Author: MichaelHeil

Wednesday (5/18)

It has now been one week, 7 long days, since my last treatment. The week has been a little rough and I found myself struggling.  The fatigue, the emotional swings, the constant stomach issues and just being off rhythm have been a challenge.  Nonetheless, I cannot help but rejoice in the positives of the last few days.

I go to bed each evening a ‘good’ tired.  My favorite part of every day is when I open my eyes. I feel the cool air filter into our room. I realize I am well rested and energized.  My body feels good. I get excited to start a new day. Soon thereafter, for the exact reason, unknown to me, one of two things happens: I crash OR I don’t crash. Simple!

My circle seems happily smaller these days; the pleasures more simple. The daily highlight may be Laurie and I waking up to a rainy coastal day and feeling cozy. It may be the anticipation of seeing Erick for the first time in a year and knowing that I get to climb with him, Alan and Jane – my total buds. Perhaps it is the delicious acupuncture treatment from Carter Blue or the car nap as Laurie drives home. The two-hour family visit with Rhonda, Steve, Nicole and Jarrett was absolutely wonderful on Monday evening.

The support and encouragement of my fine friends continues to just pour into our life.  I cannot tell you all how rewarding this is!  The joy started this week with the old school, snail mail cards from Jacob, Unita, Laurie D and Danielle -so many XOXOXOX! Enthusiastic emails arrive sharing in our excitement of lower PSA levels. Blog comments (as you can see) continue to light up our days. The smiles, hugs and love we feel upon serendipitous or planned visits with friends are huge – each better than the last!  The anticipation of visitors from afar – Chris, Annamarie, Eric and Lana is so exciting.  The prospect of outdoor climbing this weekend – Are you kidding me?

It truly amazes me how this sudden, tragic, life-altering event has brought so much love and goodness to our life. I feel so especially, incredibly LUCKY – a mere Thank You simply pales.

I end this post on a extremely high note. Yesterday (Tuesday) and today (Wednesday) have been glorious days! I have experienced two perfect Oregon spring days – brilliant sunshine, satisfying exercise, super friend interactions, a significantly better stomach and the perfect, supportive wife at my side.  I feel AWESOME – As the Rhythm Returns.

PS:  TRACY: As your stated hero and inspiration, I feel somewhat responsible for your Bay to Breakers run.  Hope it was fun & you are feeling GREAT!

Thursday 5/12

I stir awake, open my eyes, breath deeply the cool, salted, sea air and listen to the crashing waves! I realize I feel good, far better than expected. Not 100 percent, but a far cry better than last night.  The gorgeous sunshine surely contributes to my raised spirits. I am psyched!

The morning household pace is quite slow. After breakfast I accompany Laurie on her walk from the beach house. I decide to go as far up as my body is willing to take me. Amazingly, by noon, we find ourselves atop Neahkanie Mountain (1670’) with a big smile!

Eventually, we descend and lunch at home. I spend the rest of the day relaxing, reading, writing and voting. I bounce from couch to couch (as opposed to bolt to bolt) enjoying the superb view. We manage a short sunset beach walk, returning fatigued but quite happy!
– So much for not doing too much in one day-

Friday 5/13

Less sunshine and more physical fatigue made today a grayer day than yesterday.  We climbed less, but walked longer on the beach.  Definitely not 100 percent. Again, I realize that those drugs sure do pack a mighty punch!
– We’ll see what tomorrow brings…………..

Monday 5/9

It is now four weeks to the day upon receiving that frightful evening call from my Eugene Urologist.  Today, Laurie and I set out to consult with my eastern medicine healer, Carter Blue, and receive his delicious acupuncture treatment.  We then continue on to visit, walk and dine with Linda at her house and then arrive Susan’s place for a two-night stay.   As usual, the evening biology conversation was quite informative, but most touching were Susan’s continued obvious concerns for my condition.  How, I super appreciate her dedication and tenacity while on this journey!

Tuesday 5/10

We are scheduled for a Dr. Beer’s examination / consultation, blood tests, a hormone therapy injection, a chemotherapy infusion, nutritional consultation and a bone density test – wouldn’t lunch and an afternoon walk in the gorgeous Portland sun be an added blessing!

