[Magdalen] Pseudo-epiphany, & The latest.

[Joseph Cirou]

I forgot to mention that Albert's name was on the Christmas card that accompanied your listgiv!  I am glad you made the most of a long day at treatment. It sounds like you spread some good news. 

Joe

-----Original Message-----
>From: Jim Guthrie <jguthrie at pipeline.com>
>Sent: Jan 7, 2016 11:14 AM
>To: magdalen at herberthouse.org
>Subject: Re: [Magdalen] Pseudo-epiphany, & The latest.
>
>Well, our was pseudo as my treatment time at Sloan Kettering slipped from 3:45 
>to after 6 -- which meant we did not get the the Epiphany service at St Mary's 
>in NY as Planned.
>
>But overall -- a good day as the preliminary results of my CT Scan indicate all 
>my tumors save one have shrunk considerably (one is half the size it was in 
>October); one remain the same -- but is still quite a bit smaller than it was at 
>the beginning. Blood tests were all in normal range, too.
>
>Actuarial expectations give me a max of about 4 1/2 years with this -- but I 
>always tell people I;m aiming for at least ten!
>
>We also (finally) met a couple in good spirits amongst all the gloomy gus's in 
>the waiting room (and not that I'm saying that some don’t have reasons to be 
>gloomy, but I think a positive attitude is important). We Immediately connected 
>amongst this sea of unhappiness (even their son who drove them in from Sage 
>Harbor LI was not in the cheery mode). Joe is 82 years old and was in for his 
>every six-month checkup. He had his bladder and prostate removed about 4 years 
>ago and has been cancer free for four years. He has a catheter and bottle to 
>take care of things that he's learned to change daily himself -- much to his 
>wife's relief. That he could laugh about it  He and I carried on our laughing a 
>joking in the cubicles waiting for our CT Scans. I got the distinct impression 
>that our jocular behavior speeded up the techs in getting us out of there, too!
>
>Later, a gentleman in the waiting room recognized as as neighbor's from Bay 
>Ridge. "I used to see you every day and sometimes more than that walking past my 
>house. Where've you been?" We explained all manner of gossip about our old 
>neighborhood. He let me know that a neighbor in a wheelchair we were acquainted 
>with had died. I told him that Dan Levins -- another neighbor who died and the 
>travails of his wheelchair bound husband Gene (he suffered a stroke while in a 
>burning building as a NYC firefighter). A third guy in a wheelchair -- a block 
>down is still going strong. He was paralyzed at age 10 sledding in Owl's Head 
>Park -- a block away from home. Albert and I sometimes helped him get up the 
>ramp into his home when the wheelchair skidded and wouldn’t make it during ice 
>and snowstorms.
>
>In any case -- despite no church -- a great Celebration of Epiphany, I think.
>
>Cheers,
>Jim
>