Don’t really know. Depends on how you look at it. But Nurse Diane is one of the good ones. She gets high marks in my book!
Anyway, I told them about my stomach pain and my “near misses.” Since my cancer is at the GE juncture (that’s gastro-esophageal juncture) everything is pretty much up for grabs here. No one seems to know. But we’re keeping an eye on it.
Did you miss me? I had to get up to take my pain meds. I missed a dose earlier this afternoon and my hiccup/spasms/burps were starting to hurt, big time. I know, I know, I need to stay ahead of the pain, not play catch up! I discussed that with Nurse Diane today, too. I told Nurse Diane that RT Paula had already told me about it. I just have to remember to follow it!
And, RT Amy, the younger, told me that I have been doing great despite my recent pain. I had told them the honeymoon was officially over; they were now hurting me. Apparently, they usually expect MORE fatigue at this juncture. So they are impressed with my progress. I took the opportunity to point out my history of vitamin supplementation and how that can contribute to my overall health. ‘Course, they could be just “shinin’ me on, too!”
~~~~~~~~~
I don’t know if I mentioned Physical Therapist Rose before. One day when I was getting chemo, PT Rose came in and gave me a complimentary back massage. It wasn’t very much of a massage, more like a “laying on of hands.” But she had nice warm hands! They don’t want me doing deep tissue massages right now. They’re afraid of blood clots breaking loose. And, I’d have to go along with them on that one.
She showed up in Radiation last week wanting to give me another massage, for free. I declined. I already had my coat on, I was whooped, and just wanted to get to the car before I collapsed. Did I mention that I haven’t found a handicapped parking spot open whenever I stop at the clinic? So I always end up parking way out in the boonies, anyway. Good thing I haven’t NEEDED a handicapped parking spot, yet.
She stopped by today for a follow-up. I again declined. I told her that although her warm hands are pleasurable, I prefer a little more strenuous massage. She pointed out that my treatments make that difficult and unadvisable. So I told her I would save her the time and her fingers.
She also has tennis elbow (TE)—another reason I declined, but don’t tell her please—so I suggested that she up her intake of magnesium for the inflammation, and described my learning curve with a loss of magnesium due to the Cisplatin, the subsequent pain in my arthritic joints and tendons, and the elimination of my pain by magnesium supplementation. We talked a little more about the benefits of supplementation and she said that she would try it and see how it worked for her. It helped when I told her that I had TE in my left elbow, had iontophoresis, and have had no further problems with that arm, but the treatment of the right arm with NSAIDS and those brace/bands thingies have done nothing to help. Except for the magnesium.
~~~~~~~~~
Please don't be deceived by my bitching some times, Aurora does have some really good people, too!
~~~~~~~~~
I felt so good today that I had a dilemma on my hands. Do I conserve my energy and bask in the glow of less fatigue, or do I get up and do something. I went with number two. And it wasn’t even much of anything. I went downstairs looking for two items stored in my boxes. I really need to get down there and get those boxes sorted out and all the junk tossed out. For some reason that really seemed to take the energy out of me. And it increased my cough. Bad choice! Remind me next time, will you?
Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
I was actually feeling a little better today, not as fatigued as I was yesterday. So, there still is hope!!
I still have the stomach pain, and I did discuss that with the nurses today. BTW, Nurse Diane has moved from chemo over to the radiation side. She’s gone over to the dark side. Or the light side. Don’t really know. Depends on how you look at it. But Nurse Diane is one of the good ones. She gets high marks in my book!
Anyway, I told them about my stomach pain and my “near misses.” Since my cancer is at the GE juncture (that’s gastro-esophageal juncture) everything is pretty much up for grabs here. No one seems to know. But we’re keeping an eye on it.
Did you miss me? I had to get up to take my pain meds. I missed a dose earlier this afternoon and my hiccup/spasms/burps were starting to hurt, big time. I know, I know, I need to stay ahead of the pain, not play catch up! I discussed that with Nurse Diane today, too. I told Nurse Diane that RT Paula had already told me about it. I just have to remember to follow it!
