Day 118, Year 11: Good News, Bad News
Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Weather: Sunny, Hi Temp 70’s, Low 50’s, Wind N’ly
Location: At Anchor in West Palm Beach City Anchorage, FL
The good news is that there was no extreme weather today. The bad news came from Mark. Yesterday’s scan confirmed that his cancer is no longer slow growing. Things have changed quite a bit in the past month and his oncologist is recommending that he starts a trial ASAP. After the scan in January, she had tests run on specimens of his cancer that have been preserved. It’s much too complicated to explain, especially since I am not sure I fully comprehend it myself, but basically there seems to be nothing tried and true left to use other than radiation. The radiation can whack out a bit of cancer here, but then it can pop up somewhere else. That’s referred to as the “whack-a-mole” game. Thus the need for entering a trial with a drug that looks promising. The chemo drug would be used in combination with the biologic that Mark had last winter. The problem for us is that he would need to be in Boston at least one day a week for as long as the treatment is working. The other problem is that this needs to start now, not later. So we have a lot of figuring out to do. We have to get Windbird back to Little River as soon as possible and then wait for the weather to warm up before sailing her back to Cape Cod. Once Mark starts the trial treatment, he will not be able to leave the Boston area. Without the boat there, we have no place to live. So you get the idea. This will not be easy to figure out. But we will figure it out. Just hang in there with us. So no Bahamas this year and no more Florida. One way or another we, or me, or both of us, are headed north. What a difference a day can make.
I received this news this afternoon while I was wandering through the Ann Norton Sculpture Garden here in West Palm Beach. Lovely little place. I spent the morning on the boat catching up on things that needed to be done. But it was a beautiful day and I wanted to take a long walk. So I walked a mile and a half to the sculpture garden and then walked another mile and a half to City Place to the supermarket. By the time I got there it was after 4 pm, so I took the trolley back to the dock. Tomorrow I’ll stay on the boat and start getting things ready to sail north. I’m not sure when this will happen, but I’ll be prepared.
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| 160217 Day 118 Florida, USA–Ann Norton Sculpture Garden |
