Christmas Kudos

A great big thank you to Judy Jendrzejewski for our delicious prime rib dinner for Christmas evening with Pete and Tracy, the girls and my mother. Andy, Ali and the boys will arrive on Friday for Muilenburg Christmas and Drew's birthday. For anyone interested in history or who is in the teaching field, I would highly recommend " The King's Speech". I took my mother to see it yesterday while Pete stayed with Norm.

As Christmas Nears

The last few days have been so busy, I haven't had time to write. Norm has slowed down some but continues to eat well, be in no pain and enjoy the family and LaRue, who arrived last evening with Andy. We hope that everyone has received our email/blog card and that you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Busy Day

Yesterday, what a day! Judy, Marge and Marge's mother MaryBeth enjoyed a lovely lunch at Albertina Kerr and hopefully fixed MaryBeth's TV to boot. The Borgen's ,in the meantime, visited Norm and John at the house and brought delicious Lemon Bars. John worked on our lighting issues. Norm and Marge went to the Drug Info party hosted by Dan and Colleen Colley where we enjoyed great food and funny "White Elephants". Lastly, we picked up at Sunset Transit Station our good friends from Minnesota, Mark and Karen Nealy. We are so appreciative of them coming all this way on short notice. We even got 6 hours of sleep. Life is good!

Christmas 2010

The Worst of Times - The Best of Times
The worst of times - last year,the day after Thanksgiving , getting Norm's diagnosis of a glioblastoma.
Losing Matt Winthrop, Ed Caldwell and George Rickles during this past year.The Best of Times
Living to see two great sons and two great daughters-in-law and four darling grandchildren with one more arriving in April.
Being able to travel this past year to Minnesota, Phoenix, Maui, Boston to see Norm's Dodgers with Andy and Pete, Cannon Beach two times and the Wallowas and having quality visits with family and friends. Enjoying visits from Norm's sisters in the summer. Dee and Larry Whyman, Debbie and Ken Kubota, Myrna and Koos last week, Mark and Karen Sat. and Marilyn and Stu early next year.
More Bests include celebrating our 40th anniversary at DeCarli's in Beaverton- our favorite restaurant, Drug Info dedicating their library to Norm, handicapped parking, all the delicious goodies that people have brought us, appreciating each day as a gift and the experience of hospice- the comfort, support and quality of the hospice staff.
Last but not least, LaRue, Andy and Ali's pug, who loves Norm as much as he loves her and was his constant companion while we had her.

Norm mentioned " Things I needn't worry about anymore"
Lady Gaga- Low T- 4 Hour Erection -WIKI LEAKS - Jersey Shore -taking out the garbage- cleaning the gutters-prostate exams - colonoscopies - and "old man's" nose and ear hair.


All in all, we have so much to be thankful for. We wish all of you the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years. All our love, Norm and Marge

Yes,Virginia. There is a Santa Claus

Norm's sister and brother-in-law, Myrna and Koos have been here from Racine , Wi. and we've so enjoyed them. I've been doing all my Christmas errands while they have visited with Norm. Last night we went to our favorite restaurant, DeCarli's in Beaverton. We arrived at 4:32 for Happy Hour and all tables of four were already taken and a young woman beat me out of the table for two even though I asked her that since my husband was using a walker that we didn't want to sit at the bar. A kind lady holding a table for three friends gave us her table. We had a good time and great food, as usual. When leaving, I told the lady about Norm's condition and that he was on hospice and how much we appreciated her generosity. The young woman proceeded to grab our table in addition to her own.

Soup and Cookies

Today Irene,Dean and Gerry visited and brought us soup and then we shared Christmas goodies that friends have given. This lunch group(sans Norm and Dean) ( plus Martha and Marilyn)began when our boys were in the 4-5th grade at Terra Linda. It has evolved over the years . First it was lunch as we were mostly at home and then went to dinner as we all went to work and now is back to lunch again as some are retired or working less. What fun we have had - at times being asked not to laugh so loud. We've never been totally kicked out- at least not yet! Norm looks so good . No one would believe there was anything wrong by looking at him.It came over the news that Elizabeth Edwards passed away today and it is sad to think that in her last days she was living with such a cloud over her head.

A Ftting Tribute

The Kaiser folks dedicated their Drug Information Library to Norm. It is such a fitting tribute and we appreciate it so much.There is now a plaque beside the door- the Norm Muilenburg Drug Information Library.

OldFriends

One of the blessings of this past year has been visiting with old friends. Today, Margaret and Loring Winthrop stopped by. We have not had much time with them for quite a while as they lost their son Matt to esophageal cancer last spring. It was such a nice visit to talk in depth with them about their loss and life etc. We met in 1973 right after we moved to Portland. Our oldest sons are the same age and Matt and Pete were just a month apart.Their daughter,Amy, was in between their boys. From Margaret, we met the Jim and Jan Johnson who also had two sons Jimmy and Jeff. We all shared Thanksgiving for many years. Now, Jan is gone, Matt is gone and Norm is on hospice and it just doesn't seem possible. More later.

Coffee and PT

Today Norm's physical therapist visited and thought he was doing great. She gave him some new exercises and will see him again next week. Genie B., Anne N. and Nancy R. visited and brought us Starbuck's and pastries. We had a really fun time as we always do. It so happens that Anne's husband operated on Norm years ago at Good Sam. Nancy and her husband are from Minnesota and knew about Norm's championship basketball team. Everyone is connected.

November 30, 2010

I wish that I wrote as well as Norm does. I tend to be pretty factual but so be it. I had an appt. to get a shot for my arthritic knee so John Jendrzejewski stayed with Norm. I think they were able to solve most of the problems of the world.- politics, medicine etc. Later, Linda, an Occupational Therapist visited for an evaluation after his stroke. She thought he was doing great. His right arm isn't at 100% but almost all the strength has returned. He is walking with a walker and his speech is great. We have so much to be thankful for. This was my " test" blog so we'll see if it goes though.

What a Difference a Week Makes!

Since his stroke a week ago, I never expected him to be up walking, speaking clearly and using his right arm again. he is enjoying his food, reading some, watching TV. We are getting ready for Christmas. Lucy and Sofie visited and helped decorate the tree. We had a very nice Thanksgiving with both Andy, Pete and their families here. Huber's catered- I couldn't have done better myself. Marge

A Busy Few Days

The past two days have been a whirlwind of people and activities. Marge and Norm have been meeting all of the hospice team members and have been very pleased with the care so far. Norm just hollered from the back to praise all of the folks from hospice. They are great people and already a wonderful support system. Yesterday they met the chaplain, and really enjoyed him. The bath aide came to help as well. Today Norm had some physical therapy, and they confirmed that he did indeed have a stroke, not a TIA. There are a few lingering symptoms, but all in all, he is doing really well. After PT, they saw the nurse, the social worker, and had two deliveries from the medical supply people. Carl stopped by as well as Dean Herman for a visit with Norm. Judy J. did some shopping for Marge and came by with a grocery delivery. Andy, Ali, Brady and Drew arrived from Redmond and Pete and Tracy will be here any minute. The phone has been ringing off the hook, but things are getting accomplished and Marge is getting things checked off her list (lists) - so she is able to rest easier at night. Other than that, not much is going on....

I think Norm is a little tired today, but has such a positive spirit and really seems at peace with all of the commotion around him. Still pain free and alert - with the dog on his lap.

That's all for now, its time to go and sit with Norm.

Update

Marge and Norm asked me to update the blog this morning with a few bits of news from the past couple of days...

Norm has started hospice care and is resting comfortably at home. He is awake and aware and probably watching Sunday football right now.

Yesterday, he had a small setback, it appears that he had another TIA/stroke. He was unable to talk very well and having trouble swallowing again. But, the good news is that most of the syptoms have improved over night and he's doing much better today. A nurse will be by later today for an evaluation.

Norm is settled into his hospital stlyle bed in the master bedroom and Marge has been resting in the guest room right across the hall. The one who is benefitting from the the most is the dog, Larue. She's been invited up on to Norm's bed and has taken her favorite place by his side. She continues to be his constant companion.

We are still planning Thanksgiving dinner and will have it catered by Huber's. Please keep Norm and Marge in your thoughts and prayers and give your love ones and extra hug today and everyday.

We will continue to keep updates coming if anything changes.

Congratulations and condolences

Congratulations to the Washington Huskies for beating ex-coach NewWeisel.

Congratulations to Ron Gardenhire for winning AL Manager of Year award.

Congratulations to King Felix for winning AL Cy Young award.

Condolences to snake-bit Portland Trail-Blazers on first drafting Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, then repeating the mistake by drafting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant. 773 is the number of points Durant has scored in his past 25 regular-season games, the same number Oden has scored since he was drafted 3-1/2 years ago.

Native American Poem

Taken from, of all places, the Signals holiday 2010 catalog.

"Don't stand by my grave and weep, for I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond's glint on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn's rain. Don't stand by my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die."

Catch up to date

I spent the past three days as an inpatient at Sunnyside Hospital and was discharged home last evening. While there I had a repeat MRI of the brain, which shows tumor progression despite all treatment efforts, which glioblastomas are wont to do. I feel fortunate and blessed for the good year I've had since my diagnosis a year ago Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for the love and support of family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. I am especially lucky to have Marge, my rock and strength through all of this. I am reminded of Lou Gehrig (1903-1941), who was afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and his farewell speech when he retired from baseball:

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

"Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky.

