Troublesome

News blues

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned about a pair of "pretty troublesome" Covid variants — omicron descendants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 — as the U.S. braces for a winter surge. 

Read more >> 

And,

People who reported experiencing side effects to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines such as fever, chills or muscle pain tended to have a greater antibody response following vaccination, according to new research.
Having such symptoms after vaccination is associated with greater antibody responses compared with having only pain or rash at the injection site or no symptoms at all….
“In conclusion, these findings support reframing postvaccination symptoms as signals of vaccine effectiveness and reinforce guidelines for vaccine boosters in older adults,”

Read more >> 

A team of scientists affiliated with Duke University found that ivermectin does not meaningfully improve the recovery of people with mild to moderate Covid.
“These findings do not support the use of ivermectin in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19,” they concluded.
The FDA has warned people against taking the tablets for anything other than their approved use.
Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Tyranny  (0:57 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

On plastics and the myth of recyclable plastics

Just 5% of plastic products are recycled in America and many common items just aren’t able to be recycled at all, according to a damning new study released by Greenpeace USA.
The study estimates the U.S. produced about 51 million tons of plastic waste in 2021, but just 2.4 million tons of that was reprocessed.
The data compiled by Greenpeace is even more bleak than that released by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2018. The government estimated at the time just 9% of all plastics had been recycled that year, with the remaining 91% winding up in landfills. (At the time much of the country’s plastic was shipped to China and considered recycled, even if it was dumped in a landfill anyways).
Shockingly, the research said no type of plastic packaging in America met the threshold needed to be considered “recyclable” promoted….

Read more >> 

Recycling plastic waste fails for a variety of reasons that Greenpeace boils down to: the impossibility of collection and sorting, the environmental toxicity, synthetic compositions and contamination, and a lack of economic feasibility.
There are thousands of different types of plastics with different compositions that cannot be recycled together, let alone sorted. Plastic recycling facilities are likely to catch on fire because plastic is flammable, and living near one poses a huge health risk—take Turkey, which became a new plastic waste export destination after China banned imports and saw an influx of EU waste expose workers and communities to new health risks. Plastics can also absorb toxic chemicals, further complicating recycling efforts and increasing their toxicity. On top of all this, recycled plastic costs more than new plastic because of the aforementioned factors encouraging companies to simply make more instead of pursuing alternatives.

Read more >> 

***

More than four months after devastating monsoon floods began in Pakistan, at least 1,500 people have died, and the waters that inundated nearly the entire country have yet to recede. This ongoing emergency is causing illness and communicable disease to spread, and these effects are likely to be much more deadly than the initial catastrophe. “The public health risks are worse, and the death toll could be much higher”....

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Another foray into battling mesothelioma. Today, Mary's trip to the blood lab begins her third chemo session – and, we hope, her second to last treatment of this round. Why “this round”? Well, the unpleasant truth is, to date, there is no cure for mesothelioma. The asbestos fibers that stimulate, aka cause, the disease never are dissuaded: they simply regenerate. This, because indiscernible microfibers are ready, willing, and able to regrow. It’s the job of the patient and her medical team to stay ahread of new growth. This means that after this round of four sessions of chemo, Mary will undergo a scan to judge the chemo sessions’ effectiveness. If all appears clear in the scan, Mary will be free of scans for the next six months. If anything appears suspicious in the scan, the medical team will suggest next steps.
So, today, blood tests ascertain that Mary’s system is up to the task of another round. If any element of her blood suggests she’s above or below desired “measurements” the chemo session will be delayed until her blood levels are more “workable.” To date, Mary “feels fine” and is preparing for another several days of feeling under par.

“At least my chemo sessions are every three weeks. This gives me enough time to recover between bouts. And I do recover. Yes, my lung/chest feels wooden but I have full movement of my left arm. Indeed, I can almost forget the dire disease and prognosis for … well, minutes… at a time.” At that she chuckles warily and wearily and adds, “Perhaps one of these days, it’ll be forgetfulness for half-hourly bouts of time.”
I can attest to Mary’s fortitude. Yesterday, together, we added a layer of bottom shelves to a set of wooden shelves on my patio. Mary was an active  participant in adding this new layer that will house small pots of newly propagated succulents. We’ve added several more rarer-than-usual-for-us cacti and succulents. In general, our philosophy for such plants is “don’t pay money for what’s readily available.” Problem with that philosophy? Some cacti – for examples, Rebutia  - native to Bolivia and Argentina, and Lithops,  native to South Africa and Namibia. These beautiful plants are not, alas, not “readily available” except by purchase.