And, RT Amy, the younger, told me that I have been doing great despite my recent pain. I had told them the honeymoon was officially over; they were now hurting me. Apparently, they usually expect MORE fatigue at this juncture. So they are impressed with my progress. I took the opportunity to point out my history of vitamin supplementation and how that can contribute to my overall health. ‘Course, they could be just “shinin’ me on, too!”
~~~~~~~~~
I don’t know if I mentioned Physical Therapist Rose before. One day when I was getting chemo, PT Rose came in and gave me a complimentary back massage. It wasn’t very much of a massage, more like a “laying on of hands.” But she had nice warm hands! They don’t want me doing deep tissue massages right now. They’re afraid of blood clots breaking loose. And, I’d have to go along with them on that one.
She showed up in Radiation last week wanting to give me another massage, for free. I declined. I already had my coat on, I was whooped, and just wanted to get to the car before I collapsed. Did I mention that I haven’t found a handicapped parking spot open whenever I stop at the clinic? So I always end up parking way out in the boonies, anyway. Good thing I haven’t NEEDED a handicapped parking spot, yet.
She stopped by today for a follow-up. I again declined. I told her that although her warm hands are pleasurable, I prefer a little more strenuous massage. She pointed out that my treatments make that difficult and unadvisable. So I told her I would save her the time and her fingers.
She also has tennis elbow (TE)—another reason I declined, but don’t tell her please—so I suggested that she up her intake of magnesium for the inflammation, and described my learning curve with a loss of magnesium due to the Cisplatin, the subsequent pain in my arthritic joints and tendons, and the elimination of my pain by magnesium supplementation. We talked a little more about the benefits of supplementation and she said that she would try it and see how it worked for her. It helped when I told her that I had TE in my left elbow, had iontophoresis, and have had no further problems with that arm, but the treatment of the right arm with NSAIDS and those brace/bands thingies have done nothing to help. Except for the magnesium.
~~~~~~~~~
Please don't be deceived by my bitching some times, Aurora does have some really good people, too!
~~~~~~~~~
I felt so good today that I had a dilemma on my hands. Do I conserve my energy and bask in the glow of less fatigue, or do I get up and do something. I went with number two. And it wasn’t even much of anything. I went downstairs looking for two items stored in my boxes. I really need to get down there and get those boxes sorted out and all the junk tossed out. For some reason that really seemed to take the energy out of me. And it increased my cough. Bad choice! Remind me next time, will you?
Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Long, Long Ago…
…in a galaxy far, far away, back before I was married, I was dating a 'sweet young thing' who had a bad habit. She smoked.
Now, as an individual, you can do whatever it is that you want to do as long as you don’t hurt anyone else. Hurting yourself is just plain stupid. So, I don’t mind if you smoke. BTW, the World Health Organization's first report on second hand smoke indicated that there was no problem at all. It was later that they pulled that report and became politically correct about the issue of SHS.
In fact, one of the reasons I still carry a lighter is so that I can be a “gentleman” and light the cigarettes of women (and men) who don’t happen to have a light. I just don’t really care to kiss an ashtray, if you know what I mean.
Back to the sweet young thing, one day, she told me that she wanted to quit smoking. So, being a gentleman, I offered to help. I told her that I would hypnotize her so that she wouldn’t want to smoke. The fact that I had never hypnotized anyone else before didn’t stop me. How do I know if I can do it if I don’t try? Besides, I was practicing self-hypnosis at the time; how hard could it be to hypnotize someone else?
So, I hypnotized her and told her that she wouldn’t be bothered by the smell of a cigarette, but the taste of a cigarette would be the worst thing that she could possibly imagine. I also implanted a post-hypnotic suggestion so I could check to see if my attempt was successful.