"When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies - that's something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter - that's something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body - it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed - that's the finest I know.

"So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."

Later ALS became synonymous with Lou Gehrig's Disease. I feel equally fortunate as Lou Gehrig to be blessed with "a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than I dreamed existed...." And of course blessed with Andy and Ali, Pete and Tracy, and four beautiful grandchildren. I really don't feel that I've had "a tough break." I, like Lou Gehrig, consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

This afternoon I was admitted to the Kaiser hospice program, which is a wonderful resource. One step at a time, one day at a time.

All hail

All Hail, Part I

All hail the mighty Minnesota Gophers, who upset Illinois on the road today, 38-34. Minnesota, 2-9 overall, 1-6 Big Ten, hadn't won a Big Ten game in November since 2006.

Former University of Oregon coach Mike Bellotti has made it known that he is interested in getting back into the coaching business. He had a 116-55 record at UO. He has expressed an interest in the open Colorado job; Colorado joins the Pac-12 conference next year. If it doesn't work out there for either party, the Gophers could do worse than Mike Bellotti (e.g., Tim Brewster).

All Hail, Part II

All hail the mighty Washington State Cougars, who upset Oregon State on the road today, 31-14, and in so doing, broke a 16-game Pac-10 losing streak. Pete and Tracy (WSU grad) were at the game, and Andy (OSU grad) was home, licking his wounds.

Airborne takes off, but why?

CONSUMER REPORTS February 2006

"There's a natural way to boost your immune system to fight the germs and viruses that cause colds," says a press release for Airborne, an "effervescent health formula" whose ingredients include herbal extracts, vitamins, electrolytes, amino acids, and antioxidants. A schoolteacher consulted with nutrition experts and herbalists to come up with its formula.

Airborne had sales of more than $65 million for the 12 months ending in October 2005. Even Oprah has said she keeps it on hand. Although Airborne claims "there's nothing else like it," it has spawned two imitators, AirShield, sold at CVS, and Wal-borne, sold at Walgreen's.

Each tablet of all three products contains 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C. For Airborne and Wal-borne, the recommended adult dose is one tablet every three hours "as necessary." A spokesman for Airborne said that as of January 2006, the label of the new pink-grapefruit flavor will list a maximum dosage of three tablets per day for up to 21 days. (Labels for other flavors are scheduled to change in fall 2006.) AirShield suggests up to four tablets a day.

But dosages that high could be cause for concern. Taking more than 2,000 mg of vitamin C per day can greatly increase the risk of diarrhea and gastrointestinal upset, according to the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, which advises the government about recommended levels of nutrients.

Eric Taylor, M.D., a nephrologist at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, says that he would hesitate to recommend any vitamin C supplement for some people who have had the most common type of kidney stones because of an increased risk of more stones.

With regard to Airborne's effectiveness, a company representative cited an unpublished clinical trial as evidence that the product fights colds. But the study was small, not statistically validated or peer reviewed, and sponsored by the manufacturer. Whether Airborne and its imitators work or not, think twice about taking the top dosage. Here's a reason to think three times: 10 tablets cost $5 to $7.

Milwaukee more mellow than Portland?

What was Forbes smoking when it ranked the Rose City No. 4 on its list of laid-back U.S. cities?

By Peter Ames Carlin
The Oregonian
Thursday, November 11. 2010

Forbes magazine released a study to measure the relative mellowness of America's biggest cities. Portland came in fourth.
Fourth?
Fourth.
Fourth?!?

No way.

Our mossy burg is out-mellowed by Minneapolis-St. Paul, those passive-aggressive Minnesota twins? Laid less-back than Milwaukee? Out-chilled by the post-industrial, ghost-filled transit nightmare that is Boston?

Aargh!

Ridiculous. Not just that, it's a travesty! A nightmare!

Those corporate-friendly geniuses at Forbes are oh-so-proud of their study's "metrics," with its statistical measurements of traffic, unemployment, natural environment and relaxation-to-work ratios.

But why no metrics to measure the stress factor introduced by tens of thousands of high-strung, overachievers stalking like zombies around the campuses of Harvard, M.I.T. and Boston College? And what of that city's crazy-making traffic circles, or Milwaukee's cheese-and-cheap-beer diet? Or how about the Twin Cities' jolly dance between the deathly cold of its tundra winters to its sweltering, humid, mosquito-infested summers?

And somehow those circles of hell are somehow more relaxed than our cheerful, car-dodging, light-running cyclists. Less terrifying than the free-floating nation beyond Nike's gun-turreted berm. More fun than the record-setting monsoons that blow in every June for the Rose Festival.

The city that raised Tonya Harding, and nurtured a post-adolescent Monica Lewinsky. Where otherwise intelligent citizens gird for University of Oregon vs. Oregon State University games like the Montagues taking on the Capulets. Where the strip clubs outnumber the churches and the higher-than-U.S.-average unemployment has really taken the edge off of the morning rush hour.

Spend a day on our streets, and you'll see: No reason to feel anxious around here. Our aggression is way too passive, for one thing. Unless, of course, you question our mellowness.

Some advice for Forbes: steer clear of Portland. Unless you want a nice, relaxed butt-kicking, that is.

Sex, pugs and rock'n' roll

The origins of the pug remain a mystery, though a forerunner of the modern breed enjoyed a pampered existence in ancient China. Holland is said to be the first European country to welcome the pug, probably because some Dutch merchant said, "I've always wanted a dog that snorts like a pig and stares at me with its hiney." Pugs were the official dog of Holland's House of Orange.

Pugs have been featured in television and film, including Frank the Pug in the film Men in Black, its sequel and the follow-up animated series. Other films featuring the breed include The Adventures of Milo and Otis, Disney's Pocahontas, 12 Rounds, Marie Antoinette, and Dune. On television, they have appeared in shows such as The King of Queens, Spin City, Legend of the Dragon, The West Wing and Eastenders.

In a 23 May 2007, web issue of The Onion, the breed was lampooned in a fake news article titled "Dog Breeders Issue Massive Recall of '07 Pugs". The piece satirized pugs and their breeders by writing of the dog and its characteristics as a faulty product, "evidenced" by a fictional quote from the American Pug Breeders Association director: "While pug owners are accustomed to dog malfunction, the latest animals are prone to more problems than just the usual joint failures, overheating, seizures, chronic respiratory defects, and inability to breed without assistance. The latest model Pug is simply not in any way a viable dog ."

Avastin infusion today

I had my fourth of six planned Avastin (bevacizumab) infusions today. As with the first three, I tolerated it without incident. Then, of course, comes the repeat MRI after #6.

Wayward Vikings win one for the caterer

The wackiest of all the NFL's 2010 train wrecks scores a thrilling overtime win

By Jason Gay
The Wall Street Journal
Monday, November 8, 2010

They have a quarterback who's so old, he has thrown touchdown passes to Percy Harvin and Henry Fonda.

They traded for a controversial wide receiver—only to cut him when he acted controversially.

They have a coach who gets fired on the Internet at least nine times a day.

They are the Most Interesting 3-5 Football Team in the World.

They are the magnetic but underachieving Minnesota Vikings, and to call them a soap opera is to be highly charitable to the authors of soap operas. Not even the most gifted TV scribe could compose such a bizarre script. After a dramatic run to the NFC Championship Game last year, the Vikings dragged Brett Favre out of his self-imposed retirement home, hoping he'd make one last Super Bowl push.

Instead, the 2010 Vikings have been shredded by injuries, painful losses and acid, in-house dissension. Mr. Favre has played erratically, squabbled with head coach Brad Childress, and gotten himself tangled in weird allegations from his 2008 lost season with the New York Jets. Randy Moss came and went after a calamitous four-game cameo that reportedly included a rude insult of a Vikings team caterer.

To cap it off, Mr. Childress had a lively disagreement with Mr. Harvin at practice on Friday. Rumors swirled about the coach's fragile job status before Sunday's date with Arizona.

So what does Minnesota go out and do? It falls behind the Cardinals 24-10 with less than five minutes remaining—Mr. Childress nearly put his coach's headset on eBay—only to have Mr. Favre revive the Vikes with a series of dramatic drives in a career high 446-yard passing day en route to a 27-24 overtime victory.

Just like they drew it up!

The NFL is traditionally praised for its competitive parity, from which a brilliant team sometimes emerges—like the New England Patriots in 2007, or the Indianapolis Colts or New Orleans Saints last year.

This year, however, the train wrecks seem more compelling than the pace cars. There isn't a breakout team—there isn't even a team with fewer than two losses—but there are plenty of brilliant disasters. America's Scream in Dallas. Buffalo. Denver. San Francisco. Washington, Earth's least cohesive 4-4 team.

And wackiest of all are the Vikings, who may not make the playoffs but have proved as entertaining as anything Bill Belichick and Rex Ryan are cooking up.

It was nice to see Minnesota get some relief Sunday. The sports world has been cruel to the Land of 10,000 Lakes in the past month—a tough playoff sweep of the Twins, the unraveling of the University of Minnesota in college football, the shocker loss by former Gopher turned UFC sensation Brock Lesnar.

