What happened today looking at the clouds

My phone rang as I was about to leave for my last treatment. The radiation therapist said the machine was broken, but they had a team of engineers coming in over the weekend to fix it. I told myself, ya gotta roll with it. Now I had a three day weekend to heal and rest before my last treatment. I knew I could use the time. Beanie cap sweat pants guy caught me yesterday as I was putting my shoes on.  He was leaving as I was arriving. He admired my socks. I don’t know how many years I’ve worn Thorlos. Probably since my early running days in the late 70’s back when I was a hash house harrier. I got hooked on them because of their thick absorbent weave, and when you love you love em.’  In thousands of miles, I’ve never gotten a blister. I told beanie cap sweat pants guy they’re one of the most important things you can have crossing the finish line of a marathon. Turns out beanie cap sweat pants guy was a technical mountain climber and had gotten hooked that way. He rattled off an ...

The radiation diaries day 23 There is no destination, no end to the journey. When I’m think I might be done, I’m back at the start, trying to remember what I forgot. The most precisely planned life follows the same path as the least precise.  They start and end at the same place. My path is not unique nor precise. I wander, observe and wonder, and do my best not to judge, but as a human that part’s not easy. I’ve gained confidence with my walking if nothing else during the time of my treatments. Long hallways, inclines, negotiating to and from the car with my stick has built up my confidence. Lying still on the table while the ray gun does its thing is the easy part.   I’m slow with my walking but I no longer think about falling. That’s kind of a big deal after the events of the last two years. While relearning to walk after the new hip, I am always aware of how far it is from standing to being flat on the floor. Everything has to be precisely aligned for each treatment o...