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

Carol's fine

Thurs. May 28. 9 pm. Carol had a 2nd procedure this week at MSKCC and she's fine. A few low grade cells were excavated from her bladder. She's feeling fine. We're awaiting a pathology report but the doctor said she suspects little or no follow up. Probably just monitoring. So we're relieved and happy. Gotta go now, but we'll keep you posted. JIM

Memorial Day

Mon. May 25, 5 am. I'm up with the birds again. We'll march in the parade with the tuba. Carol and I had an extraordinary 3 days in the W oodstock house. Beautiful sun, overnight thunderstorms, birds chirping. Friday night dinner streamside at Bear Inn, then to Bearsville theater for Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Sat. a trip to town was wonderful; galleries, shops, ice cream. Dinner after walking the sunset at Reservoir Inn followed by movie "the Soloist". Sunday chopped a little wood. Then biked around Wrolsen Road (5.5 miles). Then chill out. At 2 pm to a fine concert by 2 Julliard pre college players in St. Gregorys. Schumman, Bach, Shostakovich and Tschaikowsky. Great. Garden as well. Final dinner at the Bar BQ joint outdoors. Fine. Burp!!
Tomorrow Carols procedure at MSKCC is at 3:00 pm We'll be home I'm sure by 7 pm. We'll keep you posted.
Enjoy the holiday. Keep healthey. JIMBO

Spring Gardening

Mon. May 11, 6 pm. Carol and I added a ton of plants to her garden. Beautiful. Now for some annuals with flowers. Carol went to Bethesda for Grandparents Day today at the kids school. Great fun. I took Mildred to Randis for our Mothers Day gathering. mmmmm delish. We're practicing cello hoping to play trios and quartets soon. Meantime 3 gigs this weekend, Fri. night services at Beth El here in South Orange (on bass) and Saturday after a cocktail party reunion with my HS Swing Kings band I play with my buddies at a 50s Sock Hop in Livingston. Sunday some blues at the Mayfest celebration in Maplewood. Fun. We'll be in Woodstock for Memorial Day weekend, then to the parade in Maplewood on Monday.
Carol has moved her case to Memorial Sloan Kettering as well. We'll keep you posted. Looking forward to Rock n Run in June. Peace. JIM

Carol's Doing Great

Sun. April 19. 7:30 pm. Well the big news in our house is that Carol rec'd a diagnosis of superficial carcinoma of the bladder. After biopsy confirmation we hastily scheduled the quick procedure at Overlook Hospital. The procedure took about 35 minutes and she was home by 2:30 Friday afternoon. No pain, no blood. Rebekah and Greg and Shoshana were here to support us and helped make all of this bearable. Carol has kept herself in such good shape with aerobics etc. for years that this procedure was a breeze. Worrisome of course at first, but she handled things beautifully. We will go for a second opinion at MSKCC as soon as we get the slides. Meantime she scheduled for an induction therapy which includes placing a TB strain in the bladder which draws the immune system there to fight and eradicate anything trying to develop there. No chemo or radiation needed. Monitoring every 2 or 3 months for 2 years, then every 6 months for the rest of your life. We have spoken to a number of friends with the same diagnosis/prognosis and it looks good. So, please add us to your prayers, and meantime stop smoking and get yourself checked up regularly. Love you all and thanks for your support.
The MSKCC Patients Art Show begins Monday April 27th at 5:00 pm (until 8 pm for the opening) and continues until Thursday in the West Cafeteria. I have 3 pieces showing: Mildred in Woodstock; Woodstock Abstract: and "Cascade", a new bridges wood collage. Drop by if you get a chance. Meantime keep healthy. JIMBO