I awake way to early (pre-chemotherapy steroid drug really seems to wreck ones sleep) and feel somewhat anxious.  By 7:15, Laurie and I strike out on foot for the Metro.  We meet Susan, the cyclist, at OHSU and are promptly ushered into the Beer appointment.  He examines, we talk and he pronounces me ready for a day of treatment.  Good News 1.  I get permission to reduce dose of that bothersome pre-chemotherapy steroid drug. Good News 2.

We are happy and excited when we learn that Lena will be our drug nurse today.  We have a window seat with a superb view of Mount Hood for the next 3 hours (after all Linda is on her way to the summit, as we settle in).  Blood panel indicates white blood cell count up & liver function is in fine working order. Good News 3.

An hour into drug therapy, Dr. Beer strolls by in his doctor’s outfit with a casual smile and remarks to us: “Have you seen the PSA levels yet?”  Laurie and I freeze!  He announces: 7!   He continues to smile, I search my brain for recognition and Laurie starts to cry tears of unabashed joy!

How can this be, I wonder, in the context of the last four tests: PSA = 18, 36, 48, 70?  A 90% decrease in just four weeks.  Didn’t we just talk this morning about a single digit PSA reading in 7 to 9 months?  Could this treatment really be working?  Beyond Imaginable Good News.

We dance through the rest of the day in our euphoric state. Exiting the Healing Center, we serendipitously bump into Chris and share our grand news.  We move on to visit and play bridge with Julia, converse and cook with Susan and dine with Eric.  Our world is pure delight and excitement!

Emotionally exhausted we crash!

Wednesday 5/11

I awake to wonder, did yesterday really happen?  I pinch myself and realize perhaps it really did go down exactly as I recall.  Wow!

I hop out of bed and immediately get caught up in the excitement around Laurie and Susan.  Susan off to SFO, us to Manzanita – busy morning preparations!  Buzzing about, packing, grocery shopping, happy conversation, drive to PDX, crossing back through town and drive to the beach house.

We arrive to this wonderfully familiar site and absolutely gorgeous setting, but I can hardly get out of the car.  My energy is fully SAPPED!  I can barely recall in my whole life ever felling this exhausted.  I drag the yoga mat to the grass, get on a few licks of SPF 30 and down I am for 2 hours in a most restless, exhausted state!  Wow, I realize, these drugs pack quite a punch!

My well-being does not improve at all, as I drag myself into the house.  I fail at being able to light the BBQ; I cannot even move the eating table onto the porch.  I sit and suddenly I hear the kitchen circuit breaker click OFF!  Somewhere in the background I miraculously hear Laurie say that dinner is done.  As she serves I simply break down in tears.  I feel the lowest I’ve ever felt on this new journey since that fateful call of four weeks ago.  Totally Wasted!

The next few minutes feel like a year!  My head spinning, not sure what is passing through it.  The sun slowly sets, the waves continue to crash, I nibble at our meal of sockeye salmon and Laurie is just there!  Still utterly exhausted, somehow spirits rise a fraction and we sit together and slowly eat.  I vaguely recall luckily finding the two breaker boxes and stumbling upon the correct one. Lights and plugs now function.  Sun fully sets, the hours pass, darkness envelops us and I rest.  Ever so slowly I begin to feel better.  I wonder again how powerful this journey has been and where will it take us next.  I stumble into bed after midnight, exhausted and hope for a grand awakening tomorrow!

Week of Monday (5/2) – Sunday (5/8)

We had our second treatment at OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute on Tuesday, May 10th.  Before that post, let me describe the wonderful week previous.

The week began with an acupuncture appointment and consultation with Carter which was extremely satisfying!  At home, I quickly settled into a happy routine of exercise and rest cycles throughout the week – morning hiking, afternoon weights, two 20+mile bicycle rides and two gym-climbing workouts.  Very cool!  I enjoyed immensely, visits with Tom on the porch, Angie/Mark during Carson’s HS BB game at SEHS and the Poker Boys at Rob’s house.  Another sweet Tuesday night sauna and then the highlight of the week – Julia’s handwritten, heartfelt letter.  Watching Laurie’s tears was especially moving.  Julia Heil you ROCK! 

A little dated, but best I could do.  Cannot wait to see you this summer, Jules!

I admit, I did struggle towards week’s end. Perhaps adjusting to and maintaining the new diet, preparing for the Portland run or the double workout on Friday.  A huge Thank You to Laurie for her undying support in every facet of this journey!

