Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
We are finishing our rocky February, moving over smaller stones. Marianne's back seems to be healing slowly, very slowly. Stretch exercise, massage therapy, and drugs work at a glacier's pace.
She still manages to make a bit of progress on the triptych she is working on for Gabrielle.
We are starting more walking, as I am shifting from Peloton bike riding due to right knee pain. Aging? The arrival of Spring blossoms has improved the walks and I am hoping time will improve the knee. Patience.
As we navigate our lumpy paths, friends' events have reminded us of our favorite French saying: it could be worse. (We connect this with the French because Jean Loup introduced it to us years ago.) Neighbor Vern fell, broke an arm, and re-injured a shoulder injury from his teen years - 80 years ago. We have visited him as he manages a two-week hospital physical therapy stint. Despite the frustration of learning to get along with just one good arm, he is admirably positive.
Meanwhile, friend Ted, one of the few consistent readers of this diary, returned to San Francisco University hospital to fix his loose screw. (His joke.) One of the fasteners in an old spine repair was moving to threaten a nerve, so the docs decided to take him in for service. (This was just the day before yesterday, so we have no results.) When we last talked, Ted too was facing one more surgery with the equanimity of a serious-surgery veteran.
And yesterday, Marianne had yet another PET-CT to assure the oncologist that nothing visible had developed in the two months since the last picture session. My wife and partner also inspires me with her medical resolve.
Speaking of resolve, it is two years since Russia attacked our old home town of Kyiv. Marianne and I wear small pins to remind us and I occasionally wear a work shirt from our days there 20+ years ago. The past month have not been good for Ukraine as Russia uses superior mass and resources to wear down their neighbor. Meanwhile, American MAGA Republicans, a redundant phrase, shame Americans by withholding life-saving support.
What will March bring? Spring weather, for sure. Clean PET-CT results, we hope. Then a new drug regime, with hopefully limited side effects. Vern and Ted should return to their homes for rest and repair. When it all settles down, we will travel.
Stay tuned.
John and Marianne