Good news, bad news

News blues

After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration late last month authorized Pfizer /BioNTech’s and Moderna Inc’s updated vaccine to target the more recently circulating Omicron subvariants of the coronavirus, only a third of American adults polled said they either already received the updated shots or plan to get it.
That is, around two-thirds of adults in the United States do not plan to get the updated COVID-19 booster shots anytime soon. This, according to a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a health policy nonprofit organization. 

Read more >> 

On the plus side, the worldwide chaos of Covid, the “2020-2021 flu season was all but canceled.”

That meant not just an unprecedented global decrease in the number of people sick with the flu but also a dramatic collapse in the genetic diversity of circulating flu strains. Many subtypes of the virus all but vanished. But most notably, one entire lineage—one of only four flu groups targeted by seasonal influenza vaccines—went completely dark, seemingly extinct.
But now, the flu has come roaring back and threatens to cause a particularly nasty season in the Northern Hemisphere. Still, the influenza B/Yamagata lineage remains missing, according to a study published this week in the journal Eurosurveillance. It has not been definitively detected since April 2020. And the question of whether it's truly gone extinct lingers.

Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
The Right Stuff  (1:06 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Everything is bigger in Texas. Well, everything except for penalties for polluting rivers, groundwater, ground, air, plants, people…. Then, “penalties are low enough that companies can often still save money by flouting pollution laws and paying fines instead” (aka, business as usual ….)

In a new report by Environment America, a Denver-based nonprofit, Texas ranks first among U.S. states for toxic discharges into streams, rivers and lakes, a title held by Indiana since the organization began analyzing nationwide water pollution in 2009, when Texas ranked fourth.
The report drew from data that was self-reported by industrial facilities and logged with the EPA. It tallied 16.7 million pounds of toxic substances released into Texas water in 2020, up from 13.2 million in 2007.
… Nitrate compounds—a common component of fertilizer runoff and industrial waste—account for up to 90 percent of total toxic releases reported by industry nationwide. The rest is made up of heavy metals such as lead; solvents such as tetrachloroethylene, and manganese compounds, methanol and ammonia. It also includes small amounts of potent substances known as “persistent bioaccumulative toxics,” which build up in people and animals, including mercury and dioxin.

Read more >> 
Business as usual, continued….

EPA proposes to designate two “forever chemicals” as hazardous, aiming to bolster cleanup.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to designate two types of “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances, aiming to expand both cleanup and accountability for this pollution.

Hmmm. We’ll see… 

Read more about the proposal >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Six days until Mary undergoes another grueling chemotherapy session. 

The good news is she rebounded after Day 5 of her last session. We’re hoping for as good as or better rebound next time. 

One reason to hope is that Mary and I both have a better understanding of which anti-nausea drugs present the least side effects. That wasn’t true of session one. Mary, generally not a pill popper, elected to forgo all four anti-nausea drugs due to lack of sufficient information on side effects. Turns out she was right. The predominant side effect of the drug “friends” advised was a side effect she most wished to avoid. (No disclosure of the drug nor the side effect, sorry.)
She – we – are better prepared this time. I hope. Best laid plans, etc., etc.
Alas, last night I dreamed that, as I brushed my teeth, my hair fell out and into the bathroom sink. It began as tufts falling as if cut with scissors then progressed into skeins, as if plucked by the handful.
Hmmm, not a dream but a nightmare?