I brought her out of the “trance” and we continued our day. We sat down to lunch at her place, I triggered the post-hypnotic suggestion, and she got the strangest look on her face. She got up from where she was sitting, went into her living room, and picked up the beaded necklace that she had hanging on a doorknob. She slipped the necklace over her head, and instantly remembered that she had been hypnotized, which had been my intention.
So, we talked about her experience with hypnosis, but we never discussed the reason for the hypnosis. I had implanted the suggestion that she forget that part.
We had lunch and left to go somewhere in my old VW. I loved that car! We got into the car and the first thing she did was shake a cigarette out of her pack. She lit up, got another strange look on her face, and stabbed the cigarette out in my ashtray. She shook another out of the pack, lit that one, and tried a drag on that one. (Do they still call it “taking a drag?”) She immediately stabbed that one out in my ashtray and crushed the rest of the pack in her hands muttering something about a “bad pack.”
Meanwhile, I’m trying to drive while observing her, and trying very hard not to laugh.
She stopped smoking from that day onward and stayed off the stuff for several years. She did eventually start back up again, but that was because I hadn’t anticipated everything that could tempt someone to start smoking again. :-)
But, several weeks afterwards, I asked her about her behavior that day and why she had quit. She said that the cigarettes had started tasting very bad for some reason. I asked her what they tasted like to her, and her one-word reply was “vomit!”
Now, multiply that by about a million times for me. As near as I can figure, the last time I had occasion to vomit was when I was a teen, a very young teen. Even when I started drinking, and not having had any training in drinking—drinking was supposed to be a sin for me at the time, and they don’t train you in sinning—even though I overdid the alcohol thing, I never vomited! There was one time I might have wanted to, I fell asleep sitting up with a waste can between my legs, but I didn’t. I like to say that it’s against my religion.
You can imagine my surprise when I almost “tossed” the first couple of bites of my Hardee’s Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit on Monday just before chemo. I thought that it was just the way I ate it too fast or something. Or maybe there was something wrong with the sandwich.
So I wasn’t prepared at all for this afternoon when I almost “tossed” one cracker dipped in some freshly made cheese dip.
I’ve always said that I’ve been extremely lucky that I haven’t had any nausea or vomiting at all. So far. Others aren’t quite as lucky.
But my problem lies right in the center of my being. If I ever had to shoot someone, my cancer, my tumor, lies right where I would put the first two rounds, my center of mass. Almost everything that happens within the body is centered on what lies just behind the sternum.
I’ve mentioned the hiccups and the spasms that my radiation treatment has caused. I think things are about to get worse. That area has started to get sore, and kinda tender. I’m thinking that the pain meds are going to start again soon.
But, I’m still maintaining my body weight, and I only have five days of radiation and probably one more round of chemo left. Then with any luck they’ll leave me alone for a couple of weeks and then do some imaging to see where we are.
I’ll let you know how it goes!
Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
Now, as an individual, you can do whatever it is that you want to do as long as you don’t hurt anyone else. Hurting yourself is just plain stupid. So, I don’t mind if you smoke. BTW, the World Health Organization's first report on second hand smoke indicated that there was no problem at all. It was later that they pulled that report and became politically correct about the issue of SHS.
In fact, one of the reasons I still carry a lighter is so that I can be a “gentleman” and light the cigarettes of women (and men) who don’t happen to have a light. I just don’t really care to kiss an ashtray, if you know what I mean.
Back to the sweet young thing, one day, she told me that she wanted to quit smoking. So, being a gentleman, I offered to help. I told her that I would hypnotize her so that she wouldn’t want to smoke. The fact that I had never hypnotized anyone else before didn’t stop me. How do I know if I can do it if I don’t try? Besides, I was practicing self-hypnosis at the time; how hard could it be to hypnotize someone else?
So, I hypnotized her and told her that she wouldn’t be bothered by the smell of a cigarette, but the taste of a cigarette would be the worst thing that she could possibly imagine. I also implanted a post-hypnotic suggestion so I could check to see if my attempt was successful.