But then the Vikings went out and won one for the caterer.

They shoot flu-shot skeptics don't they?

Joe Queenan's "Moving Targets" column, The Wall Street Journal, November 6, 2010.

Two weeks ago, at the insistence of my wife, I went and got a flu shot. I am one of those people who hates getting flu shots because I subscribe to the addled, scientifically insupportable, just plain stupid myth that if you get a flu shot you'll get the flu. But because my wife runs a senior-citizen center—pro bono—in our town, I understood that it would look bad if I did not get a flu shot. It would lend credence to the scientifically insupportable and fundamentally idiotic myth that getting a flu shot will give you the flu.

Three hours after I got the flu shot, I started to feel sick. Headache, mild sore throat, rasping. I mentioned this to a friend and she snapped, "You can't get the flu from a flu shot. They use dead flu virus in the serum they inject you with. It's just a coincidence." The next day I felt worse, and the next day, and the next. Each time I mentioned the flu shot to friends, they got really defensive and said that I must have already been incubating a nasty cold, because the flu shot could not make me sick. They referred me to assorted websites where I could get more information. They made me feel like a moron for even suggesting that there might be a connection between the flu shot and my deteriorating physical condition.

Five days later, fully prone at death's doorstep, I went to the doctor. He told me that I had a throat infection and an eye infection, and that my ears didn't look so good, either. He wrote me prescriptions for cough syrup, antibiotics and eye drops. When I mentioned how weird it was that I got sick—like, really sick—right after the flu shot, he laughed as if I were a four-year-old.

"You can't get sick from the flu shot," he chided me. "The cells in the flu serum are dead."

"So it was just a coincidence?"

"Yes, just a coincidence."

All these days later, my infection is abating, but only slowly. I still feel terrible. I still can't sleep. I still have headaches and a sore throat, and I can't clear my lungs, and I'm coughing a lot. But I'm not mentioning my wretched condition to anyone anymore. I'm tired of the abuse. I'm tired of being singled out as a flu-shot agnostic. There's something about questioning the efficacy of flu shots that automatically puts you in the same category as climate-change deniers. People hate it if you say anything bad about flu shots; it's worse than saying that you believe in the Laffer Curve.

"If you got a flu shot and then won the lottery, you wouldn't think you won the lottery just because you got a flu shot," sneered one friend, quoting a popular website. "It's just a coincidence."

"You don't take care of yourself, and then you blame the flu shot," said another.

"You already had a cold when you got the flu shot," my wife insisted.

"If I already had a cold, why would I agree to get the flu shot?" I fired back.

"You don't always think things through," she suggested.

Let me be clear on one thing: I do not seriously believe that my hideous illness that has now dragged on for more than 10 days is connected in any way, shape or form with my getting that flu shot. The science is clear on that. And I certainly don't want to be responsible for old people in my town getting really sick or dying because they deliberately didn't get a flu shot after I perpetuated some imbecilic myth. I don't want blood on my hands.

So I'm letting this thing go. I got a flu shot; I got really sick; it was all a strange coincidence. Still, next year, come flu-shot time, I'm going to start coughing and wheezing and hacking and spewing a few days before I'm due for my shot, so my wife will let me take a pass. I'm not afraid of needles, I'm not afraid of my wife, and I'm not afraid of the flu. But I'm deathly afraid of coincidences.

Home for Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving, a man in Ohio calls his adult son in Michigan. "Son, I've had enough. After 40 years of marriage, I've decided to leave your mother." The son hysterically responded: "Dad, this cannot be happening. Don't do a thing until we get there to talk some sense into you!" The son then called his sister in Illinois, who became equally hysterical. She also called her father: "Dad, we're not going to let this happen, you and mom stay put, we'll be there tomorrow to work things out!" The father hung up the phone, looked at his wife and said: "The kids are coming for Thanksgiving, and they're paying their own way."

(Shamelessly pilfered from "The Edge" column in The Oregonian.)

Midterm election day edition

What they are saying....

Texas Rangers: Who was driving that freight train?
Republicans: Throw the bastards out.
Democrats: Stay the course.
Tea-baggers: I am not a witch.
SF Giant fans: Let Timmy smoke.
Randy Moss: I play when I want to play.
Charlie Sheen: Where are my pants?

Transitions

Trail Blazer legend Maurice Lucas dies at age 58.
Theodore Sorensen, speechwriter and counsel for President Kennedy, dies at age 82.
Artie Wilson, Negro Leagues great and former Portland Beavers star, dies at 90.
Reversing a trend here, Andy Muilenburg turns 39 on November 1. Happy birthday!
Much to the chagrin of Andy Muilenburg, Oregon Ducks take top spot in BCS standings.

Best things about having a malignant brain tumor

Handicapped parking permit
Handicapped parking
Handicapped restrooms
Not having to drive the Banfield Freeway in the rain, during rush hour traffic.
My car takes very little gas, since I no longer have a car.
Being able to eat what I want, when I want, and as much as I want.
I get to wear my fitted Radiation Oncology mask tonight when the trick-or-treaters come to the door. Pretty scary.
I have a brain tumor; what's your excuse?
Despite what you may think, I am not a brain surgeon; I've only had the surgery.
My brain surgeon said one more hole in my head and I'll be a bowling ball.
Having hair is soooo yesterday!

I think the following posted on The Brain Tumor Foundation web site (http://www.braintumorfoundation.org) is pretty funny:

Brain Tumor Awareness Day, originally scheduled for November 14, is being re-scheduled for early 2011. The date and information for the “New” Brain Tumor Awareness Day will be announced shortly.

Trending

TRENDING UP TRENDING DOWN
Texas Rangers NY Yankees
San Francisco Giants Texas Rangers
Matt Cain Walker, Texas Ranger
Fear the Beard Beware the Claw
Don Mattingly Joe Torre
Larue the Pug Avandia the Drug
Jon Stewart Glenn Beck
Speaker-to-be Boehner Speaker Pelosi
Tavaris Jackson Brett Favre
Conan Oprah

Retired husband at Target

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her
trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring
and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is
like most women - she loves to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received
the following letter from the local Target.

Dear Mrs. Harris,

Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Harris, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: He took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in
other people's carts when they weren't looking.
2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at
5-minute intervals.
3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading
to the women's restroom.
4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official
voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the
employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her
Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing
management to lose time and costing the company money.
5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of
M&Ms on layaway.
6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted
area.
7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told
the children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows
and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children
obliged.
8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began
crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs
were called.
9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used
it as a mirror while he picked his nose.
10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department,
he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly
humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.
12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna
look' by using different sizes of funnels.
13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed
through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'
14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker,
he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES
AGAIN!'
And last, but not least:
15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited
awhile, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.'
One of the clerks passed out.

Forwarded by Anne Fletcher, Marge's friend, former co-worker at The Allergy Clinic, and cookie-maker extraordinaire.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

You know how, when you listen to a song on the radio (or nowadays, the iPod), the song catches in your head, and sometimes infects your brain, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to get rid of it, except maybe try to replace it with another. If you're looking for such a viral infection to infect YOUR brain, YouTube "Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. It has over 2,500,000 uploads. A sample of the chorus lyrics:

Home, Let me come Home
Home is Whenever I'm with you
Home, yes I am Home
Home is wherever I'm with you.

Nothing profound, just...infectious.

I had my third Avastin (bevacizumab) infusion this morning, and it went well, just as with the others. The plan now is for three additional infusions, every two weeks, then repeat the MRI to assess tumor response to this agent.

On TV this weekend: Les Miles, More Favre

The Couch
by Jason Gay
The Wall Street Journal
October 22, 2010

This weekend the Couch asks baseball to sort out this year's World Series before the East Coast is snowed in for the winter (done), wonders if Les Miles can possibly pull off one more crazy win as LSU faces Auburn (he couldn't), and sees if Green Bay can still work up the anger toward Brett Favre as the Packers host the Vikings (yes).

Trick Plays
by Yoni Brenner
Shouts & Murmurs
The New Yorker
October 4, 2010

The Open-Source Sweep
A week before the big game, team officials engineer a "chance encounter" between the opposing quarterback and the actor Jake Gyllenhaal, The pair become fast friends, attending a number of folk concerts and rummage sales together. As their relationship blossoms, Gyllenhaal inculcates the quarterback with progressive ideas about transparency and freedom of information, and by the end of the week he convinces the quarterback to post his team's playbook on WikiLeaks. The team loses five of its next six games, and the quarterback is benched. As for Jake Gyllenhaal, he is eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, and is hired by Fox Sports to join Howie Long and Michael Strahan on the Sunday NFL pre-game show.

West Coast Misdirection
During the off-season, the opposing quarterback is again approached by the actor Jake Gyllenhaal. The quarterback warns Gyllenhaal to keep his distance, but Gyllenhaal tells him that it isn't like that---he wants to offer the quarterback a part in an independent film he is producing, called "The Quarterback and the Dame," about an unlikely romance between a gridiron hero and the English stage legend Judi Dench. The quarterback reads the script, and he has to admit it's pretty good, so he signs on. The quarterback arrives on the set for the first day of shooting, only to find Gyllenhaal costumed in shoulder pads and eye black. The quarterback goes berserk, believing that he'd been promised the part. "No, no," Gyllenhaal coos, "you're playing Judi Dench."

