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I read with interest some of the comments I received about taking medication to keep me alive. If it were that simple, I would agree whole heartedly. Actually, there is no evidence that Parkinson's disease decreases lifespan. It just curtails the ability to move (and in about 30-40% of the cases, the ability to think). The official line is that available drugs counter the symptoms (for awhile) but don't alter the course of the neuro-degeneration that is their underlying cause. My symptoms are such that treatment is not indicated at this point, so taking drugs for that reason is superfluous. There is, however, a suggestion that azilect may offer some small degree of neuro-protection. This is yet unproven, so taking the drug is not unlike contracting with a witch doctor to dance in the moonlight in my behalf. It might help slow the neuro-degeneration, but then again, it might not. And paying a prancing practitioner to promenade and pirouette in the pale predawn phosphorescence promises to be pretty pricey. Still, it is only money, and there is some small chance that it could improve the future quality of my life. In the overall scheme of things, daily, it's not even an outrageous sum. Some of my co-workers spend that amount on their daily lunch. I guess then, it is more a question of me being unwilling to admit my position in life. I have a very strong aversion to taking drugs of any kind and, once commenced, this one could be my companion for the duration.
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None-the-less, after much consideration, and in deference to the urging from my wife, I started taking the drug azilect on Saturday, September 22, 2007. Indubitably, there are those who think that I am making a mountain out of a molehill, but I feel like I'm standing on the brink, and with this act, begins my descent into the abyss from which the only escape is death (an din point of fact, that is exactly true). I don't fear death. I'm just not quite ready yet. Then again, given the description of a Stage 5 Parkinson's patient, there is a good chance I might be ready quite some time before death is. To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. It's just that some purposes are a little more fun to contemplate than others...
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| This has degenerated into kind of a gloomy discussion. In actuality, one of the neurologists with whom I visited estimated that I have 10-15 years of "reasonable" life left, and the other one put it at 15-20 years. That would put my vegetable-hood at an estimated age of 70-80 years, which approximates the length of life granted my Mother and all four of my Grandparents (and >90% of all humanity). What cause have I to be unhappy with that? |
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I've had a glorious life, filled with multitudes of adventures... |
| ...many gullible relatives to tease... |
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...and all kinds of fun things. What a wonderful, awe inspiring, experience! |
| And speaking of gullible relatives, I recently discovered one of my particularly foolish mistakes. I picked grapes in Florence this year ($0.25/lb.) and thought that was a great value. We decided (after stuffing ourselves on multiple contiguous days) to dry some of them into raisins (perhaps you remember the photo?). Inside the house they dried more slowly than outside in the sun, but I assumed that might be a good thing, enhancing the flavor (and it might). But, I forgot about them for almost three months, and when I took them down this past weekend, this is how they looked. |
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What is not obvious is the mound of droppings and the multitude of larva in the bottom of the bowl. We have endured an infestation of small (circa 8 mm long) moths for the past several weeks, and I think this is the source. Raisins anyone? (Too bad we don't still have chickens...) |
| And speaking of past mistakes, this picture pair should have been included in the letter about the second half of the bicycle trip. |
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Bicycling the distance from Mexico to Canada--I did it and I can even recall most of it, but it is still not "real." Does it seem to you that there might be something wrong with mental circuitry that equates tedious, boring & drudgery with fun? |
| And speaking of tedious, boring & drudgery, we are preparing to pour a pad on which Barbara's heating and cooling unit will repose. The book calls for it to be four inches thick, and the unit itself measures 45 X 48 inches, so I figured that a pad 5 feet square would give me some "wiggle room" for positioning. It has to be level to within 1/8 of an inch and that is proving problematic. Over the weekend I built a form. Perhaps it was a bad idea, but after digging down an inch or so on the high side, I elected to level it by raising the lower end. That meant bringing in some rock and or gravel which, is a bit of a chore without a pickup. I made a couple of trips transporting 5 gallon buckets in the Metro, and then used some sand/gravel to effect the level. I plan to raise the ground level around the pad so that it doesn't wash out in the first rainstorm, which will require a couple more loads, but they can wait until after the cement is set. |
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We also moved the cement mixer into position so that the cement will fall directly into the form. That took several hours, as it has two flat tires. Much to my chagrin, I discovered I can no longer lift the mixer's tongue. We used a come-along to drag the mixer around the yard, so tahe process was neither quick nor pretty. By the time I was satisfied with the position, I was exhausted. Getting old is the pits. I really dislike cement work, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do... Stay tuned for the next exciting episode. I suspect this project will consume my Saturdays for the next several months. |
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The only thing permanent in life is change, and here in the San Manuel Ward, we experienced some change last Sunday. The entire Stake Presidency visited us; when they left, we had a new Bishopric (or at least part of one). They released one Bishop McRae and replaced him with another. Gone are Lorin McRae as Bishop, Jim Bingham as 1st Councilor, and Fred Martin as 2nd Councilor. In their place reside: Kent McRae as Bishop and Will Ramsay as 1st Councilor. At this point no 2nd Councilor has been called. They also released Charles Kincade as the Executive Secretary and replaced him with Jim Donaldson. So, there you have it; a new set of leaders off on a learning experience. The first meeting that Bishop Kent McRae presided over was a funeral (actually memorial service) for Rita Taylor (held between sessions of General Conference [!??]), who passed away on October 2. This Bishop McRae has a manner of start/stop speaking when he conducts that I suspect that might annoy Nathen just a trifle. It's too bad Nathen couldn't attend... I would have like to have watched him. |
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I came across this image the other day, and it reminded me that Symantha has gone camping in the past. |
| In fact, at one time she was even brave enough to hang from a rope. I wonder what happened... (Could it be this is just a photoshop image?) |
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This trip served as a reminder to me of how the other half live. Perhaps I am cheap, but $60 for a round trip to Phoenix seems a bit extravagant to me (even with cold AC). If I'd have realized their vehicle only went 10 miles on a gallon of gasoline, I would have insisted that we take mine with or without a back seat. I guess in this case, I was deficient in passing on my genes that have genectic coding for frugality. Five of my children own gas guzzling SUV's and others own pickups. Where did I go wrong? (I guess I can always blame their mothers...)
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