I brought her out of the “trance” and we continued our day. We sat down to lunch at her place, I triggered the post-hypnotic suggestion, and she got the strangest look on her face. She got up from where she was sitting, went into her living room, and picked up the beaded necklace that she had hanging on a doorknob. She slipped the necklace over her head, and instantly remembered that she had been hypnotized, which had been my intention.
So, we talked about her experience with hypnosis, but we never discussed the reason for the hypnosis. I had implanted the suggestion that she forget that part.
We had lunch and left to go somewhere in my old VW. I loved that car! We got into the car and the first thing she did was shake a cigarette out of her pack. She lit up, got another strange look on her face, and stabbed the cigarette out in my ashtray. She shook another out of the pack, lit that one, and tried a drag on that one. (Do they still call it “taking a drag?”) She immediately stabbed that one out in my ashtray and crushed the rest of the pack in her hands muttering something about a “bad pack.”
Meanwhile, I’m trying to drive while observing her, and trying very hard not to laugh.
She stopped smoking from that day onward and stayed off the stuff for several years. She did eventually start back up again, but that was because I hadn’t anticipated everything that could tempt someone to start smoking again. :-)
But, several weeks afterwards, I asked her about her behavior that day and why she had quit. She said that the cigarettes had started tasting very bad for some reason. I asked her what they tasted like to her, and her one-word reply was “vomit!”
Now, multiply that by about a million times for me. As near as I can figure, the last time I had occasion to vomit was when I was a teen, a very young teen. Even when I started drinking, and not having had any training in drinking—drinking was supposed to be a sin for me at the time, and they don’t train you in sinning—even though I overdid the alcohol thing, I never vomited! There was one time I might have wanted to, I fell asleep sitting up with a waste can between my legs, but I didn’t. I like to say that it’s against my religion.
You can imagine my surprise when I almost “tossed” the first couple of bites of my Hardee’s Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit on Monday just before chemo. I thought that it was just the way I ate it too fast or something. Or maybe there was something wrong with the sandwich.
So I wasn’t prepared at all for this afternoon when I almost “tossed” one cracker dipped in some freshly made cheese dip.
I’ve always said that I’ve been extremely lucky that I haven’t had any nausea or vomiting at all. So far. Others aren’t quite as lucky.
But my problem lies right in the center of my being. If I ever had to shoot someone, my cancer, my tumor, lies right where I would put the first two rounds, my center of mass. Almost everything that happens within the body is centered on what lies just behind the sternum.
I’ve mentioned the hiccups and the spasms that my radiation treatment has caused. I think things are about to get worse. That area has started to get sore, and kinda tender. I’m thinking that the pain meds are going to start again soon.
But, I’m still maintaining my body weight, and I only have five days of radiation and probably one more round of chemo left. Then with any luck they’ll leave me alone for a couple of weeks and then do some imaging to see where we are.
I’ll let you know how it goes!
Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Late Radiation Treatment Today
Due to scheduling conflicts, they had me come in late this afternoon for treatment. I’ll have the same situation on Monday and Tuesday of next week. The nice thing was I didn’t have to set my alarm to wake up!!!
I’ve mentioned the “hiccups” or muscle spasms with relation to treatment. I experienced that again today. And, I do have some pain in the area. I’m hoping that it doesn’t develop into something more.
~~~~~~~~~~
This police abuse issue is developing a life of it’s own. I recently read about a situation near Orlando where the cops told a 17-year-old woman to stop calling them or they would arrest her and her ex-boyfriend just before her ex-boyfriend kills her and then kills himself.
Or how about the Shreveport Louisiana police officer who turns off the video camera while booking a woman for DWI. When the camera comes back on, the woman is laying on the floor in a pool of her own blood, suffering black eyes, busted teeth, and other assorted injuries. “She slipped and fell.” And the officer apparently did everything according to procedure!
~~~~~~~~~
With those in mind, I reflected on my own “run-ins” with the police.
