Pretty Good, Thanks

See? I told you you would recognize him anywhere! He was out in the garden doing what? Sweeping leaves, of course. Aside from being cold -- his thermostat has been fried -- he is quite peppy.

After a 48-hour break he feels much better. But here we are at Monday again so it's back to the hospital for five more days of radiation. He just begins to have a shadow of taste -- the chamomile tea was almost palatable this morning and oatmeal almost seemed edible -- and they're after him again.

Jim now has a dozen treatments remaining; 11 radiations, one chemo. It is amazing to me that it was only 6 weeks ago that he received this terrible diagnosis, and now he is almost done with his treatment.

Dinner tonight was delicious for me and something out of a can through a feeding tube for him. But what was delicious for both of us was looking at some photos sent to us by our Canadian friends who also have a house in Cuyutlán. They stayed in our house in 2004-05 while their house was being built. Looking at these picture spurred Jim on to full recovery so we can get there this year. I don't have copies of their pictures (I'll try to figure out out to scan them) but I do have a lovely Cuyutlán sunset to show you.

This photo was taken from the third floor terrace of our house, in about January or February of last year.

Here is another picture from the weekly open market in Armeria, the next village over. This is the "chicken man" who always has a long line of patrons at his stall. He will sell you any and all parts of a chicken, depending on your menu. He is unfailingly cheerful and charming, and gets a particular kick of any gringa who takes an interest in his product. He wields his cleaver like a conductor.



That's it for today. We have had a lovely walk in the cold, crisp night air. Tomorrow is the last day of Week #5. I have to get some info from the nutritionist about how many calories Jim should be "eating." He weighed in with a five pound loss this morning and this is not good. I say 2000 calories; perhaps 2500 is better. He has been maintaining his weight pretty well until now but this morning he showed a loss of weight over the weekend.

Two more weeks and he's done. Hooray!0