The week concluded with a wonderful Mother’s Day BBQ perfectly synchronized with that new diet. Great having Steve, Rhonda, Katie, Lynn & Orion for the party!  Off to bed feeling happy, happy, happy!

 

Sunday, May 8

Wishing ALL the moms out there who are following me along on this journey, an especially

Happy Mother’s Day, 2016! 

In two days, Laurie and I will arrive OHSU to receive my 2nd hormone therapy injection and my 2nd chemotherapy infusion.  Today, I am feeling absolutely GREAT!

The Next Week (Saturday(4/23) – Sunday(5/1))

Two of the most interesting pearls of wisdom that I received from my friends this week were:

“Mike, you may have cancer, but more importantly, does cancer have you?”
“ Where the mind goes, the energy flows”

I found myself reflecting on both of these, as I began to feel an overall physical fatigue – perhaps due to the 1st chemotherapy infusion of a few days ago.

It has been less than two weeks since my diagnosis, although it feels like years.  I believe, I now have an intellectual grasp of what is happening within my body.  Emotionally, however, it goes up and down, but in reality – it is what it is.

The long and short of it is that there are two things: 1.) Those pesky, invisible cancer cells are in a survival struggle with my body’s immune system. 2.) The drugs, hormone and chemotherapy, battling those cancer cells, have their own side effects.  So, over the last week, I have been carefully monitoring my body and trying to implement best possible healing practices (diet change, rest, sleep, exercise, acupuncture, a rare pill, etc.).  I have felt quite successful – except for a minor stomach issue (perhaps as simple as acid reflux) and the fatigue, I continue to feel extremely well!  The fatiguing effect can be compared to cycling uphill against the wind with dragging brakes, or that cross-fit guy dragging around the huge truck tire, or climbing that 5.10b with a 20 pound weight hanging off your waist.  Nonetheless, I have found a nice rhythm of doing physical activity (cardio or strength workouts, climbing, yard work, food shopping, cooking, etc.) and deliberately resting for an hour or so.  Then do something else and rest – then again and again and again.

This rhythm is working especially well, as evidenced by all the cool stuff I’ve been able to do this week.  I’ve climbed with Alan twice, completed three strong cardio days with Laurie and a quality weight workout at the SRC.  I felt well enough to be part of the pinochle date at Steve’s place, our fabulous Tuesday night sauna, two special dates – one with Claire, the other with Hannah, a visit to Lynn at Willamette Oaks, a large-laddered house project at Peter’s place, dinner cooked by Corinne, a stroll over to the Eugene marathon and an awesome dinner party at Rich and Kay’s place. I met with Carter, my eastern medicine healer, who created a three-pronged plan (radical diet change, nutraceuticals to detox and acupuncture) to supplement the OHSU treatments.  Finally, I spent considerable time implementing this blog site and staying in close touch with friends.  The ‘get-well’ phone call I received from the 7th grade classroom in Largo MD and my conversation with Maureen from my high school days were both very special events. Happy texts from my sister Annamarie, multiple snail-mail cards, videos of Tanya’s family and touching email notes and photos from so many friends simply made my week!

WOW – after reading it is a clear why I felt fatigued!

I will close this post with three metaphors that have been playing in my mind this week.  The first is a vision of the anti-hormone drug viciously depriving those prostate cancer cells of their sustenance, so they just shrivel up and die away!  Perhaps, a little morbid, but, heck, I did not invite those cancer cells to the party – so, you all, Go Home!  The second metaphor also centers on depriving those prostate cancer cells of sustenance. Some research suggests that those cancer cells love sugar; they just want to intensely gobble it up and use it as a reproducing energy source.  Well, Carter’s radical new diet calls for no added sugars whatsoever and no grain based carbohydrates.  Again, I visualize these uninvited cells being starved as they shrivel up and die away.  The final metaphor I centered on  was the ubiquitous Bolt to Bolt metaphor. For all you non-climbers, this is my way of moving step by step, slowing myself down, enjoying the moment, not getting overwhelmed, smelling the roses and being grateful of all the wonderful pieces of my life.

So then, until next time, may all your winds be gentle tailwinds and all your hills roll gently downwards.  So long for now and happy trails……….

Tuesday 4/19
8am.  Regular morning walk with Laurie – Delightful!  Miscellaneous house chores: water newly planted kale, wash closes, install close line etc.  We all know how good it feels to arrive at the place you call  ‘home’.
1pm. Good weight workout.
3pm. Face-to-face: Steve, Corrine, Alan, Rich & Kay.  AWESOME!

