Way back at the end of May we went up to Hamburg Cove for our usual Waterbury Power Squadron rendezvous/Memorial Day Weekend. Although we had boats rafted to us, we really never got physically close to anyone. In June we went there again, twice. Once for some boat chores easier done in calm water and once for some fairly rough weather. We could have stayed on our Old Lyme Marina mooring and rode it out but we went for comfort and caution.
At the end of June and into July we had a cruise with Heather, Mike and Cobbe. We spent time at Block Island and within the Forks of Long Island. As previously mentioned, Cobbe enjoys being on the boat but really loves the beach. He likes being with Grandma and Grandpa, too.
We had another raft-up in Hamburg Cove in July, this time with Gelato. We stayed on our own boats and felt safe enough. Nice to converse with friends. Then we had a second cruise of Block Island with Cobbe and his parents. We mostly followed the same route as the earlier cruise, but in reverse order.
We ended up the Mystic River off of Mystic Seaport Museum where I had an afternoon of work. Cobbe loved the kids games, raising a sail and playing on the boats in the playground. He also enjoyed the tour of the Morgan, the last wooden whaling ship in existence. Grandpa's work assignment was the deck watch for the afternoon. Still cool to say that.
In August we had a tropical storm pass well west of us. This meant the winds were out of the south and were forecast to be pretty strong. We went up to Hamburg Cove again for the protection there. It was gusty but not terrible. We could see the trees swaying and knew the power went out in the area but didn't see the massive electrical failures that were scattered throughout the state. Some had no power for a week. Fortunately this did not affect my doctor visits and tests in Hartford.
As we are now at Labor Day Weekend we sailed to Coecles Harbor again. This time we went to the marina for a mooring and daughter and family drove there to meet us. Cobbe quickly gets into the rhythm of boating. Playing, preparing the table for our meals and, most importantly, swimming... at the pool and the beach.
We are now just a few weeks away from heading south for the winter again. There are risks going south but winter indoors is a risk as well. The Florida Keys have handled Covid issues correctly but the rest of Florida and the other states along the way are much more stupid. Except for fuel and/or grocery stops we are reasonably isolated and safe. Safeish.
Besides my weekends at the Museum we were mostly occupied with medical visits and tests. We have always scheduled our medical visits for the time we are in Connecticut in the summer, eyes, teeth, PCP, etc. but in addition to those I have more new doctors because of my lymphoma and its effects. Now I have a cardiologist and endocrinologist added to my collection of physicians. As I mentioned previously I wore a heart monitor for two weeks and that led to a cardiac ultrasound. That test seemed to show part of my heart was not contracting with the rest of my heart. This sounds worse than it really is. It's not that uncommon but it led to another test, a cardiac MRI. That's more of a big deal. You're in the machine for about an hour and constantly asked to hold your breath for different amounts of time including nearly a minute. Had no trouble doing any of this. The good news from the MRI counteracted the concerns raised by the ultrasound. The anomalies shown by one test were explained by the other. Some muscle bands that should be horizontal are more vertical leading to the appearance of problems. It's genetic and while unusual, it's not all that rare. Works so far. And should continue to work. We hope. My oncologist says the heart is important. It's needed to move the chemo drugs around. Apparently that's a cancer joke. I laughed. A little.
So my heart is doing fine. It can be affected by chemotherapy but hematologists and cardiologists are not in total agreement. Because of multiple CT and CT/PET scans we've seen an unchanging nodule on my thyroid. Sigh. Another thing to check out. I saw an endocrinologist and had another ultrasound. This one on the neck. It showed I had two small nodules and a cyst. Fortunately they are not an issue. Just something to watch once or twice a year. Another doctor added to my collection. Sigh. The VQ lung function test I mentioned in my last posting came back with a 'could not be more normal' report from the radiologist so that was good. These tests are a pain in the... wherever but they have been reassuring so that's good. Positive results. Mostly.
So that's the summer summary. Medical visits, tests, a few cruises, a few hiding in Hamburg Cove days and the start of my maintenance lymphoma treatments. It's more immunotherapy than chemotherapy using only one of the drugs (retuxin) of my previous regimen. This will happen every two or three months in an effort to keep the lymphoma at bay. The longer the indolent period, the better. Treatments have been improving constantly and although a cure may not be on the horizon hope for a "normal" lifespan is not unrealistic.
Anybody know what "normal" is anymore?
PS: August edition of Points East had an article by me. September edition had a letter to the editor and a mention in the editor's column. www.pointseast.com
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