UPDATE and a break from The World . . .

UPDATE: Yesterday afternoon Dr. Steiner went over the first pathology report from the needle biopsy and then what our plan would be based on the pathologist's final report which is expected early next week. The final report will reflect what may be learned from a stain being applied to the tissue; they felt this was necessary in order to get a better look.

So, it may definitely not be cancer, it may definitely be cancer, or there may not be a definitive answer either way. If it is not cancer, all of the plan we made will be cancelled and I will be followed closely in two months with a CT scan. If it is cancer or we don't know for sure, I will have surgery to remove the lymph node(s) and any other suspicious tissue--next Thursday, June 25. Dr. Steiner will control the robot's 3-D camera and, as she put it, its little hands. Her nurse Naomi says Dr. Steiner's a champ with that robot!

If I have surgery, I will be off work for six weeks. If it turns out to be cancer for sure, not only from the pathologist report before the surgery but also from the one they will get after they examine the tissues removed during surgery, then I will have radiation and chemotherapy. I don't have any details on that right now. It's a wait-and-see thing, of course.

I so appreciate your prayers, love and concern.

Now for today's break from The World.



My Saturday morning breakfast--a toasted Fred Meyer Crispy English Muffin, some grape tomatoes, and some blueberries. I drank water. After I ate, I sorted some photos from iPhoto into Flickr, put a load in one of the washing machines downstairs, and went for a six-block walk. In a little while, I'll get those clothes out of the dryer and get them put away. Leland called and he and Rachel invited me to go pick blueberries later on today with them, up on Sauvie Island. I've never done that! It sounds exciting; I've already got my sunhat hanging on the door knob and some plastic containers with lids ready, too. I think I'll take my folding lawn chair with me, too.

2014 Festival of Flowers, No. 4

The mailman eating his lunch on the park bench caught my eye. And made me wonder, "What's a mailman doing working on Saturday? With something that looks like delivery as his job? About the time I got to the end of that thought, I noticed the sort of photo bomber with the sunglasses, waving at me like we were long lost friends. Never seen him before. Turns out I got another guy eating a slice of pizza on a park bench--he's backed up to the mailman. I like how the photo turned out. Hope you enjoy it.

Busy Sidewalk, No. 3

Count the helmets in the bucket--one pink and white, one purple, one blue, one black. I also see a cloth cap that is white with a gray lining and a something turquoise that is knitted or crocheted. On the box there is a sticker that reads, "She flies with her own wings," one for Session Lager, one for I Heart Oregon, another of the flies with her own wings, a tiny smiley face, a tiny red apple, a couple of butterflies, two of white dogs in silhouette--maybe a Rottweiler and a Lab, one black and white one of a fox drinking from a steaming cup, another one with the same fox seated at a table with a chicken maybe having coffee together, and several that I cannot make out. Inside the box, the word Bakfiets is engraved at the end closest to the handlebars, and along the outer lower corner near the front wheel I read clevercycles.com. A quick Google tells me this is a WorkCycle--I guess so, peddling along with your children in the box would be work, for sure. There's a bell on the left handlebar and a large chain locking the bike to the bike rack bar. It is parked outside The Children's Gym, a busy place it seems to me because I often see parents and children there after work when I go walking by across the street and on Saturdays like this, too, when I'm heading for the nearby Circuit NE Bouldering Gym to say hello to my two sons who may be there doing their thing. According to the gym's Web site, gymnastics is their main thing, but they also have dance and music classes, plus after-school care and the occasional Parents Night Out. I took this photo on Saturday, March 15, at 12:24 p.m. I suppose the peddling parent went inside to watch his/her children's gym session.



Here's a wide shot of the sidewalk so that you can get an idea of it and the gym and the cars parked along the sidewalk, plus one pedestrian ahead of me.

Sunny Saturday! Been to a lecture and walked around taking photos. About to go out again into the sunshine, just as soon as I get this posted!

Walking from The Circuit Bouldering gym just of NE Sandy at NE 18th, on my way home today at 12:46 p.m. I had stopped for a few minutes to visit with Lamont and Leland who were in there bouldering. Lucky for me, they had a few minutes to stop climbing and visit with their little ol' Mom! Lucky for me also to get this photo of the two buses that I ride home from work--the 12 and the 19. That's my usual stop that the 19 is at--it's named NE Sandy and NE Flanders. The 12 is at the traffic signal at NE Sandy and NE 20th. The multi-browns brick building is the triangular one that houses Halo Salon, on the tip, and right behind it, The Blue Diamond PDX, my practically-perfect-in-every-way neighborhood bar. Depending on whim or weather, I can walk either direction at the tip of that triangle to get to my building--there's a side door if I go right, and there's a front door on the street parallel with NE 20th. Often I go to the front door so that I can get in a few more steps.

Seen from the MAX Yellow Line, snaking rail cars along the east side of the Willamette River, heading north.

Saturday in Portland, the sun shone, the breeze blew, the temp chilled, and I rode the light rail train to get my flu shot, taking photos to my heart's delight. At this particular point in the ride, the train has crossed the Steel Bridge, heading east towards Interstate Avenue, then north on it.

Looking through ...

... the bars at the Lloyd Center MAX station on a sunny Saturday. We both got on the MAX and ended up at the Saturday Market, me to look and shop, she to entertain and hopefully make some moola.