I was once struck in the face by an Illinois State Police officer in my own house. He was looking for someone, and I wasn’t being “forthcoming” with my responses. But that was years ago.
Last year, I had a run-in with a Green Bay City officer. As an ex-QA manager, I take the rules of the road rather seriously. Ask Amy!! So it's not too often that I come to the attention of the police. But in this case I was driving west on Mason Street, which is a four-lane street and was attempting to make a right turn into a two-lane street.
The officer was in the left lane behind me, and by his own words wasn’t paying too much attention to traffic; he was probably playing with his computer. So when I made my turn exactly as taught by my instructors for the conditions, he got bent out of shape and pulled me over.
First he tried to say that I cut him off. I was making a right turn with a trailer. We have to make WIDE RIGHT TURNS if we wish to keep our trailer wheels in the street instead of all over the sidewalk and any pedestrians that are there. I’m sure that you’ve all seen the Caution Wide Right Turns graphic on the back of some trailers. That means I had to use most of his lane to make my turn.
Then he said that I didn’t have my turn signal on and that I nearly ran over the woman who was trying to sneak past me on the right side. I calmly explained that my signal had been on for over a block and that I was watching the woman to make sure that I didn’t run over her vehicle.
“In the old days,” and you might still see it on some of the older trailers, there were signs that had an arrow pointing to the left side of the trailer with the caption “Passing Side.” An arrow pointing to the right side of the trailer had a caption that read “Suicide.”
You try passing on the right side of a tractor-trailer, and you just might get run over. I’ve seen it happen! Yet 4-wheelers still continue to try and pass on the right side. Duh!!
I calmly explained to him that I made the turn as I was taught, and the same way as millions of other truckers make right turns under the same situation. But for whatever reason, he was highly incensed, shouting and waving his arms around.
I had done nothing wrong. I did everything the way I was supposed to. But he was still giving me a hard time.
I called my boss later and explained the situation, that we had an idiot cop in Green Bay. The only thing that I can come up with to explain his behavior was he had asked several times if I had seen him behind me (before making my turn). My guess was that, along with him not paying attention to traffic and possibly almost hitting me, he thought that I should have let him go by me before making my swing to the left to make my right turn successfully.
If I had done something wrong, he would have ticketed me. Since I had nothing wrong, all he could do was put the “fear of my government” into me. I believe that it was Thomas Jefferson who said, “If the government fear the people, that is LIBERTY, if the people fear the government, that is TYRANNY.”
~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of tyranny, Dr. Himmy said I couldn’t use my resveratrol and quercetin supplements until my chemo was over. Which is kinda funny because resveratrol has been shown in some instances to induce apoptosis, which is a programmed cell death. Cancer cells survive because they somehow turn off their susceptibility to programmed cell death. Resveratrol turns that susceptibility back on. So it works well with chemo.
Oh, well! One of these days I need to go on a rant about allopaths.
Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
I’ve mentioned the “hiccups” or muscle spasms with relation to treatment. I experienced that again today. And, I do have some pain in the area. I’m hoping that it doesn’t develop into something more.
~~~~~~~~~~
This police abuse issue is developing a life of it’s own. I recently read about a situation near Orlando where the cops told a 17-year-old woman to stop calling them or they would arrest her and her ex-boyfriend just before her ex-boyfriend kills her and then kills himself.
Or how about the Shreveport Louisiana police officer who turns off the video camera while booking a woman for DWI. When the camera comes back on, the woman is laying on the floor in a pool of her own blood, suffering black eyes, busted teeth, and other assorted injuries. “She slipped and fell.” And the officer apparently did everything according to procedure!
~~~~~~~~~
With those in mind, I reflected on my own “run-ins” with the police.
I was once struck in the face by an Illinois State Police officer in my own house. He was looking for someone, and I wasn’t being “forthcoming” with my responses. But that was years ago.
