My Journey

Lets back up a bit, rewind if you would.  I’ll do my best to keep the update to the point.

December 2009.

440 miles on the bike at Planet Fitness.  I was all set for 500 when I came down with the “cold from hell.”
The holidays were great. Nice crowd at Mary’s Christmas Eve and a great breakfast Christmas Morning.  NO TEXTING AT THE TABLE GIRLS!!!! I guess I’m just an old fuddy duddy.

January 2010

My 48th week in the trial was reached on January 5th.  Last year as we were getting the trial info  Dr. Atkins told us that he had a patient in a similar trial using the same treatment that was then at week 48 and it was a milestone.  Well I found out that that gentleman is still going strong at week 96.  Scans were good and treatment went well with a few minor side effects.  My immune system seemed to go crazy attacking the “cold from hell.”

Seems kind of funny sitting out during a snow storm.  I did get one call to help out the young man who took over my plow route.

February 2010

My brother surprised me when he told me that he was selling his landscape business and was going to work for Penny, his wife.   They expanded the offerings at the Village Store and Charlie was going to be the “Sandwich King” of the Dog House Deli.  Charlie was even going to deli school.

Charlie needed a truck so he purchased my Dodge and plows.  I started hunting around for a replacement to the old clown car (1986 Toyota Tercel 4wd wagon, 212k).  The clown car had served me well for the past year.  I bought it a few years ago for Aunt Mary and she wasn’t driving any longer so back to me it came and just in time.  I needed a small car to navigate the underground parking lots at the hospital.  The bonus was that it got great mileage and required NO maintenance.

As soon as I started getting serious about a 2000 Volvo wagon my trusty clown car bit the dust. A front axle U-Joint failed.  Luckily I was not on a highway or far from home.  I hated to see that little car towed off a couple of days later.  It’s on it’s way to become a good refrigerator for some lucky person. *G*

The Volvo is a great car, picked partially because of the AWD, driveabliltiy, low mileage (109k) for a 2000, and  large enough cargo area for most of our camping gear with some added to the roof racks..  NOTE…. Even though I bought the car for the right price after doing a ton of research it’s not a car for the faint of heart in dealing with maintenance.  In that regard it hasn’t let me down.  The good news is that I’ve done the majority of service myself.  I’m so happy that I’m able to work on the car.  I’ve even started to clean up work area’s in the garage and straighten out tool boxes.

I look forward to at least adding 100k miles to the Volvo before I move to something else.

On the 25th I had lunch with Herb & Bibe Schnitzer when I was in Concord visiting the Melanoma Foundation of New England mfne.org (more on that later).  The Schnitzer’s are doing great in their condo on the brook.  Herb served 15 years on the Yarmouth Board of Selectmen and Bibe was the ultimate volunteer.  I hope to get back to visit with them on a regular basis.  I just have to get a bit stronger so I can arm wrestle the check away from Bibe “When you come to my house, I pay” Schnitzer.

Had a great meeting with the folks at mfne.  I’ve made the mfne my melanoma charity of choice.  They are patient/caregiver oriented and center the majority of their efforts those support areas.  Like many smaller foundations they run lean and mean with only three very dedicated staff and a whole range of volunteers.

We discussed some fund raising ideas and I offered to work with them on a major redesign of their website.  I’m pleased to announce that after a long “fact finding” period they have agreed to take my offer of assistance.  We will start the process a bit later in May when my schedule allows a bit more time.

March 2010

FIRST REAL BIKE RIDE OF 2010.. SPRING IS COMING!!!!

March and April are kind of a blur with the preparations for the May town meeting and the RACCA Spring Conference starting a day later. I took out my papers for reelection to my 7th term as a Selectman.  I’m finishing my 18th year in May. (technically 18 years 1 month due to a change in the day of election.)

Trial Week 60 March 30th… I HATE MARCH…

The scans were fine, but one of my blood tests revealed a potential problem with my pancreas.  No treatment.  What a downer… It was a long ride home.

Repeat blood tests showed another elevation.  Specialists reviewed my CT scans and suggested a wait and see. So I’m on hold for 12 weeks.  It’s an eternity.  I have confidence in the treatment that it is still active, but the concern about the pancreas is overwhelming.  Blood tests in April showed an improvement which is promising, but I have to wait a few more weeks for the next round.

April 2010

A big decision.  I decided that it was time for me to step down from the Board of Selectmen.  18 years is enough.  I’ve already started a few little volunteer projects to fill some of the time.

A great start to bicycling season.  The bike is smooth with updated gears and a fresh tuneup. Also purchased a few new accessories.

My strength seems to have improved drastically the last few months and it shows in the bike rides.  This past Saturday I completed a 28 mile trip on the bike path.  I did the first 12.5 without a stop and at a new (for me) high average speed.  Stopped for a quick burger at Wendy’s at the Orleans Rotary and enjoyed a nice ride back to the start in Dennis.

I won’t ride much for the next couple of weeks.  Town Meeting is next Monday and Tuesday followed by a trip to Scottsdale for the spring conference.  I get back on Saturday the 8th and go to Beth Israel for scans on the 9th.  Blood tests on the 11th with scan results.

I get a bit of down time with just followup from the conference and no major deadlines.

That’s all for this edition.

~jerry