Met at the Movies

I took my MIL Mary Beth to see a Live in HD Metropolitan Opera performance of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov at a local movie theatre Saturday morning. It started at 9 a.m., and we left after noon. Was told that it didn't end until 2:15 p.m., but we were long gone by then. Overall, an enjoyable experience and a very well done production. It was sung in Russian, with English subtitles. In fact, the entire cast was Russian with the exception of the title character, who was played by the German Rene' Pape. I had won a voucher for a pair of free tickets from All Classical FM.

Good Poems for Hard Times

This anthology of 185 poems was selected by Garrison Keillor from those he has read on "The Writer's Almanac" on public radio.

Enough pilfering from poor Mr. Keillor,
If not for Prairie Home Companion
He'd be out on the bread line.

If you like the poems
you can buy the book,
$10.88 from Amazon,
or borrow it for free.

Good poems for hard times (7,8)

Don't read too much into this. I just like the poem; not planning to go anywhere soon.

My Cup
Robert Friend

They tell me I am going to die.
Why don't I seem to care?
My cup is full. Let it spill.

Last Poem
Ted Berrigan

(Last line only)

"...Let none regret my end who called me friend."

Big noise from Winnetka...Big news from Eugene

Yes, the Ducks are No. 1 (at least in the human polls), but that is OLD news, no longer BIG news. The BIG news is that Pete and Tracy are expecting their third child, our fifth grandchild. Congratulations, you two, and stay healthy, T!

Good poems for hard times (5,6)

The Benefits of Ignorance
Hal Sirowitz

If ignorance is bliss, Father said,
shouldn't you be looking blissful?
You should check to see if you have
the right kind of ignorance. If you're
not getting the benefits that most people
get from acting stupid, then you should
go back to what you always were---
being too smart for your own good.

Dawn Revisited
Rita Dove

Imagine you wake up
with a second chance: The blue jay
hawks his pretty wares
and the oak still stands, spreading
glorious shade. If you don't look back,

the future never happens.
How good to rise in sunlight,
in the prodigal smell of biscuits---
eggs and sausage on the grill.
The whole sky is yours

to write on, blown open
to a blank page. Come on,
shake a leg! You'll never know
who's down there, frying those eggs,
if you don't get up and see.

Mission Accomplished

It was 70 degrees here today, warm, dry, and sunny. Not too bad for October 19, to say the least. My gutters needed cleaning, I had a ladder, and I had the time. Larue was outside on her leash serving as my spotter. It took me a couple of hours, but I finished the job without falling off the ladder and cracking my melon. I used to get up on the roof with the leaf blower, but those days are in the past.

Good poems for hard times (3,4)

The State of the Economy
Louis Jenkins

There might be some change on top of the dresser at the back, and
we should check the washer and the dryer. Check under the floor
mats of the car. The couch cushions. I have some books and CDs
I could sell, and there are a couple of big bags of aluminum cans in
the basement, only trouble is that there isn't enough gas in the car
to get around the block. I'm expecting a check sometime next
week, which, if we are careful, will get us through to payday. In
the meantime with your one-dollar rebate check and a few coins
we have enough to walk to the store and buy a quart of milk and a
newspaper. On second thought, forget the newspaper.

the con job
Charles Bukowski

the ground war began today
at dawn
in a desert land
far from here.
the U.S. ground troops were
largely
made up of
Blacks, Mexicans and poor
whites
most of whom had joined
the military
because it was the only job
they could find.

the ground war began today
at dawn
in a desert land
far from here
and the Blacks, Mexicans
and poor whites
were sent there
to fight and win
as on tv
and on the radio
the fat white rich newscasters
first told us all about
it
and then the fat rich white
analysts
told us
why
again
and again
and again
on almost every
tv and radio station
almost every minute
day and night
because
the Blacks, Mexicans
and poor whites
were sent there
to fight and win
at dawn
in a desert land
far enough away from
here.

Two from Neil Young

When God Made Me

Was He thinking about my country
Or the color of my skin?
Was He thinking 'bout my religion
And the way I worshiped Him?
Did He create just me in His Image
Or every living thing?
When God made me, when God made me.

Was He planning only for believers
Or for those who just had faith?
Did He envision all the wars
That were fought in His name?
Did He think there was only one way
To be close to Him?
When God made me, when God made me.

Did He give us the gift of love
To say who we could choose?
When God made me, when God made me.
When God made me, when God made me.

Did He give me the gift of voice
So some could silence me?
Did He give me the gift of vision
Not knowing what I might see?
Did He give me the gift of compassion
To help my fellow man?
When God made me, when God made me.
When God made me, when God made me.

Falling Off the Face of the Earth

I'd just like to thank you
For all the things you've done
I been thinkin' about you
I just want to send my love

I send my best to you
That's my message of love
For all the things you did
I can never thank you enough

Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth

I just want to tell you
You sure mean a lot to me
It may sound simple
But you are the world to me

It's such a precious thing
The time we share together
I must apologize
For all the troubled times

Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth

Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth

Good poems for hard times (1,2)

My sister Marilyn, the English professor, and BIL Stu, sent me a book of poetry, "Good Poems for Hard Times," selected and introduced by Garrison Keillor. The dedication:

"To the English teachers of America,
doing good work every day,
with admiration and affection
from an old student."

I've never been a lover of poetry, but I have been enjoying this selection, so much so, in fact, that I'm going to reproduce some in my blog, without permission. (What are they going to do to me?)

First two, one by Robert Bly, a Minnesota native, second by Raymond Carver, an Oregon native.

Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter
Robert Bly

It is a cold and snowy night. The main street is deserted.
The only things moving are swirls of snow.
As I lift the mailbox door, I feel its cold iron.
There is a privacy I love in this snowy night.
Driving around, I will waste more time.

Happiness
Raymond Carver

So early it's still almost dark out.
I'm near the window with coffee,
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought.
When I see the boy and his friend
walking up the road
to deliver the newspaper.
They wear caps and sweaters,
and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.
They are so happy
they aren't saying anything, these boys.
I think if they could, they would take
each other's arm.
It's early in the morning,
and they are doing this thing together.
They come on, slowly.
The sky is taking on light,
though the moon still hangs pale over the water.
Such beauty that for a minute
death and ambition, even love,
doesn't enter into this.
Happiness. It comes on
unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.

Birthdays all around

Lucy's 3rd birthday was October 8, and Tracy's 35th (!?!) birthday was October 15, so we celebrated both yesterday at the Jendrzejewskis. Andy and the boys came from Redmond (Ali was on a girl's weekend in Walla Walla). Pete cooked an awesome meal, Lucy opened her presents, and we had ice cream cake for dessert. Poor Tracy doesn't get quite the attention she deserves, but that's what happens with kids and grandkids.

Trip to Eastern Oregon

We went to Eastern Oregon (Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa Lake, Enterprise, Joseph) with the Jendrzejewskis on Tuesday of this week and returned Thursday. Spent the better part of two days traveling back and forth, with just one full day there. John did all the driving, so the rest of us just relaxed.

Joseph is the gateway to Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Confined within steep, eroded black basalt walls, the surging Snake River has carved North America's deepest gorge, measuring 7,913 feet from He Devil Mountain to Granite Creek below. Unfortunately we needed another day to drive to the 7,000' ridge overlooking Hells Canyon, and the tram to the summit of Mount Howard was closed for the season. The Wallowa Lake Tramway climbs about 4,000 feet to the 8,150-foot level on Mount Howard. It is among the steepest tram rides in North America; the vertical ascent is 3,700 feet from the base elevation of 4,450'. From this point the peaks of the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area, the Seven Devils of Idaho and the rim of Hells Canyon are visible. But enough about what we didn't see....

We had just a wonderful time, and the weather was simply spectacular Indian-summer, with warm and sunny days and cool nights at 4400' elevation in Joseph (population 1,000+). On the way there we stopped in Pendleton for lunch at Hamley Cafe, then went next-door to Hamley cowboy outfitters, voted most authentic western store in America. Then on to Joseph, where we stayed at the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast, award-winning European-style lodging. Owners Heather and Bill were very nice hosts. The Bronze Antler was selected by BedandBreakfast.com as one of the Top Ten B&Bs in the West for 2008-2009. Marge and I stayed in the Mirror Lake Suite featuring private entrance, flat screen TV with Blue-Ray DVD, vaulted ceiling, spa-style bathroom, king-sized four-poster bed, and gourmet full breakfasts. We had dinner Tuesday evening at Mutiny Brewing Company in Joseph. (Mutiny is Brewing!) The dinner special was a Prosciutto-stuffed chicken breast, which was excellent. Who knew, in downtown Joseph. Wednesday morning after breakfast we took about a two-hour tour of the Parks Bronze foundry in Enterprise, about six miles from Joseph. We saw the many steps involved in transforming the work of an artist to a finished bronze sculpture; very interesting and educational. Then off to lunch at the R&R Drive-In in Joseph for milkshakes and a bite to eat. After lunch we drove out to Wallowa Lake, followed by some browsing of the downtown shops in Joseph, including a visit to the Valley Bronze Gallery. In the evening we first went to Terminal Gravity Brewing in Enterprise, the local microbrewery where we sampled the microbrews. Then on to El Bajio Mexican Restaurant in Enterprise for dinner and margaritas. Thursday morning after breakfast we packed up and headed home, but first we stopped in Enterprise at The Bookloft to purchase copies of " 'Twas the Night Before Round-Up," a hardback children's book for the grandkids. The publication of the book coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Pendleton Round-Up. Our grand-pug Larue was pampered by our neighbor Pat Bartruff while we were away. Wonderful trip, good company, good food, good accommodations, perfect weather.... Thank you, John and Judy, for helping to make this trip a truly memorable experience. To top it all off, we saw a bald eagle soaring overhead on our way back to Portland.