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:05am
Sunset: 6:51pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:38am
Sunset: 6:00pm

Booster downer

Worldwide (Map) 
September 29, 2022 - 616,767,290 confirmed infections; 6,542,430 deaths
September 30, 2021 - 233,414,450 infections; 4,776,885 deaths
October 1, 2020 – 33,881,275 confirmed infections: 1,012,980 deaths

US (Map) 
September 29, 2022 - 96,252,475 confirmed infections; 1,058,525 deaths
September 30, 2021 - 43,361,700 infections; 7.808,100 deaths
October 1, 2020 – 7,233,199 confirmed infections: 206,940 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
September 29, 2022 - 4,018,102 confirmed infections; 102,169 deaths
September 30, 2021 - 2,898,900 infections; 87,420 deaths
October 1. 2020 – 674,340 confirmed infections: 16,735 deaths

Post from:
September 30, 2021, “Tested” 
October 1, 2020, “Going woolly” 

News blues

Do the new bivalent COVID boosters come with more side effects?
Chicago's top doctor answered that question during a Facebook Live Tuesday - and her answer was no. [In fact, she suggests, it may even be the opposite.]
"We're generally hearing fewer side effects because people who are getting bivalent boosters are people who have had prior vaccines," she said. "Of course, some people have even had COVID."
She said the reasoning behind that is because vaccines are intended to teach an immune response so the more doses of the vaccine you get, especially combined with infection, the quicker your body can respond.

Read more >> 

Hmmm, I respectfully disagree with Chicago’s top doc. Five shots on, and for the first time, I had noticeable side effects beyond sensitivity at the injection site. Indeed, my side effects – about 36 hours’ worth - more closely resembled flu than “the opposite” of no side effects. All five of my shots have been from the same manufacturer, Pfizer.
My point here? No one can, nor should, predict how someone else might react to anything, including vaccinations. And get your booster anyway. From what I glean from those struck with Covid and from ever-present Dr Google, a dose of Covid could be a lot worse than a booster against Covid… plus one runs the risk and rigors associated with Long Covid. Who needs that? 

Get the shot - of vaccine, not ivermectin, nor hydroxychloroquine, nor breastmilk of newt, nor any other kitchen table “cure”…

***

On war… and escaping war
Russian men flee Russia and war >>  (2:50 mins)
Putin trying to salvage his “special operation” … by conscription of Russian men >>  (26:00 mins)

[Note: this blog is read by a handful of Russians in Russia... hence I share these news broadcasts for interested Russians to access news unlikely to be shown in Russia.]
 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Making America Fascist  (0:38 mins)
Kevin’s plan  (0:59 mins)
Tide  (0:58 mins)
Blake Masters  (0:58 mins)
Tucker calls Putin  (0:58 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - September 27, 2022  (2:18 mins) -->

Healthy planet, anyone?

Lions, and tigers, and bears – making a comeback?

... By the first half of the 20th century, many of Europe’s mammals had been reduced to just a fraction of their historical levels. Millennia of hunting, exploitation, and habitat loss had forced them into decline. Many had been wiped out completely.
But many mammal populations have seen a dramatic increase over the last 50 years.
A coalition of conservation organizations – including the Zoological Society of London; Birdlife International; and Rewilding Europe – periodically publish reports on how animal populations across Europe are changing. In their latest report they looked at the change in populations of 24 mammal species, and one reptile species – the Loggerhead turtle. The results are shown in the chart.
Eurasian badger populations achieved an average increase of 100% – a doubling. Eurasian otters tripled, on average. For red deer this was an increase of 331%.
The Eurasian beaver has made the most remarkable recovery. It’s estimated to have increased 167-fold, on average. There were likely only a few thousand beavers left in Europe in first half of the 20th century. Today there are more than 1.2 million.
The European bison has achieved a similar level of comeback.
In the 2013 mammal comeback report, one species – the Iberian lynx – had shrinking populations. But, there is good news: after decades of decline, it has been making a remarkable recovery. So much so that the IUCN moved it from Critically Endangered to Endangered on the Red List in 2015. Its average population sizes are now bigger than they were in 1987.
There are more than 250 European mammal species, so the ones that we covered here represent just 10% of the continent’s mammals.

Read more >>  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

This time next week, Mary will be offering up her arm for another dose of chemotherapy. In the meantime, we enjoy our daily walks together.
During yesterday’s walk, I photographed some of my favorite things: rocks and stones…

Textures provided by late afternoon low tide.
iPhone photo: (c) Susan Galleymore

Some kind of conglomerate with serpentine.
This rock, one of many acting as rip rap demarkating tidal from pedestian zones,
were trucked onto the beach some decades ago when the area was landfilled. 
iPhone photo: (c) Susan Galleymore

Close up.
iPhone photo: (c) Susan Galleymore

And birds… this Great Blue Heron frequently avails him- or herself of snacks generously provided by the condo fishpond.

