State of the Ape XXXIII
(Hey, I finally figured out how to make the post title bigger!)

And, yet again, thank you for your prayers.

Health news:

1. The new scan confirmed atherosclerosis. Not super bad; average for a man my age.

2. Blood work on the 17th. Cholesterol and triglycerides pretty high. My PCP thinks I ought to go on statins; I don’t know — it’s just more drugs, and it’s likely the cancer will get me first. We’ll talk the next time I see her. (It’s interesting that I was tested for them in May 2022 when I got my cancer diagnosis and everything was pretty much normal; so what’s happening now is probably a side effect of my meds.)

3. Blood work also showed my PSA more than doubled again, from 1.2 to 2.6. We met with my oncologist earlier this week. What’s going to happen is that I stay on the testosterone suppressant. I was mistaken when I implied in my post of 11/30 that I was taking two; in fact, the other blocks the cancer cells from taking up testosterone. He’s changing me to a different blocker, which may or may not work better. We’ll let it run for a few months and see, before going on to chemotherapy.

4. Still trying to get exercise, but not getting out as much in the cold weather. I do seem to be getting tired more easily lately, and my weight is inching upwards.

Writing: So far, I’ve held pretty well to my New Year’s resolution of working on Edwina 3. I’ve reworked the first four chapters from the previous draft, and am just about done with a completely new Chapter 5 (this was the chapter that had held me up for so long, until I finally figured out what I was trying to accomplish with it). And it’s not just me; the Muse is back, coming up with characters and plot ideas.

The short story I submitted on 10/31 made the first cut, but was rejected for lack of space. Have to try somewhere else; also ought to rework some of the others and find places to send them.

You can’t escape the clerihews:

Luciano Pavarotti
Had a black belt in karate.
His skill in unarmed combat
Made him more fearsome than a wombat.

Dr. Peter Roget
Always knew what to say
When people dropped in on him
To ask for a synonym.

Clausewitz
At any kind of grits,
But Jomini
Insisted on hominy.

Posted by Bob the Ape 11:03 PM