Yes,  Laurie and I had been slammed with three devastating health reports over two weeks – each worse than the previous.  However, over the next four days, almost everything we heard was positive.  Additionally, we had time to ‘get our heads around’  this nasty cancer diagnosis.  That was certainly not true for our family members and dearest friends!  Thus, we realized the importance of sitting with them, explaining the facts and giving the reasons why we were now completely and legitimately super optimistic! 
       As we did this, we were soaked, beyond our wildest dreams, with delight. We witnessed the burden of worry lift from their shoulders, their faces lighten and their lips turn up into an ever so slight smile. We felt that they now believed we might really be getting this thing under control.  This joy of relieving our friends was simply indescribable – our best imaginable experience in this whole ordeal thus far!

Wednesday 4/20

3am. Up and typing……….I guess the pre-chemotherapy drug does have insomnia side effects.  Sent out fourth Health News.
7:30am. Morning Weight work out. Yes!
8am. Great ‘relieving’ conversation with brother Jeff and nephew Ryan.

9:30am. Off to Portland:  First Chemotherapy Session, Lunch Carts, Visit with Eric B for a tour of the Advanced Imaging Research Center at OHSU. Goes smooth as silk – continually impressed with OSHU staff. *

5pm. Great ‘relieving’ conversation with brother Tom.

6:30pm. Orion’s 21st Birthday Party.  We feel like guests of honor among our dearest friends. AWESOME!  Again, we feel relief, which make our souls soar!

*  I guess I’d be lying if I were to dismiss the concern, angst and dissonance I was feeling over my first chemotherapy session.  After all these years of watching what we eat, avoiding environmental toxins, intense physical workouts and cleansing saunas, it is hard to willfully allow the ingestion of those blatantly harsh, cell killing chemotherapy drugs.  Perhaps I shall write and post a short essay on this subject soon.

Thursday 4/21
3am. Up and typing………….Feeing Great
8am. Hike, Workout, organizing treatment and communications.
3pm. Great ‘relieving’ visit with Jane
7pm. Dinner and movie with my girl. Continue to feel GREAT, despite chemotherapy – they really are going to have to do a better job convincing me that I am ill!

Friday 4/22
5am. Up and Typing………….Little more sleep. 😛
8am. Morning workout.
noon. Benjamin kind enough to consult on this blog design. TY!
3pm. Afternoon workout.
5pm. More wonderful ‘relieving’ conversations – Lana and Tanya.
7pm. SEHS play date with my girl! Very fun!
10pm. Right to bed!

Sunday 4/17

8 am. We start to close down condo.  It is sad for me to end this much anticipated climbing trip with great climbing partners prematurely.  I know, however, that the decision is correct and it feels good that the decision is now behind me. I am super psyched to show Laurie Red Rocks, as I have really fallen quite hard for this climbing mecca.

9:30 am.  We start our hike of Turtleback Mountain.

2pm. We exit RR and drive to Fallon, NV for the night. It feels great to watch a good plan unfold!
9pm. We notice side affects of first hormone therapy drug injection in abs. and are little concerned.

Monday 4/18

8 am. We exit Fallon, NV.
9am. We receive a call from my Eugene urologist acknowledging imaging results. He is supportive of our plan to be treated at the Knight Institute.
10am. We receive assurance from Justina that side affects are normal.

 

5pm. We arrive home, feeling the love!

Friday 4/15
One can certainly expect that if you’ve been motivating around this planet earth for almost 22,000 days,  you would have experienced some pretty incredible days.  Well, for me, Friday April 15, 2016 was certainly one of those days!   Thank you to all who may have contributed in their own way to help line up the cosmic forces to make this happen for us………….……

7am. I awoke, reasonably well rested, to Justina’s email.  I excitedly dragged Laurie out of the bathroom to share the news.
7:15am. We frantically arranged and prepared for an immediate flight to PDX.  Bob chauffeured us.

9:15am. We board flight – Are you kidding me?  Is this really going to happen?

12:40pm. We land PDX.  It was great to see our chauffeur, Goelzie, who dutifully shuttles us off directly to OHSU.