 

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:03am
Sunset: 6:54pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:38am
Sunset: 5:59pm

To bee and butterfly...

News blues

When is the pandemic “over”? In the early days of 2020, we envisioned it ending with the novel coronavirus going away entirely. When this became impossible, we hoped instead for elimination: If enough people got vaccinated, herd immunity might largely stop the virus from spreading. When this too became impossible, we accepted that the virus would still circulate but imagined that it could become, optimistically, like one of the four coronaviruses that cause common colds or, pessimistically, like something more severe, akin to the flu.
Instead, COVID has settled into something far worse than the flu.

Read more >> 

***

On war and the culture war
Let’s hear it for critical thinking and more with astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson  (16:46 mins)

***

The Lincoln Project:
With age come wisdom (1:40 mins)
Was it worth it, JD? (0:23 mins)
Flip flop Lindsey  (0:17 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - September 20, 2022  (2:08 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Small and successful start to support butterflies and bees in UK and Europe. (Now to convince the US….)

Butterflies and bees are getting their own transport network as “bee bus stops” start to pop up around UK cities and across Europe. Humble bus shelter roofs are being turned into riots of colour, with the number of miniature gardens – full of pollinator-friendly flora such as wild strawberries, poppies and pansies – set to increase by 50% in the UK by the end of this year.

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Mary gets stronger each day since her first chemo session. Moreover, she’s expressing her need to take time alone to sit on and enjoy sunset on the beach. The sunsets this time of year are glorious. I know she chants the vajra guru mantra while out there. (I chant it when I’m out there, too.)

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:59am
Sunset: 7:02pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:46am
Sunset: 5:56pm

It’s over, thank the gods (not!)

News blues

President Biden said in a 60 Minutes interview Sunday  that the COVID-19 pandemic is a thing of the past.
"The pandemic is over," he said. "We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one's wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape, and so I think it's changing, and I think [the Detroit auto show resuming after three years] is a perfect example of it."
His remarks came as Biden's own administration seeks an additional $22.4 billion from Congress to keep funding the fight against COVID, and as the United States continues to see hundreds of related deaths every day.

“If you notice, no one's wearing masks.” That ain’t right. People in my town, including me, wear masks. But, if the Prez says it’s over, then I guess it’s over. Covid is dead, long live Covid!
Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Martha’s Vineyard attorney  (1:12 mins) (Background story >> ) 
Kari Lake mimics Trump  (0:11 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - September 13, 2022  (2:08 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Dave Whamond | © 2022 Cagle Cartoons

Déjà vu all over again? Quelle horreur! “…big oil admits ‘gaslighting’ public over green aims…”

Criticism in the US of the oil industry’s obfuscation over the climate crisis is intensifying after internal documents showed companies attempted to distance themselves from agreed climate goals, admitted “gaslighting” the public over purported efforts to go green, and even wished critical activists be infested by bedbugs.

Read more >> 

That ‘big oil’, ‘big pharma’, ‘big plastic’, Amazon, etc., obfuscate the truth in the name of profit and power should be a surprise to no one.
I wrote this article back in 2011 under the pseudonym Supa Strika  (explained in the piece) and I was a Janey-come-lately to the reality of ‘oil company gaslighting’.
Back then, one of my roles was to research and write a competitive analysis of the big oil companies – ExxonMobile, BP, Shell, Chevron – to learn (and better?) their greenwashing efforts. Naturally, we did not call it greenwashing.
Another cliché: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Alas.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Day 3 after Mary’s first (of 4) chemo sessions. She did well on Friday but Saturday was not a good day: nausea throughout the day. This, despite the acupuncture session. We agree she’ll continue with acupuncture. I’m thinking a session or two of massage might be in order, too. She’s very tense in neck and shoulders, no doubt stress related.
Mary insisted on continuing with her exercise regimen as closely as possible and we walked along the beach and under the park’s trees. It was hard work for her. Nevertheless, she did it and I’m proud of her.

She reports feeling slightly better today, some nausea but feeling weak, especially in her legs. 

We'll try for a walk later, depending on her ability.  