Last year, I had a run-in with a Green Bay City officer. As an ex-QA manager, I take the rules of the road rather seriously. Ask Amy!! So it's not too often that I come to the attention of the police. But in this case I was driving west on Mason Street, which is a four-lane street and was attempting to make a right turn into a two-lane street.
The officer was in the left lane behind me, and by his own words wasn’t paying too much attention to traffic; he was probably playing with his computer. So when I made my turn exactly as taught by my instructors for the conditions, he got bent out of shape and pulled me over.
First he tried to say that I cut him off. I was making a right turn with a trailer. We have to make WIDE RIGHT TURNS if we wish to keep our trailer wheels in the street instead of all over the sidewalk and any pedestrians that are there. I’m sure that you’ve all seen the Caution Wide Right Turns graphic on the back of some trailers. That means I had to use most of his lane to make my turn.
Then he said that I didn’t have my turn signal on and that I nearly ran over the woman who was trying to sneak past me on the right side. I calmly explained that my signal had been on for over a block and that I was watching the woman to make sure that I didn’t run over her vehicle.
“In the old days,” and you might still see it on some of the older trailers, there were signs that had an arrow pointing to the left side of the trailer with the caption “Passing Side.” An arrow pointing to the right side of the trailer had a caption that read “Suicide.”
You try passing on the right side of a tractor-trailer, and you just might get run over. I’ve seen it happen! Yet 4-wheelers still continue to try and pass on the right side. Duh!!
I calmly explained to him that I made the turn as I was taught, and the same way as millions of other truckers make right turns under the same situation. But for whatever reason, he was highly incensed, shouting and waving his arms around.
I had done nothing wrong. I did everything the way I was supposed to. But he was still giving me a hard time.
I called my boss later and explained the situation, that we had an idiot cop in Green Bay. The only thing that I can come up with to explain his behavior was he had asked several times if I had seen him behind me (before making my turn). My guess was that, along with him not paying attention to traffic and possibly almost hitting me, he thought that I should have let him go by me before making my swing to the left to make my right turn successfully.
If I had done something wrong, he would have ticketed me. Since I had nothing wrong, all he could do was put the “fear of my government” into me. I believe that it was Thomas Jefferson who said, “If the government fear the people, that is LIBERTY, if the people fear the government, that is TYRANNY.”
~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of tyranny, Dr. Himmy said I couldn’t use my resveratrol and quercetin supplements until my chemo was over. Which is kinda funny because resveratrol has been shown in some instances to induce apoptosis, which is a programmed cell death. Cancer cells survive because they somehow turn off their susceptibility to programmed cell death. Resveratrol turns that susceptibility back on. So it works well with chemo.
Oh, well! One of these days I need to go on a rant about allopaths.
Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
Monday, February 18, 2008
No Chemo Today!
Although I had radiation therapy today, I wasn’t administered chemotherapy today. My blood work was too far off the charts for the clinic to be able to sell me another treatment.
Now, it doesn’t surprise me. Carboplatin, one of my current anti-cancer drugs, causes bone marrow suppression. That means that my bone marrow isn’t making the necessary blood cells for me to fight off infection and the like effectively. Now, the low point in this suppression occurs 21 – 28 days after starting use of the drug. Guess what day today is.
Let’s see, looking back in my diary/blog I find that I started chemo on the 21rst of January. So, last week’s chemo, the one I didn’t figure that I’d get from the dosing schedule from my online investigations, was 21 days. I figured three weeks of treatment, and one week off to allow the body to recover. But the clinic went ahead with four weeks of treatment, the last week’s dose slightly reduced due to the fact that my blood work was already starting to reflect what was happening within my bones. So they had to take this week’s treatment off. That’s 28 days.
The good news is that this should be as bad as it gets. I know that you’ll forgive me if I don’t get too terribly excited.
Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
Now, it doesn’t surprise me. Carboplatin, one of my current anti-cancer drugs, causes bone marrow suppression. That means that my bone marrow isn’t making the necessary blood cells for me to fight off infection and the like effectively. Now, the low point in this suppression occurs 21 – 28 days after starting use of the drug. Guess what day today is.