1:30pm. We arrived OHSU.  Biggest hugs to Justina!  Simple paperwork, exceedingly nice people, quick blood tests, short educational video, Susan arrived!  We were swept up in the sweet emotion of it all and were feeling incredibly fortunate!

3:00 pm. Laurie, Susan, Justina & I intently listened to the calm, eloquent: Dr. Beers.  A treatment plan is constructed – key event .
4:30pm. Start treatment!  Yes indeed, start treatment!
6:00pm. It was a lovely glowing springtime evening when Laurie and I boarded the Orange line on our way to Manfred and Susan’s house.  We were aglow reveling in one of the best days of my life!
6:30pm. We sat down to a celebratory dinner with Manfred, Chris, Eric & Julia.  Awesome!  We fell asleep there flooded with gratitude.

For a complete account of this incredible day see Laurie’s story:  “Rock Star“.

Saturday 4/16
7am. I awoke at Susan’s house, reliving the power of yesterday.
8am. I excitedly sent out the third “Health News”.
9am. We basked in the warmest welcome upon arriving at Linda & Chris house. Over breakfast and an urban hike, Laurie and I felt camaraderie, support and peace.  Tapping into Chris’ medical knowledge was invaluable and soothing.  (Like a 5 hour doctor’s appointment in the park answering any and every question you could imagine)!  More than Awesome!

3pm. Flying back to Las Vegas to close condo and get car.

10:30pm. Went to bed pondering the radical change in our emotional state from just 72 hours ago.

Sunday May 1

8am:  Good Morning, Happy May Day!  Real time post coming your way….

My current journey is opening up all kinds of new doors.  Imagine just a few months ago Mike developing smart phone skills, having a medical oncologist on his team and blogging. Wow!

Since the feedback on the blog site has been so overwhelmingly positive, I will dedicate effort to keeping it current and fun. That said, I have hit a minor snag so today’s post will simply be this real time message: “Thank You All for your heartfelt, warm, touching words, prayers, sentiments and offers of help”.  It so incredible to feel you are out there sending those loving, supportive vibes. I wonder if this is the principle reason as to why I feel so good these days!

The photo is of early this morning as Laurie and I lent our support to the folks running in the annual Eugene Marathon.

 

Thursday 4/14
3am. Could not sleep……….duh……….spurred me to request Susan’s 2 cents.  Thus, I wrote a desperate early morning note to Susan. Her response was so simple and effective (both attached) – key event.
7am.  Laurie and I awoke to the almost perfect RR climbing day. We did, however, have other plans for this big day.  The three goals were: get imaging data on my body to determine if my cancer had metastasized, make contact with Justina, the multi disciplinary prostate cancer clinic coordinator at OHSU and set ourselves up for a killer climb tomorrow.
8am. We departed condo for all day-imaging fest at VWI.
9am. We arrived at the suburban strip mall, home of VWI.  We entered as the doors were unlocked and the staff sipped their morning coffee.  We were checked-in by simple, friendly, efficient staff.
10am. The CT scan had been completed, I had been injected with the radioactive isotope in preparation for the bone scan (3 hour wait) and Laurie had been in close contact with Susan.  We exited the clinic for a walk around the city park and cancelled all plans with future climbers.  Great conversation with Dave!
1pm. Trisha commenced bone scan as Laurie curiously and anxiously compared real time images with those of healthy and unhealthy ones on the Internet via her phone.
2:30pm. We exited the clinic to lunch at Giuseppe’s across the street.  The plan was to return to pick up the Radiologist report before closing (5pm).  We maintained continued contact with Susan and Manfred.
3:15 pm. The extremely empathetic, helpful and wonderful Justina called – delightful, reassurring conversation!  Chris rocks in making sure this happened –key event.
4:45 pm. We were able to obtain the radiologists report – key event.  The report bore grim news, evidence of METASTASIS.
5:00pm. We photographed and sent the image reports to Chris and Justina – totally key event.
6:30pm. We arrived at the condo and shared news with Bob. We spoke with Chris who confirmed the ominous image results.  He said: “You must come see us, now!”  This mandate is consistent with Susan’s intuition that we should have started treatment last week.
8:30pm. I fall asleep (almost standing up) from the day’s excitement.
10:30pm (While asleep) I receive 10:30 pm. email from Justina ………………..

Wednesday 4/13
7am.  Climbed “The Great Red Book” and a few other sport climbs with Bob.  Very Fun!  More back and forth with UOI & WVI for tomorrow’s 9am all-important imaging appointment in Henderson.
5 pm. Picked Laurie up at LAS – Great to see her!

