Retirement Party Pictures

Another week down

Hello again,

I'm not sure why I am counting down the weeks until my radiation therapy treatments are over---the people are nice, the treatment is short and painless. But I guess I just want to be able to move on. Today was treatment #13 of 30. I plan to have Ali take my picture with my mask on at the completion, and then post it on the blog. Since it is custom fit to my face, I get to keep it. It will be a good way to scare the Trick-or-Treaters next Halloween.

We are going to Eugene tomorrow with John and Judy J. to see Pete and Tracy's new house for the first time. We had originally planned to go over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but other events intervene. And of course, we get to see the now-crawling Sofie and the precocious Lucy, not to mention Pete and Tracy.

This past week marked the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, so I missed my day at the Virginia Garcia Clinic in Cornelius. Marge had a coffee that morning for about 15-20 friends from the Terra Linda neighborhood, friends that go back to when the kids were in elementary school. I was in exile at the neighbors across the street. :-(

Numerous people have graciously asked what they can do for me, what they can do for us. We really have everything we need: A dog (on loan from Andy and Ali), a cleaning lady, a yard person to rake up the winter yard kill....If people want to do something, I'd suggest a contribution to Haiti Relief. There are plenty of worthy organizations (e.g., Red Cross, Mercy Corps, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam) that would gladly accept contributions!

We are looking forward to a Vikings victory over the Saints on Sunday. Go Vikes!

More later,

Norm

Just checking in

Hello all,

I've made it through about one-quarter (8/30) of my radiation therapy treatments, so far with no detrimental effects, thank goodness. The routine does consume a good portion of the day, throwing in a couple of dog walks with everything else. I'm overwhelmed with the support and well wishes I've received. I don't think Larue has undergone separation anxiety....quite the opposite; she thinks she is in pug heaven.

We are making plans to go to the Twin Cities for the 50th reunion of the 1960 Edgerton basketball state championship, March 24-27. They will be hosting a luncheon for us and will introduce us at halftime of the final game. Then we will go on to Phoenix to visit Mark and Karen Nealy at Leisure World (!) and go to three Dodger spring training games.

It is official: I am retiring from Kaiser Permanente. There will be a retirement party at the World Trade Center in downtown Portland on Thursday, January 28, from 4:30-7 p.m. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by for a drink.

Update from Norm

I started my radiation therapy and oral chemotherapy yesterday. It was uneventful, thank goodness. One down, 29 to go. We celebrated afterwards by going to Escape From New York Pizza.

Random thoughts while waiting for radiation therapy:

• No need for a calendar to tell me what day it is. All I have to do is look at my Pill-Minder.
• My life will be pretty regimented while on therapy. Eat some lunch at 10:30, take my antinauseant at 12:30, take my oral chemotherapy capsule at 1:30, radiation therapy at 2:30.
• If you can lose weight on the Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet, maybe it can cure cancer as well.
• You should see my therapy dog Larue pulling me around the block on our walks. Instead of a husky with a sled, I have a pug with a walker. She got up on the recliner this morning and had a few slurps of my smoothie.
• I seem to be making pretty good progress with the swallowing.
• The gait is another story. I'm still like a drunken sailor without my walker. (I always secretly wanted one of those motorized scooters and a Craftmatic adjustable bed, but now not so much.)
  
  -Norm