A word about dexamethasone

Interesting to observe side effects of drugs first-hand.

Corticosteroids are the mainstay of treatment of brain edema (swelling) in brain tumors. Dexamethasone is the steroid given in the majority of neuro-oncologic patients, at varying doses. Fortunately I am on a low enough dose (2 mg twice daily) to avoid the well-known and serious side effects of corticosteroid therapy.

A retrospective chart review of 88 patients treated with whole brain radiotherapy was conducted for a 6-month period to document steroid doses prescribed, tapering schedules, and steroid side effects. The most frequently documented steroid-related side effects were increased appetite (32%), proximal muscle weakness (28%), and insomnia (21%), which is pretty much consistent with my experience.

A survey of oncologists who manage patients with brain metastases was conducted at the same institution. The most common side effects noted by physicians were increased appetite or weight gain (46%), insomnia (24%), and gastrointestinal symptoms (20%).

Sturdza A, Millar BA, Bana N, et al. The use and toxicity of steroids in the management of patients with brain metastases.
Support Care Cancer 2008;16:1041-8.

Happy 70th birthday, John Lennon

"Imagine"

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Priceless quote of the day

In today's Wall Street Journal, Matthew Kaminski, a member of the Journal's editorial board, writes an article about U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold from my sister Myrna's state of Wisconsin, "Wisconsin sours on its self-styled maverick." He quotes Mr. Feingold's opponent, Ron Johnson: Most of all, he adds, "people get" the threat from ObamaCare. "I really do think that health care is the single biggest assault on our freedom in my lifetime," he adds, "designed to lead to a single-payer system, a government takeover, Canadian-style...."

Brilliant.... You read what he said, but what does he mean? Does he think health care reform is the biggest assault on our freedom, or that expanding health care coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans is bad, or that health care in this country is just fine as it is, because he has health insurance? You've got some 'splaining to do, Mr. Johnson.

Lucy is 3 today, October 8

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! We will celebrate Lucy's birthday next weekend when Pete and Tracy are in Portland, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, since Tracy's birthday is the 15th of October.

Grandkiddos

Left to Right: Brady (3 1/2), Lucy (3), Drew (21 months), Sofie (18 months)

Bucket List trip to Wallawa Mountains

I am due for my second Avastin infusion Monday afternoon, October 11.

On the 12th we will be taking a quick three-day, two-night trip to the Wallowa Mountains. Although billed as America's"Little Switzerland," the Wallowa Mountains of northeastern Oregon are actually more similar to California's Sierra Nevada. The mountains are a stunningly beautiful mix of white granite peaks, sparkling lakes and streams, alpine meadows, and attractive forests. We will stay at the Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast in the community of Joseph, OR. Artists, especially bronze artists, thrive in Joseph, home to many galleries and restaurants. We have never been there, so we are looking forward to the trip. We will be going with our friends John and Judy Jendrzejewski, Pete's in-laws.

Irrelevance in the news

Justin Bieber
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi
NASCAR sprint cup
Ryder cup
Lindsay Lohan
Alberto Contador
Traditional CPR (skip mouth-to-mouth; chest-only compressions is in)
Lincoln-Mercury dealers
Tiger Woods
Avandia
Miley Cyrus

Autumn

Fall is in the air, the leaves are falling, morning newspapers are at hand, the dog is on my lap, coffee is brewing, playoff baseball will be on TV today, Randy Moss is back where he belongs, with the Vikings. Is there anything better than that? Well, perhaps, but who is complaining? Certainly not me.

Nurse or golf pro?

There was a letter-to-the-editor written by Portland nurse Jim Norman, published in today's edition of The Oregonian. He wrote, "Jim Furyk just earned $11.35 million for winning a golf tournament.... That's more money than I'll ever make in a lifetime of nursing. Good for him, I suppose. If you were sick or dying, though, who would you rather have around, a nurse or a professional golfer?" I think I'll go with my nurse. But coincidentally our across-the-street neighbor is a golf pro, so I guess I've got all my bases covered.

I met with a different oncologist yesterday and got a little more clarity on my treatment plan. As I indicated in an earlier post, bevacizumab (Avastin) is indicated as a single agent for the treatment of glioblastoma that has progressed following prior therapy. Despite optimal treatment, nearly all malignant glioblastomas eventually recur. The goal of Avastin treatment is to slow or halt progression, not to reverse progression that has already occurred. It is recommended that treatment be continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The plan will be to continue infusions for about three months on an every-two-week schedule, then assess disease progression with another MRI at that time.

Glioblastoma, Avastin, and cost of cancer drugs

Cancer Drugs Bring Cost-of-Life Decisions
Following is a(n impossibly long) link to an article that appeared in the September 27 edition of The Oregonian by AP writer Marilynn Marchione, "Cancer drugs bring cost-of-life decisions." Some excerpts: "For the past decade, new cancer-fighting drugs have topped $5,000 a month. Only a few of these keep cancer in remission so long that they are, in effect, cures. For most people, the drugs may buy a few months or years. Insurers usually pay if Medicare pays.... Medicare usually pays if the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use.... When is a drug considered cost-effective? The most widely quoted figure is $50,000 for a year of life.... Higher costs seem to be more accepted for cancer treatment than for other illnesses, but there's no rule on how much is too much."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100927/ap_on_he_me/us_med_costly_cancer_drugs;_ylt=Avsk6pTag662ngRCGc3GgBas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTN2bDM3N2hvBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwOTI3L3VzX21lZF9jb3N0bHlfY2FuY2VyX2RydWdzBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMTAEcG9zAzcEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawM5MzAwMGNhbmNlcmQ-

Avastin for Metastatic Breast Cancer
The October 4 issue of Newsweek (p. 50) has an interesting article about Avastin and its use specifically in metastatic breast cancer (Begley S. It's not about rationing: why the FDA may reverse course on Avastin.) In the U.S., Avastin (bevacizumab) is approved for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic breast cancer (MBC), glioblastoma (that's me), and metastatic renal cell carcinoma. In 2008 FDA gave "fast track" approval for Avastin in MBC, conditional on the manufacturer (Genentech) running additional clinical trials of the drug's safety and efficacy. Turns out that not only did Avastin not keep women with MBC alive, but it seems as if the drug's toxicity cancels out any benefit. These dismal results are what led an FDA panel to vote 12-1 in July to rescind the conditional approval of Avastin for MBC. A decision by the FDA is expected by year's end. Of course there are stories galore of women with MBC who claim to be alive because of Avastin. There are always patients who live longer than average; they attribute it to the treatment. That some women did live longer on Avastin may simply reflect the natural heterogeneity of the disease and say nothing about the therapy.

Avastin for Glioblastoma (Moen MD. Bevacizumab: in previously treated glioblastoma. Drugs 2010;70:181-9)
Glioblastomas are malignant primary brain tumors. They are the most common type of gliomas, and account for 18.5% of all primary brain and CNS tumors. Standard treatments for glioblastoma include surgical removal of as much of the tumor as possible (check), postoperative radiotherapy (check), and chemotherapy with temozolomide (check). The prognosis for patients with glioblastoma is poor, with an estimated 5-year survival rate of 3.4%. Glioblastomas are particularly aggressive, and are associated with rapid growth and angiogenesis (blood vessel growth); the formation of new blood vessels is essential for tumor development.

I started bevacizumab (Avastin) yesterday. Bevacizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to human vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and inhibits angiogenesis and hence tumor growth. Bevacizumab was approved by the FDA in May 2009 as a single agent for the treatment of glioblastoma with progressive disease following prior therapy. It is administered as an intravenous (IV) infusion over 30 minutes. The recommended dose for treatment of glioblastoma is 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks. Patients should continue treatment until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Given the nature of the disease, bevacizumab was generally well tolerated in clinical trials.

A word about cost and effectiveness of Avastin for glioblastoma: At my dose, the cost of a single infusion is north of $4500, or about $118,000 a year, though few patients live that long. The effectiveness of Avastin in glioblastoma is based on an improvement in objective response rate. There are no data demonstrating an improvement in disease-related symptoms or increased survival with Avastin. Yet treatment with temozolomide and bevacizumab are the standard of care today for treatment of glioblastoma. I failed the former and am on the latter.

My intent is not to paint an overly morbid or pessimistic picture about my situation. I feel pretty good, and I have a lot to be thankful for. But on the other hand, I do need to be realistic (while cautiously optimistic) about where we stand. Count my blessings, and take one day at a time. By the way, I am now 10 months out from my diagnosis on Thanksgiving 2009.

