Day 11 (29.7%)

The highlight of our weekend was Sunday morning, when Simmie, Ronen, Eliana, and Maya stopped by for brunch on their way back to Sharon. Because they had to be home by early afternoon, it was a brief visit, but to be honest I tend to fade rather quickly these days so I am just elated that we had those couple of hours with them.

We did manage to see a movie, a documentary called “California Typewriter.” The film focuses on a small typewriter repair shop in Berkeley, California, and includes interviews with a number of well-known personalities who are manual typewriter lovers including actor Tom Hanks (who knew he owns literally hundreds of old manual typewriters?), late actor Sam Shepard, musician John Mayer, and historian David McCullough. The movie was interesting but I have to admit I slept through part of it.

I am finding the news about Tropical Storm Harvey especially worrisome. All I can think about is what happens to people who are undergoing cancer treatment. In an ideal world, radiation therapy should be given without a break in the protocol. But if days or even weeks of treatment are lost, the consequences for rapidly growing tumors could be quite serious. Barry tells me that, actually, an interruption in ongoing treatment is the worst thing possible because the initial dose of radiation actually stimulates the tumor to regrow. Without the additional doses to counteract that growth, the consequences can be quite negative. I am sure that, as happened in New York five years ago during Superstorm Sandy, other hospitals in the region are doing all they can to accommodate patients who are in the midst of therapy. Our hearts go out to all those suffering from this terrible natural event.

With my huge collection of their t-shirts, I have decided to devote this week to the Allman Brothers Band.

This morning it was back to MSKCC for treatment #11.

Love,

Rebecca

Eleven O’Clock Tick Tock (U2)