***

Bay Area residents were warned for days about an impending rainstorm with “up to 1.5 inches of rain”… What did we get? Very little. Not enough rain to make mud of the dry holes dotting lawns and grass.
Yes, rain fell north and south of the Bay but nothing significant for us.
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:55am
Sunset: 7:10pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:52am
Sunset: 5:54pm

Month's beginning

Worldwide (Map) 
September 1, 2022 - 602,190,500 confirmed infections; 6.494,410 deaths
September 9, 2021 – 223,101,000 confirmed infections; 4,604,450 deaths
September 3, 2020 – 26,940,000 confirmed infections; 861,870 deaths

US (Map) 
September 1, 2022 - 94,535,300 confirmed infections; 1,046,267 deaths
September 9, 2021 – 40,601,000 confirmed infections; 654,600 deaths
September 3, 2020 – 6,114,000 confirmed infections; 185,710 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
Sepember 1, 2022 - 4,011,660 confirmed infections; 102,085 deaths
September 9, 2021 – 2,843,100 confirmed infections; 84,327 deaths
September 3, 2020 – 630,596 confirmed infections; 14,390 deaths

Post from September 9, 2021 – “Category of critter” 
September 3, 2020 – “Killing ‘em softly” 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Victory for the planet – and for South Africa’s Wild Coast (see images of this area >> ) South African Judge Mbenenge, penning the ruling to stop Shell Oil’s current exploration for oil and gas off the coast, said:

“Stripped of verbiage, the principal question is whether the grant of an exploration right for oil and gas, which has culminated in the need to conduct a seismic survey along the South East coast of South Africa, is lawful.”
He noted that the Eastern Cape coast is used by those who enjoy watersports and it was “steeped in customary rituals” of communities who subsist by fishing. It is also a haven for marine and bird life.
The seismic survey, the judge said, involved the discharge of pressurised air from airguns to generate sound waves, directed down to the seabed.
He said it was common cause that Impact Africa and Shell had not secured environmental authorisation to undertake the survey in terms of the National Environmental Management Act.

I suspect this battle is not over. Shell will be back, or BP or other, similar company will try the same. (This rulings is not the first against Shell’s attempts, nor Shell's first pushback ) For now, though, the Wild Coast will continue as wild - or wild-ish. It is, after all, well trammeled ground. Not yet by an oil company, though.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It’s a new month, with new possibilities (some – such as chemotherapy – scary). Mary reports feelings of healing in her chest and her left lung.
That’s great news.
Today, we plan to attend the chemo class offered by the hospital’s oncology department.
Good times!

***

Change of seasons afoot...
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:38am
Sunset: 7:38pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:13am
Sunset: 5:44pm

Month's end

News blues

The U.S. authorized its first update to COVID-19 vaccines, booster doses that target today’s most common omicron strain. Shots could begin within days.
…
Until now, COVID-19 vaccines have targeted the original coronavirus strain, even as wildly different mutants emerged. The new U.S. boosters are combination, or “bivalent,” shots. They contain half that original vaccine recipe and half protection against the newest omicron versions, called BA.4 and BA.5, that are considered the most contagious yet.

Read more >> 

***

Older adults, immunocompromised and the very young are paying the price for the mask-less freedom of many.

While much of US society has breathed a collective sigh of relief at no longer having to wear a mask in public, that freedom has placed people who are immunocompromised at risk, such as medical director of the infectious disease program at University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Dr Jeannina Smith’s patients. Nor are they the only ones. Older adults, the very young and those with long Covid are at greater risk too. So while for many Americans the pandemic increasingly feels over, for others – often the most vulnerable – it rages on.
As Smith puts it, “What troubles me as an infectious disease specialist with an interest in public health is the abandonment of the idea that public health exists to protect the most vulnerable.”

Read more >> 

***

On war and culture war
Highly recommended article, “Is it Fascism? Is it Socialism? Words mean things” >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Tough on crime  (0:57 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - August 30, 2022  (2:20 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Labor Day - September 5 - is summer's official end. 

This year, September will be the hardest month Mary may ever experience as she begins chemotherapy. 

Tomorrow, September 1, she attends a pre-chemo class to learn about the process and what she might expect and experience. I'll attend that class with her.
September 9 she accepts an injection of a large dose of Vitamin B, to boost her system in preparation for her first dose of chemo on September 15. After that, it's anohter dose every three weeks for four doses.
I'll be with her every step of the gruelling way.