Trip to coast; weekend in Redmond

A week ago we spent two nights at The Ocean Lodge in Cannon Beach, complements of Andy/Ali/Pete/Tracy for our 40th anniversary (thanks, guys!). One day was an absolutely perfect, warm and sunny late summer day. We ate lunch out a couple of times, enjoyed the spa and the nice complementary continental breakfasts. With free DVD rentals, we watched two movies each night. Came home to catch up on the mail and laundry, then headed off to Redmond on Friday for a visit with Andy, Ali, Brady, and Drew. We babysat the boys on Friday night so that A&A could go out to dinner on their 6th anniversary. The boys are growing up so fast, and we really had a good time with them. We came back on Sunday afternoon, taking therapy dog Larue along for another visit. Larue seems happy to be back on my lap. Today was one of those warm (85 degrees), sunny days, with the leaves turning color. Shows Portland and Oregon to be a special, special place, particularly on a day like this at this time of the year.

Brain cancer awareness

We hear lots about the epidemics of breast cancer in women (Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, etc.) and prostate cancer in men (Michael Milken's Prostate Cancer Foundation, etc.), as well we should. We've had several friends with one or the other diagnosis, some of whom have not survived.

Several types of cancer fly under the radar, including breast cancer in men and brain cancers in general. The following is from a recent review in The New England Journal of Medicine [Wen PY, Kesari S. Malignant gliomas in adults. N Engl J Med 2008;359:492-507].

Malignant gliomas account for approximately 70% of the 22,500 new cases of malignant primary brain tumors that are diagnosed in adults in the U.S. each year. The annual incidence of malignant gliomas is approximately 5 cases per 100,000 people. Each year, more than 14,000 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S. The incidence of these tumors has increased slightly over the past two decades, especially in the elderly, primarily as a result of improved diagnostic imaging. Malignant gliomas are 40% more common in men than in women and twice as common in whites as in blacks. No underlying cause has been identified for the majority of malignant gliomas.

Malignant primary brain tumors
Malignant gliomas
Glioblastomas

Glioblastomas account for approximately 60 to 70% of malignant gliomas. The median age of patients at the time of diagnosis is 64 years in the case of glioblastomas. Although relatively uncommon, malignant gliomas are associated with disproportionately high morbidity and mortality. Despite optimal treatment, the median survival is only 12 to 15 months for patients with glioblastomas.

An abbreviated list of 25 famous brain tumor patients who died as a result of their disease (Wikipedia)
Sam Bottoms, actor (The Last Picture Show)
Susan Hayward, Academy Award-winning actress
Irene Ryan, Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies
Jack Brickhouse, sports broadcaster
Gene Siskel, film critic and TV partner of Roger Ebert
Johnnie Cochran, defense attorney for O.J. Simpson
George Gershwin, jazz and classical music composer
Bill Haley, leader of one of the first rock-and-roll bands, The Comets
George Harrison, Beatle
Bob Marley, reggae king
Ethel Merman, Broadway singer and actress
Lou Rawls, soul/jazz/blues singer
Lee Atwater, chairman of the RNC
William J. Casey, director of the CIA
Edward (Ted) Kennedy, U.S. senator
Robert Novak, political pundit
Thor Heyerdahl, marine biologist on Kon-Tiki expedition
Eero Saarinen, architect whose work included the Gateway Arch in StL
Raymond Carver, writer and poet
Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein
Dick Howser, MLB shortstop and manager
Tug McGraw, MLB pitcher and father of CW singer Tim McGraw
Bobby Mercer, MLB player and broadcaster
Dan Quisenberry, MLB pitcher
Wilma Rudolph, Olympic gold medalist in track

Busy week in review

I had another MRI on Tuesday of this week, then had an appointment with my oncologist on Thursday and my radiation oncologist on Friday. Long story short: "...Apparent progression of disease within the left parietal lobe...." Disappointing news, but not totally unexpected. I've noticed fairly dramatic worsening of my gait abnormalities in the past couple of weeks, probably brought on by brain swelling as a result of tumor growth. So now I'm back on the corticosteroid dexamethasone to hopefully reduce the swelling. In addition I will most likely begin an IV chemotherapy drug bevacizumab (Avastin) within the next couple of weeks. Avastin is approved by the FDA for treatment of glioblastoma as a single agent for patients with progressive disease following prior therapy. It is administered by intravenous infusion every two weeks. Treatment is usually continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Given the nature of the disease, Avastin was generally well tolerated in two small clinical trials. My prior therapy was radiation therapy and the oral agent temozolomide (Temodar). I am hopeful that I will get some benefit from the Avastin. As Marge says, we have to play with the cards we're dealt.

We also went to Ed Caldwell's funeral on Wednesday. Ed was a wonderful and gentle man who became the first African-American graduate of the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy. He finished his pharmacy career at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center's outpatient pharmacy. I got to know Ed when I was an inpatient pharmacist there at the same time. Coincidentally I worked with Ed's wife Donna at Kaiser Permanente for several years after I left PSVMC and before Donna retired. Great people, and a wonderful couple. Ed will be missed by his many friends. If you look up the word "gentleman" in the dictionary, you will find a picture of Ed Caldwell.

Pete and Tracy and their girls are visting with Andy and Ali and their boys this weekend. The circus is on their agenda for tomorrow. I can imagine it would be a circus without the circus with the four little kids. Lucy happened to be running by when I was on the phone with Pete after they arrived in Redmond this evening. Pete asked her if she wanted to say hello to Grammy and Papa. She replied very politely, "No thank you." (Too busy to talk.)

My old Kaiser work group is having an end-of-summer get-together on Sunday. We are looking forward to seeing the old gang. And finally, we are getting together with Jim and Susan Sanger, who now live in St. Louis. I worked for Jim at Good Samaritan Hospital before I went to PSVMC. Small pharmacy world in Portland.

P.S. We have a new email address: nomarmuilenburg@frontier.com

Are you ready for some football?

College football gets started tomorrow, Thursday, September 2. No. 14-ranked USC, unable to find an opponent on the mainland, will travel to Hawaii to play the Warriors. Prior to the year 2000, the University of Hawaii's men's teams were all referred to as the Rainbow Warriors, complemented by an athletics logo featuring a rainbow. However, in a controversial marketing strategy over which many at the University and throughout Hawaii have misgivings, the school changed its athletics logo to a stylized "H" and allowed each team to pick its own team name. This has led to the current situation, where the basketball, swimming and diving, and tennis teams have retained the team name of "Rainbow Warriors"; the baseball team adopted the name "Rainbows"; and the football, golf, and volleyball teams have adopted the name "Warriors". But I digress....

Also on Thursday the unranked Golden Gophers of Minnesota travel to play the Blue Raiders of powerhouse Middle Tennessee State University of the Sun Belt Conference. (The Blue Raiders of MTSU, located in Murfreesboro, TN, are not to be confused with the Blue Smurfs of Boise State.) Minnesota is picked to be the 11th (last) team in the Big Ten Conference. This is possible only because the conference kept the name "Big Ten" when Penn State was added a few years ago to make an 11-team conference. On Saturday No. 24 Oregon State takes on No. 6 TCU in Dallas, No. 11 Oregon plays unranked New Mexico, Washington plays at BYU, and Washington State plays at Oklahoma State.

Which brings us back to poor ol' USC. A USC football player was bragging to a group of coeds that he finished a jigsaw puzzle in only three months. One girl said, "Three months? You're proud of that?" The Trojan replied, "Yep; on the box it said 4-6 years." [Shamelessly lifted from "The Edge" column in The Oregonian.]

As a public service to the 2 or 3 individuals reading this who may be interested, I've tried to sort out the college athletic conference realignment, which was no easy task. The eleven-member Big Ten conference will add Nebraska to become the Bigger Ten or the New Big Twelve Conference. The Big 12 Conference will lose Nebraska to the Big 10 and Colorado to the Pac-10 to become the New Big 10 or the Little Big 12. The Pac-10 Conference will add Colorado and Utah to become, presumably, the Pac-12. Now here is where it gets interesting; pay attention. The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) will lose Boise State, Fresno State, and Nevada, all of which will join the Mountain West Conference. But the Mountain West will lose Utah to the Pac-10/Pac-12 and will also lose BYU. BYU will play an independent schedule in football but will join the West Coast Conference for basketball and other sports. The West Coast Conference will consist of seven Catholic universities or colleges (Portland, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, San Diego, Loyola Marymount), Pepperdine (Church of Christ), and BYU (Mormon). But not for football. So now you know....

End-of-life care

Interesting reading, if you are interested in the topic, that is. A long article about re-thinking end-of-life treatment by Atul Gawande in the August 2 issue of The New Yorker. Gawande is a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. He has written several best-selling books. Here is a statistic to ponder: According to Gawande, 25% of all Medicare spending is for the 5% of patients who are in their final year of life, and most of that money goes for care in their last couple of months which is of little apparent benefit.

This article was closely followed by the publication of a study in the August 19 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine. Also included is a related news article and some editorials generated by the study.

