Medical Update

It’s been a mostly positive week. Cathy resumed seeing patients again. She was so excited to return to her practice, like a child anticipating her first day of school. Her staff and associates at Guthrie have been very supportive, allowing her to proceed at her pace according to her schedule. The bittersweet negatives are the thumping waves of treatment side-effects. A wave of nausea and headaches can last for a few minutes, or a few hours, and the next wave may be only a few hours away or possibly a few days. They typically are more aggravating than debilitating, but a negative always. During a pounding wave, wonders of which is worse – the disease or the treatment – float in the air.

Life Update

We met with a spiritual adviser on Monday. Fr. Pio is a kind and holy soul with the prayerful insights and attitudes of his namesake. He annointed Cathy and suggested that our love for each other had an eternal component. “Cathy is getting off at one of heavens train stops a little sooner” he offered, and she will meet me at another stop, just a short distance down the track. Cathy promised to bribe the train conductor to treat me well and forgive my shortcomings. Amen! Yesterday we treked to the base of Taughannock Falls, an easy walk along a breathtakingly beautiful pathway. It was a little bit of heaven before the next train stop.