***

Preparing for ultra-hot weather here in California.
July last year, I spent 14 days on my boat in the Sacramento Delta in quarantine for Covid after returning from South Africa. (Read post “Launching”) During that time, temperatures reached 111 degrees Fahrenheit.
This week, temperatures around California will reach similar heights.
Luckily, the inner bay, my neck of the woods, will hover around the low 80s. 

Sigh of relief.

Evan as the temperatures soar in California, Kwa Zulu Natal experiences low overnight temperatures, down to freezing in some areas.
The seasons are changing, too.
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:39am
Sunset: 7:39pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:15am
Sunset: 5:44pm

Upstaged

Worldwide (Map) 
August 25,2022 - 598,770,100 confirmed infections; 6,472,475 deaths
August 26, 2021 – 213,854,000 confirmed infections; 4,463,000 deaths
August 27,2020 – 24,206,820 confirmed infections; 826,59 deaths
US (Map) 
August 25,2022 - 93,930,250 confirmed infections; 1,042,470 deaths
August 26, 2021 – 38,222,000 confirmed infections; 632,300 deaths
August 27, 2020 – 5,824,200 confirmed infections; 179,756 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal) 
August 25,2022 - 4,010460 confirmed infections; 102,085 deaths
August 26, 2021 – 2,722,205 confirmed infections; 80,470 deaths
August 27, 2020 – 615,700 confirmed infections; 13,502 deaths
Posts from:
August 26, 2020, “Forever?” 
August 27, 2020, “Relief!” 

News blues

White House COVID coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha's predicted this week that newly updated COVID-19 boosters tailored to target a dominant strain of the virus will be available in the next three weeks… that is, assuming the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention work through their processes for authorization ….
Read more >> 

***

On war and culture war

Six months of war in Ukraine – photos >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Last week in the Republican Party - August 23, 2022  (2:20 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

During yesterday’s video conference with Mary’s oncologist, we learned Mary has been “re-staged.” Staging is the oncological description of how far along is a case of cancer (stage 4 is “final”).
Initially, Mary had been staged at “late stage 1, early stage 2.”
Nice. Right?
It crossed my mind that “late stage 1, early stage 2” was “lucky”, given that Mary’s meso had likely started “decades ago.” “Decades” is the described longevity of mesothelioma before it is discovered in the unlucky victim’s body. (See post “Not a week, a lifetime!” for details and photos of surgical scrapings from Mary’s lungs.) 

My thinking: if the disease is decades old, how come it’s been spreading so inefficiently? Well, some questions, I told myself, have no easy answers. I thanked the gods that Mary was “super lucky”: her lymph nodes showed no sign of metastasizing.
Yesterday’s conversation with the oncologist, however, revealed that “mid-chest” lymph nodes suggested “some involvement”. The surgeon and oncologist – and biopsy – re-staged Mary to Stage 3 A.
Hmmmm.
Bummer.
Given this new prognosis, Mary could, along with chemotherapy, opt for radiation therapy – highly targeted radiation aimed at the lymph.
Mary’s first take? Thanks, but no thanks to radiation therapy: the action is too close to her heart, spine, and lungs.
Based on further detailed information, she’s open to reevaluating this initial decision but for now, nope.
Long story short: Mary will begin chemo – two chemo meds, cisplatin and pemetrexed – when the oncology department can schedule her - perhaps another 3 weeks.
Outpatient treatment requires intravenous infusion – hopefully, no need for a central or PICC line, nor a portacath. Mary has good veins – protruding – so we’re hoping one of them will suffice every three weeks.
She’ll stick around the oncology setting after infusion for a couple of hours to monitor any reaction to treatment. After that, she’ll return home.
This treatment continues for four to six sessions every three weeks.
The list of side effects from this chemo cocktail are not insignificant.
The oncologist reports Mary won’t lose her hair. Dr Internet’s link, above, suggests she will. Time will tell. Hair is the least of Mary’s worries. Far more concerning is the statistic that 2 percent of chemo patients cannot take the treatment and will succumb – that is, die.
No prob. Mary has already worked with an estate lawyer.... 

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:34am
Sunset: 7:48pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:22am
Sunset: 5:41pm