1. Gawande A. Letting go. The New Yorker 2010 Aug 2; p. 36-49.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gawande

2. Temel JS, et al. Early palliative care for patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med 2010;363:733-42.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1000678

3. Kelley AS, Meier DE. Palliative care: a shifting paradigm [editorial]. N Engl J Med 2010;363:781-2.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMe1004139

4. McNeil DG Jr. Palliative care extends life, study finds. The New York Times 2010 Aug 18.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/health/19care.html?ref=donald_g_jr_mcneil

5. The Oregonian Editorial Board. Rx: a dose of old-fashioned comfort [editorial]. The Oregonian 2010 Aug 19.
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/08/rx_a_dose_of_old-fashioned_com.html

Movie review: "Inception"

You may have noticed the lack of recent blogging. Nothing much new about me. I finished my last course of temozolomide (oral chemotherapy) and now await another MRI on September 2, the results of which will hopefully be more definitive than those in the past. Was it pseudoprogression (radiation debris) or is it actual progression? Past MRIs were unable to distinguish between the two. If it was radiation debris, that should now have disappeared.

Since I have no news, I thought I'd compare my review with two published reviews of the movie "Inception," which to date has $261.8 million in ticket sales at movie theaters.

Shawn Levy, The Oregonian: Grade A. A deeply dazzling and immense film about a team of mind-explorers trying to implant an idea in a subject's heavily guarded subconscious. Filled with logical puzzles, jaw-dropping action and audacious visuals, it's the brainchild of Christopher Nolan's "Memento" and one of his special-effects movies. Superb....

“Memento” on the scale of “The Dark Knight”: Dense, operatic, thrilling, puzzling, vexing and utterly, utterly brilliant. A man adept at stealing secrets from people while they dream must reverse his process and plant an idea in someone’s head -- and risk his own sanity in the process. It’s a metaphor for moviemaking, of course, with its dreams-within-dreams-within-dreams (it actually goes much deeper....). But it’s also a mournful and nervy depiction of a man driven by loss and guilt and fear. Leonardo DiCaprio seems still in “Shutter Island” mode, which isn’t a bad thing. But a wonderful supporting cast gives it brightness and lift. And writer-director Christopher Nolan’s visual ideas, pacing and audacity mesmerize.

David Denby, The New Yorker:
Christopher Nolan, the British-born director of “Memento” and of the two most recent Batman movies, appears to believe that if he can do certain things in cinema—especially very complicated things—then he has to do them. But why? To what end? His new movie, “Inception,” is an astonishment, an engineering feat, and, finally, a folly. Nolan has devoted his extraordinary talents not to some weighty, epic theme or terrific comic idea but to a science-fiction thriller that exploits dreams as a vehicle for doubling and redoubling action sequences. He has been contemplating the movie for ten years, and as movie technology changed he must have realized that he could do more and more complex things. He wound up overcooking the idea. Nolan gives us dreams within dreams (people dream that they’re dreaming); he also stages action within different levels of dreaming—deep, deeper, and deepest, with matching physical movements played out at each level—all of it cut together with trombone-heavy music by Hans Zimmer, which pounds us into near-deafness, if not quite submission. Now and then, you may discover that the effort to keep up with the multilevel tumult kills your pleasure in the movie. “Inception” is a stunning-looking film that gets lost in fabulous intricacies, a movie devoted to its own workings and to little else....

Summarizing the movie makes it sound saner than it is. For long stretches, you’re not sure whether you’re in dream or reality, which isn’t nearly as much fun as Nolan must have imagined it to be. Bizarre oddities, which complicate the puzzle but are meaningless in themselves, flash by in an instant. The actors, trying to suggest familiarity with the task of dream invasion, spin off gibberish in the most casual way. Parodies, I assume, will follow on YouTube. And the theologians of pop culture, taking a break from “The Matrix,” will analyze the over-articulate structure of “Inception” for mighty significances....

I would like to plant in Christopher Nolan’s head the thought that he might consider working more simply next time. His way of dodging powerful emotion is beginning to look like a grand-scale version of a puzzle-maker’s obsession with mazes and tropes.

Norm's review:
There are only two (small) things wrong with this movie:
(1) I didn't know what the hell was happening throughout the movie. It might not have helped that I fell asleep for a period of time during the movie, but I put the blame for that on Christopher Nolan.
(2) The movie went on FOR-EVVVV-ERRRR (148 excruciating, painfully slow minutes, to be exact).

So there you go. If you are one of the few who haven't yet seen this movie, you can believe Shawn Levy, or you can believe David Denby. Personally, I side with David Denby. (You can tell I don't get out much.)

3 Generations of Muilenburg's

Andy, Norm and Brady.

Repeat MRI

I had a second post-radiation therapy MRI on June 23, and met with my radiation oncologist a week later to discuss the results. It wasn't the best possible report nor the worst possible report. Something shows up on the scan, but short of doing a brain biopsy, which is not recommended, only time will tell what is going on. Could be "pseudo-progression" (a.k.a. radiation debris), which would be a good thing, because over time that should disappear. Could also be tumor progression, which would not be a good thing. So the plan is to stay the course, continue on the temozolomide, and repeat the MRI, again, in two months.

I'm feeling about the same, no pain, still able to walk Larue twice a day. But the neuropathy is getting worse, affecting almost my whole right side (hand, arm, leg, foot). But, one has to learn to live with it. When I'm out I use a cane, but I use a walker when walking the dog.

We hired a lawn maintenance service to take care of the yard. I just can't handle the mowing anymore. Rain yesterday and today; summer, as usual, should arrive on July 5.

Dodgers Bean Town Road Trip

Pete, Andy, and I went on a baseball-themed trip to Boston for a three-game inter-league series between the LA Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox, June 18-20. I found the trip on dodgers.com, and we were among 150 Dodger fans on the tour. (Pete is not a Dodger fan, but he was kind enough to go along for my sake.) I flew to Boston direct from Portland; Andy flew from Redmond, and Pete flew from Eugene. We stayed at the Hilton Boston Back Bay Hotel, where the three of us shared a room with two queen beds. I got to sleep in one of the beds by myself, and Pete and Andy had to share the other bed, which they didn't seem to mind.

The package deal included game tickets to all three games, hotel room, polo shirts, "Mannywood" T-shirts, Fenway Park tour, and exclusive Dodgers brunch with team personnel. Team personnel included former Dodger manager and baseball icon/ambassador Tommy Lasorda, Dodger broadcaster Steve Lyons, and Dodger back-up catcher A.J. Ellis. Tommy is a real raconteur who could tell stories till the cows come home. Steve Lyons went to Marist High School in Eugene for two years, to Beaverton High for his senior year, and then on to Oregon State. Marist is where Pete and Tracy work, and Andy of course went to OSU, so lots of coincidences. The brunch was a highlight of the trip. The Sunday game was on ESPN, and Andy got his mug on camera for a brief time around the fourth inning.

Also among the photos that Andy took and Ali posted was one of the three of us with Ken Scheublin, who was in the Peace Corps with us and lived in the same town as Marge. Ken and his wife Meta live in Cambridge. We met in a bar for drinks before one of the games.

Fenway Park is 98 years old and does not have the ADA seal of approval, to say the least. I struggled a bit to get to my seat with no hand rails, but made it without falling down. We mostly went from hotel to Fenway and back by pedi-cab which could accommodate all three of us. We had the same seats for all three games, so we got to know the folks sitting around us, some nice people. It was an almost total sports weekend, with baseball, World Cup soccer, game 7 of the Lakers-Celtics NBA finals, and U.S. Open golf, where my friend Mark Nealy volunteered at Pebble Beach. Pete stayed an extra day and spent it with some friends who studied together for a semester in Spain, all of whom live on the East Coast.

It was a real treat for me that I got to spend Father's day with the boys. We are proud that they are such good fathers to their children. The only downside to the trip is that the Dodgers got swept by the Red Sox, which in the big picture was no big deal.

A few pictures from Bean Town

Papa, are you packed?

Can we come too????? We'll be good! Promise.

Muilenburg Boys (Norm, Andy, Pete)take Boston, three days and counting down! Pack your Dodger Blue!

World Cup primer

Futbol: More commonly known as soccer in the U.S., it is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball. It is the most popular sport in the world. The game is played on a rectangular grass or artificial turf field, with a goal in the center of each of the short ends. The object of the game is to score by driving the ball into the opposing goal (between the posts and under the bar). The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins.

FIFA: The International Federation of Association Football, soccer's international governing body. French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association, from which the acronym FIFA is derived.

FIFA World Cup: Also called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, it is the premier international soccer tournament contested by the men's national teams of the members of FIFA. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of World War II. The 2010 FIFA World Cup is the 19th World Cup; it is being held in South Africa.

Pitch: The soccer playing field.

Match: A soccer game, usually 90 minutes in duration, 45 minutes per half, plus "extra time."

Goal: A score in soccer, something that occurs about as often as a sighting of Halley's Comet.

Draw: A tie game in soccer. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition.

Nil: No score, as in nada, zip, zilch, zero. A nil-nil draw would be a 0-0 tie game, not an uncommon occurrence in soccer.

Keeper: Goalkeeper or goalie. The goalkeepers are the only players allowed to use their hands or arms to propel the ball; the rest of the team usually use their feet to kick the ball into position, occasionally using their torso or head to intercept a ball in midair.

Robert Green: The England goalie who has become known as the equivalent of baseball's Bill Buckner.

Wayne Rooney: The English soccer hero, not to be confused with Andy Rooney of "60 Minutes" fame.

