Saturday, December 12, 2009

Personal Update

I've finished radiation--yay! And my skin is only slightly pink, which may be due to the aloe vera I slathered on three times a day.

The results of my MUGA test, which checks how efficiently my heart pumps blood, came back with excellent results, so I can still have Herceptin treatments (Herceptin targets a specific protein on the cancer cells). And I just started taking Tamoxifen (a daily pill).

Now I have to wait for the results of my mammogram. I can't believe it's been a year since the lump was discovered.

And my hairstyle has morphed from "Golem" in LOTR to "M" (think Dame Judy Dench) in Casino Royale. And, yes, that's an improvement! Now I only wear hats or caps when I'm cold. :)

Irony--AGW Edition

The Bay Area has a "Mediterranean Climate," according to what I was taught many years ago. Basically, summers are cool and winters are cooler, without getting really cold. Summers are also dry, for the most part, with rain coming between November and April.

So what was this stuff I saw on December 7?
Yep. Snow. On the cars that had been parked overnight at the BART station.

And on the hills across the street.

The forecast was for the snow level to reach down as low as 1300'. So I expected to see white tops on Mt. Diablo (3849'), Mt. Tamalpais (2571'), and Mt. Hamilton (4200'). The hill pictured is much lower; probably around 1100 or less.

The snow didn't stick around, but Tuesday and Wednesday brought freezing temperatures, which meant frozen windshields and black ice on the roads. We generally don't see this kind of cold weather until January and February.

Today it's raining, so it's warmer. And we need the rain around these parts, so I'm not complaining!