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Surgery and Hospital Stay

I had my first colonoscopy on November 1st and a large mass was found in the transverse colon at the splenic flexure. The biopsy identified it as invasive adenocarcinoma, a malignant cancer. On November 17th I had a laparoscopic partial colectomy to remove the diseased portion of the colon and surrounding lymph nodes. After a brief stay at the hospital, I was discharged on November 21st.

All lymph nodes tested negative and CT scans showed no metastases. It’s stage 2 colon cancer but because of the size of the tumor, listed in the colonoscopy report as a “partial obstruction”, the oncologist wants me to go through six months of chemotherapy. Because of other issues for which I have no energy to write about here, I lost all confidence or trust in this oncologist and I’m awaiting a referral to another doctor. I have no idea what happens next.

Update February 2024: I was referred to another oncologist in December. He determined that chemotherapy would do more harm than good and recommends periodic lab work and CT scans to monitor the situation. So far, so good. I hope.

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An Amazon Order, a USPS Delivery

Empty Amazon box
I ordered a book from Amazon and even though it said “shipped and sold by Amazon.com”, it was actually shipped via USPS. As is to be expected from the United States Postal Service, the box broke open in transit and the book fell out somewhere along the way. For some reason, the postal carrier delivered an empty box to my porch.
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To Sonoma and Back Again

Downgrading from Sonoma to Ventura

For the first time, ever, I’m downgrading from a newly released operating system to its predecessor; macOS Sonoma to macOS Ventura. The driving force for the downgrade was VideoProc’s instant loss of functionality. It’s third-party software which I use every day and their tech support seems incapable of answering simple questions about this issue, so the downgrade was necessary until updates are issued.

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Sir Michael Gambon

Albus Dumbledore

LONDON (AP) — Michael Gambon, the Irish-born actor knighted for his illustrious career on the stage and screen and who went on to gain admiration from a new generation of moviegoers with his portrayal of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight “Harry Potter” films, has died. He was 82.

The actor died on Wednesday following “a bout of pneumonia,” his publicist, Clair Dobbs, said Thursday.

“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon. Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside,” his family said in a statement. Continue reading “Sir Michael Gambon”