Vuvuzela: The infamous plastic horn of distraction, incessantly blown by soccer fans during a World Cup match. As written by Jason Gay in today's Wall Street Journal: "Is everyone already exasperated with The Infamous Plastic Horn of Distraction? WE SAID, IS EVERYONE ALREADY EXASPERATED WITH THE INFAMOUS PLASTIC HORN OF DISTRACTION?"

Hooligan: A violent young ruffian or hoodlum, usually associated with an English soccer fan who has consumed too many pints of ale, either before, during, or after a soccer match.

Yellow card: Something submitted by soccer players after being asked to give a urine sample for drug testing.

Kagan exercises

A few weeks ago there was a picture of Elena Kagan, Solicitor General of the United States and U.S. Supreme Court nominee, in The Wall Street Journal playing softball. For some reason, this picture caused quite a stir in the national media, the reasons for which I am not quite sure. Maybe an open stance is a predictor of judicial activism? I'm not even sure that she was playing softball. Since she received a Masters Degree from Oxford, she might have been holding a cricket bat instead of a softball bat, for all I know.

I suspect one of the reasons for her nomination by President Obama is that she comes from a rather unique minority, that of being a Jewish ballplayer. There is already a female Jewish Supreme Court Justice, but to my knowledge Ms. Kagan would be the first Jewish ballplayer on the court. Only Sandy Koufax and Sean Green come to mind as Jewish ballplayers who made it to the big leagues. How convenient that the Supreme Court consists of nine members, as does a softball team. If confirmed she will replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, who at 90 is getting a bit long-in-the-tooth to be sliding into second base.

The WSJ picture had a caption which now escapes me, but it could have been "Kagan at the Bat" or "Kagan Exercises," not to be confused with Kegel Exercises.

According to Wikipedia, a Kegel exercise, named after Dr. Arnold Kegel, consists of contracting and relaxing the muscles that form part of the pelvic floor (which some people now colloquially call the "Kegel muscles"). The aim of Kegel exercises is to improve muscle tone by strengthening the pubococcygeus muscles of the pelvic floor. Kegel is a popular prescribed exercise for pregnant women to prepare the pelvic floor for physiological stresses of the later stages of pregnancy and vaginal childbirth. Kegel exercises are said to be good for treating vaginal prolapse and preventing uterine prolapse in women and for treating prostate pain and swelling resulting from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatitis in men. Kegel exercises may be beneficial in treating urinary incontinence in both men and women.

But I digress....

Inside pharmacy joke

On May 27 I watched a Dodger-Cub game on MLB Network. Ted Lilly pitched for the Cubs, and rookie John Ely (pronounced with a long "i") pitched for the Dodgers. So I watched an Ely-Lilly matchup. By the way, the Cubs won 1-0.

(For those not in the medical field, Eli Lilly is a pharmaceutical company, best known for making Prozac, Darvon, Keflex, and Zyprexa, among other drugs.)

On Obama's Plate

by Calvin Trillin

Now Israel and Turkey are having it out.
The well near the Gulf Coast continues to spout.
Kim Junior's attacking "America's lackey."
It's hard to tell why: this little guy's wacky.
The war in Afghanistan drags on and on.
Iran's near the bomb--conclusion foregone.
The oil's at the beaches now, blob after blob.
Are you still quite certain you wanted this job?

(Thanks to my sister Marilyn for passing this along.)

P.S. Kim Jong-il, above referred to as "Kim Junior" by Calvin Trillin, is the leader of North Korea. The official leader of the country is still Kim's long-deceased father Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea. According to David Letterman, Kim Jong-il has a brother by the name of Men-ta-lee-il.

More drivel about Hawaii

A "lei" is a Hawaiian flower necklace. On May 1, Hawaiians celebrate "Lei Day," first conceived in 1927 by poet Don Blanding. At the time, Blanding was employed by the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and he shared his idea with columnist Grace Tower Warren, who came up the phrase, "May Day is Lei Day."

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport code for Portland, Oregon is "PDX." Similarly, the IATA code for Minneapolis-St. Paul is MSP; for St. Louis, STL; for Phoenix, PHX. Curiously, the airport code for Kahului Airport in Maui is "OGG." The airport code pays homage to aviation pioneer Bertram J. Hogg, who worked for what is now Hawaiian Airlines. I guess they had to use OGG rather than HOG, since HOG was already taken by the airport in Holguin, Cuba.

So now you know....

Blue Hawaii

Marge and I returned Sunday from a week in Hawaii, the island of Maui to be specific. We had postponed our scheduled February trip to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. 82 degrees on Maui, 52 degrees in Portland. Tough to take.

Blue Hawaii is a 1961 musical film set in the state of Hawaii and starring Elvis Presley. I'm not exactly sure why they called the movie Blue Hawaii, but it probably had something to do with the blue sky and the color of the water.

Lanai is Hawaiian for porch or patio. We spent the majority of our time on our lanai, reading books and looking at sunsets.

Lana'i also happens to be one of the Hawaiian islands. It is one of the least visited of the major islands. Lana'i is immediately west of Maui, and just as Sarah Palin could see Russia from her house, we could see Lana'i from our lanai. Coincidental, I suppose.

We had nonstop flights on Alaska from Portland to Maui and back. The flight attendants were generous enough to give each of the passengers a soft drink and a small bag of macadamia nuts. They didn't charge us for going to the bathroom on the plane. Weather aside, Maui has many things in common with Portland, Kaiser Permanente and Costco among them.

We saw both the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) and the Red-crested Cardinal while we were there. I suppose the taxonomists thought the Northern Cardinal was so nice they named it twice. The male is a brilliant crimson red with a black face mask over the eyes, extending to the upper chest. The common name, as well as the scientific name, of the Northern Cardinal refers to the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, who wear distinctive red robes and caps. We don't know if the Northern Cardinal preys on young males of the species.

The Red-crested Cardinal (Paroaria coronata) is a bird species in the tanager family and is not very closely related to the cardinals proper (Cardinalidae). Although Hawaii is not part of the original habitat of either the Northern Cardinal or the Red-crested Cardinal, both have been introduced there. Who can blame them for wanting to live there?

Back after month off

Wow! I can't believe how much has happened since my last post. Will catch you up in somewhat chronological order.

March 26: Flew to Minneapolis for the 50th anniversary reunion of my high school (Edgerton Flying Dutchmen) winning the state high school basketball championship. More about the basketball reunion later.... When we got to the hotel in downtown Minneapolis, we were among 10 of the 14 DenOuden first cousins. My sisters had rented a suite, so we had a nice area to catch up with each other. Cousins came from New York, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Twin Cities, in addition to our coming from Oregon. We were fortunate that so many folks were able to come to the cousins reunion before the basketball reunion. What great fun we had. In addition to the cousins, we visited with two pharmacists (and their spouses) I had worked with at what was then Miller Hospital in St. Paul from 1971-73, Gary Sigmeth and Doris Calhoun. It was a real treat to see them again.

March 27: Quoting from a March 24 article in the Minneapolis StarTribune, "...The Dutchmen became the state's version of 'Hoosiers' that unforgettable season [1960]. They knocked off much larger schools in winning the one-class state tournament at Williams Arena, an underdog story that still ranks as one of the greatest in Minnesota sports history...." Our celebration was billed by the Minnesota State High School League, which hosted the Edgerton and Austin teams, as the 50th anniversary of the most talked-about basketball game in Minnesota history. The teams were recognized and introduced at halftime of the large-school class championship, held at the Target Center. Eleven of the 12 Edgerton team members were in attendance. A book has been written about the 1960 team, "Edgerton: A Basketball Legend." Of course it is on the Edgerton Enterprise hardcover nonfiction best-seller list.

March 28: We flew to Phoenix, stayed with our good friends Mark and Karen Nealy in Mesa (Leisure World). Except for the winter months, they live in Woodbury, Minnesota. The next three days we went to Cactus League spring training games of the Dodgers vs. Cleveland, Colorado, and San Francisco. We visited with Toni Maas Wiarda, high school classmate and sister of my good friend Eric Vanderbush, who unfortunately succumbed to cancer about three years ago. Toni lives in Mesa. We also visited with my cousin Deona and her husband Paul VandeBerg. Deona had attended the cousin reunion in Minneapolis. Deona and Paul, like Mark and Karen, are winter snow birds in Mesa.

April 2: Flew back home to Portland.

April 4: Had Easter brunch at the Jendrzejewskis. Judy always goes all out. Got to see Pete, Tracy, and the girls.

April 6: Had a repeat MRI, the results of which were inconclusive. Will have a repeat of the repeat MRI in a couple of months.

April 7: Ali's 30-something birthday.

April 9: Andy and Ali came to Portland to celebrate her birthday. We babysat the boys Saturday evening.

April 12: We had lunch with Scott Sorensen-Jolink. Scott grew up in Edgerton and is now an attorney in Portland.

April 15: We had lunch with our friend Sue Sanger. Sue was in town to babysit her grandchildren. Sue and Jim now live in St. Louis. (Sorry the Ducks stole your basketball coach, Jim.)
April 15: The celebration of Jackie Robinson Day, marking the 63rd anniversary of his debut in the major leagues.

April 26: Tomorrow we are off to Hawaii for six days on Maui.