Back on the Upper East Side

Tues. am 2:30 am. I hitched a ride with Carol who was coming into MSKCC to do her therapy and stopped off at the Urgent Care facility. My issue was a high fever, and still a sore back. So, after a chest x ray the Doc said I have pneumonia and she found a bed in isolation on the 15th floor. Sooo, I'm still getting settled in. They sent me to do 3 CAT scans yesterday on the mid area, lumbar, lungs etc. Hard to hold your breath when you have pneumonia. I'm sitting here at the computer at 2 am with my healing blanket comforting me. The night team here is terrific tonight, Melissa is my nurse and Jose is the assistant. During the day I had Erin and Simone.
In any case I hope we can finally get the full picture on the back issues. Gotta go. JIMBO

Summer is here

Tues. June 24th, 12 noon. A rainy season here with little sun but that seems to be changing, and we'll have summer now. The pool is open. We head North to Woodstock again for the July 4th weekend. Can't wait. We've started playing our 1st outdoor Summer Concerts with the Concert Band at Memorial Day parade then Library Concert Wednesday. We got to the Beach with Ben and Maayan on Friday to see Jane and Ryan and Maggie, Ryan's playful dog; then to the Boardwalk for Ferris Wheel, Bumper Cars, slides, ice cream etc. Ben read a chapter book in 1 day here (in a couple of hours Sunday. He's a chip off the old block; Carol and Riv do the same. Riv is in a book club with all she has to do. Great!). New front door looks great. Now for a new back doors and deck so Mildred can sit out or in a screened in porch without climbing. Will be finished mid July. Carol has completed 1st 2 of 6 immunotherapies. Takes all of 5 minutes at the hospital. She's fine. She went to aerobics last night even though procedure was yesterday. Her garden is blooming. Dylan and Elana were here for Shavuotov. Bravo. Greg will marry Jon W this Sunday. Carol and I will return to Bethesda to be with the kids while Greg and Riv travel. I've got back problems again. I'm a bit out of shape. I played Golf last week, then walking the sandy beach and riding in the car doesn't help. A couple of sleepless nights also add to the woes. Really, sitting here writing feels ok. So I'll stay put today. All bloodwork etc. remains good. I'm blessed. Do yourself a favor and read Smithsonian Magazine about the microRNA genetic material. They describe my exact disease in the examples (AML) and you can see the future of cancer therapies in this report. They "paint" the cytology report to see the inversion of the 16th chromosome which I had. Interesting stuff. I bless the MSKCC staff: research, labs, docs, nurses, clerks, wait staff. All dedicated. As soon as the back pain lifts I have cello and bass to practice. Rebuild my strength. Gotta go. Love you. Enjoy the summer. Enjoy life. The water, the trees, the birds, the sounds, the mountains, the waves, the sand, the dirt, the groove. Ahhh, the groove. The pocket. JIMBO

June sun

Sun., June 9, 2009. 9:45 pm. Go Kobe. Go Tiger. Great fun playing in Princeton this weekend for Kirsten and Craig's wedding. They and their friends and our cousins all look sensational and had great fun. Brass 5 and Jazz 6. Today beautiful MSKCC friends at the Rock and Run. Fellow patients Brad, Duane, and Geoff. Our nurses Catriona,Chrissy, others. Dr. Frattini, Dr. Berman. Donna. "We are family". Left 3 paintings etc. for a show at 1978 today. Off to Penn State with Ron tomorrow for the Bass conference. Carol's next procedure is next Monday. Carol and I really enjoyed the weekend. Thanks Randi and Matt for making it possible.
Only about 1 week until the Grands arrive. Broadway,Shore,hanging with Grandma. Books, math,and more. Can't wait.
I've got to put some of my ideas and experiences down to share with my fellow patients at MSKCC. Duane helped start Bridges and I mean to make a contribution soon. Thoughts, feelings.
Gotta go. Love to all. Thanks. JIMBO