Cabernet and Carboplatin

Last year at Christmas there was a snowstorm in Cleveland, so we had to skip our trip to my cousins' house. This year, we had no plane, but we decided it was time to take the Tesla on a roadtrip. The drive was actually pretty pleasant. It was a route neither Jerry nor I had traveled, so the novelty added to the enjoyment. We made two stops to charge up the car and got to Cleveland in time for dinner. The last time we visited, we stayed in a nearby hotel because the room we normally camp out in is in the downstairs of the house. This year, it was time for me to tackle the stairs. The first job was getting into the house. The stairs in the front of the house has no rail, but with the aid of my cane and Jerry, we made it in just fine. In addition to Steve and Rose, their son Alec was home college, so he was there. Steve's sister Joann came in from Pittsburgh, and their mother had flown in from Baltimore. We brought cookies I had baked, and we always bring wine. The main lev...

Jerry and I usually do our Costco-Trader Joe's run every other Tuesday, but this week was busy every day but today. I knew Friday would be difficult, but we were out of everything, plus, friends are coming over for dinner tomorrow evening and I needed ingredients. At Costco,all of the handicapped spots were taken, of course, but somehow we lucked out and got a space not too far from the entrance. Jerry got my walker out and we headed in to get a motorized cart for me. Except there weren't any. We stood around for a bit and we decided that I would make a go of it using the shopping cart as my "walker." We completed the first row and I knew it was not going to work. The cart was not the height I needed and I knew I would never make it around the store. Jerry retrieved my walker and we once again positioned ourselves to see if someone would return one of those motorized carts. So we waited, and waited. A nice employee came by and said he would find one. See, it turn...

Or at least to the second floor. My physical therapist, today and Tuesday, had me climbing up and down a flight of stairs. I held the railing with my left hand and used a cane in my right to go up and down. It was wonderful. At the Hopkins downtown PT they have a small set of stairs to practice on, but at Greenspring my PT took me down the hall and I went up and down the REAL set of stairs. On Tuesday, on the way down, I had a fear of my prosthetic knee buckling, but Megan stood in front of me with her hand hovering in front of the knee, just in case. Today I had a eureka moment and with the knee's app on my phone, I put it in lock mode so it couldn't bend. I felt so much more secure. And smart. The other thing I did today was walk with a cane. When Megan asked me how I felt wbout trying to walk with a cane, I said,"scared." But I did it. She put a gait belt on me-- basically something she could hold onto in case I started to fall, and that did make me feel more se...