Let’s see, looking back in my diary/blog I find that I started chemo on the 21rst of January. So, last week’s chemo, the one I didn’t figure that I’d get from the dosing schedule from my online investigations, was 21 days. I figured three weeks of treatment, and one week off to allow the body to recover. But the clinic went ahead with four weeks of treatment, the last week’s dose slightly reduced due to the fact that my blood work was already starting to reflect what was happening within my bones. So they had to take this week’s treatment off. That’s 28 days.
The good news is that this should be as bad as it gets. I know that you’ll forgive me if I don’t get too terribly excited.
Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
Slower Traffic Keep Right
While heading to my 8:30 AM chemotherapy appointment this morning, I was struck by how many women were in the left lane of I-43, going 15 mph or more UNDER the posted speed limits. What is so hard to understand about the fact that if you are going slower than the guy behind you, you are required by law to move to the right and allow the faster vehicle to pass you? Even if you are going the speed limit, you still have a legal and moral obligation to move to the right!
From the Wisconsin DOT:
Road rage is right! I had to work my way around five women this morning, passing them on the RIGHT, just to exercise my right to drive the speed limit. And several of them honked at me! They’re breaking the law, and they honk at me! Why do I need to reduce myself to the level of the lowest common denominator?
I need one of these. I’d like to get the GTFOOMW option printed on the back side, though. For when I need to express myself. I have thought of something else I can use, but I'll plead the Fifth!
And it wasn't just women. Although they happened to be the lawbreakers I encountered, one of the nurses who lives in Crivitz said that men were involved as well.
From the Wisconsin DOT:
Slower traffic keep right: Drivers must allow faster traffic to pass in the left lane on divided highways
Life in the fast lane is not for everyone, and often it's better to let those moving more rapidly just pass you by. This is especially true while driving on Interstate highways and other multiple-lane roadways. If you're traveling slower than other vehicles, you can help traffic move more safely and efficiently by staying in the right lane as much as possible.
According to Wisconsin law, any vehicle traveling "at less than the normal speed of traffic" is required to be driven in the right lane (or as close as practicable) except when overtaking or passing another vehicle. A citation for violating this law costs $198.60 with four demerit points assessed on the driver's license.
"Even when you're driving at the posted speed limit, you should allow faster moving vehicles to pass. Trying to force other drivers to slow down by blocking the left lane does not make our highways safer. Instead, it leads to more tailgating, road rage and other problems," says State Patrol Superintendent David Collins. "We hope that drivers will leave enforcement of speed limits to our troopers and other law enforcement officers."
The State Patrol advises motorists to follow these guidelines to help maintain a safe flow of traffic on Interstates and other divided highways:If you're not passing another vehicle, use the right lane as much as possible. If you're in the right lane, allow other drivers to merge from the left lane into the right lane so that faster traffic can pass in the left lane. In addition, provide space for vehicles to merge into the right lane when they are entering a roadway from an on-ramp. If you're in the left lane, don't tailgate or try to make a slower vehicle ahead of you move to the right lane. Be patient and courteous.
Superintendent Collins says, "When slower moving vehicles use the right lane, traffic flows more smoothly with less congestion and road rage, which certainly helps make our highways safer and more efficient."
Road rage is right! I had to work my way around five women this morning, passing them on the RIGHT, just to exercise my right to drive the speed limit. And several of them honked at me! They’re breaking the law, and they honk at me! Why do I need to reduce myself to the level of the lowest common denominator?
I need one of these. I’d like to get the GTFOOMW option printed on the back side, though. For when I need to express myself. I have thought of something else I can use, but I'll plead the Fifth!
And it wasn't just women. Although they happened to be the lawbreakers I encountered, one of the nurses who lives in Crivitz said that men were involved as well.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Thoughts on the Police
I started out this afternoon to put down some thoughts I had bouncing around in my mind, such as it is. Then I realized that I really didn’t want to give up my Fifth Amendment rights, so I had to discontinue that line of thought. Did you know that the police will read your blogs and MySpace accounts looking for evidence of crimes, if you are a “person of interest?” And one never knows when they will become a POI.
