The Importance of Fathers’ Day and Anniversaries

Dr. Hugh Tildesley

This past week I have felt better, the legs are behaving, I worked 3 ½ days at the office, and spirits remain strong. I am again cautiously trying to increase my walking without paying the price of recurring swelling. Today I managed 2.25 miles non-stop. 

Leg length support stocking in disaray

The swelling has dissipated so much that my support hose falls down. The feeling is similar to your socks migrating to your toes when wearing Billy boots.

I think I’m pregnant ;I have specific craves as to what I want to eat and drink, and these change almost on a daily basis. My liquid intake has graduated from tonic water, soda water and has settled to an “ Arnold Palmer”. This is a combination of lemon aid and ice tea. Deborah was horrified at the sugar content of the commercially available concoction and found the ingredients to eliminate this issue and we have a homemade formula. It is indiscernible from the commercial product (naturally 10% of the cost). By mid morning I am usually convinced as to what we should have for dinner, we buy fresh ingredients and it has worked out perfectly. I always thought we would shop and eat in such a manner, just that we would be living abroad while doing so. Like a pregnant lady I pick at my food and often feel full before I should. I do not have a due date.

Linked with eating is my weight. Now that the fluid from my right leg has mobilized my weight decreased 3 pounds, this is huge motivation to stay on the eating program. We are looking into various stimulants in this regard.

Every week there are positives:

Hamish returned home for a 3-week stay on Thursday. I am on a need to know basis regarding his career development but remain confident that he is well positioned for the next stage. Fortunately his visa status is secure for the next year and this means less hassles as he travels to and fro LA. The US has so many immigration rules and policies. In Hamish’s case, since he has completed a degree (Masters in Fine Arts (screenwriting)), he is given a work visa for 1 year to work in a job related to his training. After 1 year he submits letters of support for an extended work visa, the clock started on graduation day.

The Photo she is holding from our wedding

Anniversary Photo

Deborah and I celebrated our thirty -third wedding anniversary on June 19. Very low key, dinner out at our local specialty restaurant, La Buca, followed by some port on our newly completed patio.

The last 6 weeks our back yard has been a construction zone. As many of you know I thrive on continuity and the disruption affected me. The project had been planned since November and was executed beautifully. Deborah spent hours consulting with Diane Bridges (wife of Greg, a longstanding TWA member), and the crew was attentive to all details of the plan. The result is spectacular. The foliage calming and with our flawless weather a great place to hang out. These photos do it some justice.

 The putting green did not make it through the first set of drawings. This could change with Deborah's next trip out of town





Father’s Day will be a different celebration. I have enough stuff and so the kids were asked to bring a wrapped gift to themselves, chosen by them, given to them. My message to them was that the best gift for me was to give.

Hamish will do a roast beef on the spit, he has a newly invented marinade, I will do my Yorkshire pudding, and the ladies will prepare the veggies. I am much more comfortable eating at home as if forever reason my appetite strays it is no big deal.

I met with Dr. Renaud’s replacement on Friday; my blood work is in order to proceed with round 2 of chemo on Monday. My list of questions were dealt with efficiently and we had a very good rapport. I continue to try to streamline my visits, and again lobbied for phone or Internet follow-up.

Interestingly blood work is designed to pick up dangerously low levels of white cells, so when is the best time to test for this? The fact is that serum ½ lives of these drugs have incredibly large variations, so unless you estimate an individual patient’s excretion and physiologic effect it is all a guess, thus being too demanding on the timing of blood testing without this data is a bit of a stretch. Like many things in medicine we tend to do what has worked in the past.