Expectedly our frazzled nerves, fear, loneliness, lack of direction and raw emotions collide.  We synergistically spiral down a dark hole..  We feel rudderless – where to turn – how to start healing?  We flounder almost desperately!  Saddled with frayed, exposed nerves and emotions!  Intense!

8pm. Note to Manfred and Susan – Start cascade of hope!
Amazingly our first random attempt to crawl out of the hole was a desperate email (attached) to Manfred.  Six years ago we walked the beaches of Manzanita learning of his prostate cancer pains and trials.   This email also spurred the tenacious Susan into action – she was now thinking for us!  Light, perhaps?

Friday 4/1
4 pm. Wednesday’s  PSA results posted on Portal. PSA = 48.5
5:30pm.  Smiling Laurie cycles up to my sunny reading spot on the porch, she asks, I inform, we are now concerned!

Saturday 4/2
Excellent day with Laurie – wonderful coastal hiking excursion.  Worked on mental preparation for upcoming biopsy and physical preparation to reschedule RR departure.  Poor Chris and Linda, am I stiffing them?

Monday 4/4
11:30 am. Biopsy.

Tuesday 4/5
12:30 pm.  DEPART for RED ROCKS!    Say goodbye to Laurie.
Barely feel well enough, physically and emotionally to depart.  Expect to see Laurie in 8 days as she is flying down to visit me at the condo before launching on her Utah backpacking journey. Definitely not feeling smug.

Thursday 4/7
 9:30am. Standing at the base of “Prince of Darkness”, preparing to climb. This is a climb I had been dreaming of attempting for over 15 years. Totally psyched – Thank you selfless Linda!

Monday 4/11
7 pm.  Bob and I at condo.  Received call from Dr. Walker informing me of sobering biopsy results (high volume, aggressive cancer, Gleason Scale 9).
8:30 pm. Called Laurie. Talked with Chris who said I MUST get in touch with Justina at OHSU. Sent out second “Health News” email (attached).

Tuesday 4/12
7am. Tried to set up West Valley Imaging appointment (WVI) – scheduling, referral, records & insurance.  Portal request to Oregon Urology Institute (OUI) & subsequent multiple calls.
10 am. Stated climbing “Cat in the Hat”  with Bob. GREAT!  Throughout the day, continued back and forth with OUI and VWI – ughf.
5pm.  Finally got Moni to fax records –YES!

 

Wednesday 2/10
9am. Uncharacteristically sunny Eugene winter day. I casually stroll to my biyearly physical.
10am. I exit knowing all is well. Feeling great and smug. I note that doctor requested a lipid panel in the near future.

Monday 2/22
7:30 am. On the stroll over to get the blood draw for the lipid test, I decide, oh what the heck, they are taking blood, let’s add a data point to my 10 year running log of PSA levels. I arrive lab, get a little push back on my request, but it goes smooth enough.
8:15 am. I exit knowing all is well. Feeling great and smug.

The next two weeks:
Receive my first ever evening call from my concerned primary care doctor. PSA = 18.1 – way up from 1.9, 20 months ago. He says, he can make time; come see me very soon.  DRE does not look good.  Refer me to urology specialist. They make time. Diagnosed with cronic prostatitis, recommended treatment of 30-day drug regiment modified to to 20-regiment in order accommodate my pending departure for my major Red Rocks climbing journey.

Wednesday 3/23
8 am. Blood draw for PSA test and upcoming urology appointment to confirm cronic prostatitis diagnosis.  Hoping drug treatment is working. Feeling good, little less smug.

Wednesday 3/30
9am. Laurie and I cycle over to the urologist shop.  PSA = 36.5. Biopsy recommended and scheduled in 5 days. Informed that probability of positive cancer diagnosis will be about 70%. Discussion a little more intense. Mood darkening. PSA ordered.

Thursday 3/31
We struggle with how to inform family of unfolding situation. Climbing friends especially impacted because of pending RR trip. Insufficient data makes it hard to accurately portray. Don’t want to alarm, but want to be fair. Hard to do, but know it is the correct plan.

8 pm. I write first “Health News” email (attached), shyly strike the ‘send’ key. Phone rings in less than 4 minutes. Lana’s concerned, yet soothing voice on the other end!