I see that I haven’t posted anything about Amy’s friend, Brian, who was sorely mistreated by the “po po.” The deputy did finally get arrested and booked at the Orient Road jail and released on bail. Way to go Brian!! I hope that they treated her better than she treated Brian.
But there are a lot more abuses going on out there. Here’s a sampling:
There are two types of laws in this country: malum in se and malum prohibitum. Malum in se refers to an act that is wrong in itself, things like murder, rape, and theft. Malum prohibitum refers to an act that is prohibited by statute, not because it is wrong in and of itself, like driving on the left hand side of the road here in the States.
Our police used to be considered Peace Officers; they were here to protect us from folks intent on committing mala in se (plural). Over the years they changed into Law Enforcement Officers intent on enforcing things that were mala prohibita (again, plural). Why?
I think Ayn Rand hit the nail on the head when she said, “There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws.”
I tried to find a recording on the Internet today by Jinx Dawson from the group, Coven, entitled One Tin Soldier from the movie, Billy Jack. I ended running through my copy of the movie to see if I could record it from there. Looks like I’ll have to put up with some movie background noise. But a comment Billy made while I was browsing through the movie came thundering down on me today. He said, “When the police break the law, then there is no law, just a fight for survival.”
I gotta get to bed. I have chemo bright and early tomorrow morning and then radiation. And this HTML took longer than I thought!
Kunolunkwa, y te quireo! And don’t forget about your jury rights!! It's one of the few ways you can protect your fellow individuals from police abuses.
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
I see that I haven’t posted anything about Amy’s friend, Brian, who was sorely mistreated by the “po po.” The deputy did finally get arrested and booked at the Orient Road jail and released on bail. Way to go Brian!! I hope that they treated her better than she treated Brian.
But there are a lot more abuses going on out there. Here’s a sampling:
- Here’s another Hillsborough County deputy sheriff taking it out on a Tampa woman concerned for her father who was having a heart attack. I like her father. He’s just like me!
- Cop tasers citizen handcuffed in back of his squad and gets a slap on the wrist for it.
- Ohio woman calls 911 after being assaulted; ends up being held down and strip searched by male and female deputies. Sheriff denies the situation. This one is SICK!! Part 1 video, Part 2 video.
- Baltimore “cop” needing anger management classes vs skateboarder, Same Baltimore cop taking on street artist’s box. At least they suspended the Baltimore cop, with pay!
- Cop arrests firefighter, but at least it cost him something.
- Utah bill wants to hide police misconduct from the public.
There are two types of laws in this country: malum in se and malum prohibitum. Malum in se refers to an act that is wrong in itself, things like murder, rape, and theft. Malum prohibitum refers to an act that is prohibited by statute, not because it is wrong in and of itself, like driving on the left hand side of the road here in the States.
Our police used to be considered Peace Officers; they were here to protect us from folks intent on committing mala in se (plural). Over the years they changed into Law Enforcement Officers intent on enforcing things that were mala prohibita (again, plural). Why?
I think Ayn Rand hit the nail on the head when she said, “There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws.”
I tried to find a recording on the Internet today by Jinx Dawson from the group, Coven, entitled One Tin Soldier from the movie, Billy Jack. I ended running through my copy of the movie to see if I could record it from there. Looks like I’ll have to put up with some movie background noise. But a comment Billy made while I was browsing through the movie came thundering down on me today. He said, “When the police break the law, then there is no law, just a fight for survival.”
I gotta get to bed. I have chemo bright and early tomorrow morning and then radiation. And this HTML took longer than I thought!
Kunolunkwa, y te quireo! And don’t forget about your jury rights!! It's one of the few ways you can protect your fellow individuals from police abuses.
"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith
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