September 26, 2020

I think that when I set up this website a week ago, I hadn't fully realized that I was setting up to write the chronicle of an inevitable decline. Not a pleasant prospect for anyone. But I will persist. When there is no news, the void gets filled by pessimistic conjecture that tends to be worse than the reality. The main lesson Betty and I have taken from the whole experience so far is that pessimistic conjecture has almost always been a waste of precious time.

I am happy to report that there has been no decline to speak of. Not only is the pain controlled, it is nearly gone. As I write, there is no pain at all, even though I have taken only 3 oxycodone pills in the last 4 days. This must mean that the fentanyl patches are taking care of the pain. In addition, I suppose the surrounding tissue is accommodating to the growth (ever so slow, I hope) of the tumors.

Without the grisly details, I can just say that my life---our life---goes on pretty much undisturbed by the cancer: Good energy, lots of walking in the out-of-doors, reading, zooming with friends, and each player holding his or her own in the Scrabble match. Work on my treatise progresses well.

There is one tiny cloud on the horizon, namely, some swelling in my ankles. Nothing in itself, of course, but I made the mistake of discussing the matter with the doctor and learned, to my regret, that this is most probably a sign that the tumors are harming my liver. Immediately, my imagination went to work thinking about what livers do. More time ill spent.