This has been a busy week as I've had to work on grant proposals and responses every day. Luckily the side effects this week have been pretty minimal. I've enjoyed lots of visits outside the bedroom window from all sorts of birds, including the cockatoos...
Tim picked up a surprise anniversary present today, a new Panasonic digital camera. He has already gotten some excellent shots, like the bush stone curlew above. Denali has been helping him sort through the prints...
Tonight the moon turned red as Australia witnessed a total lunar eclipse. The eclipse, visible to the naked eye everywhere in Australia, began at sunset when the earth, the sun and the moon fell into perfect alignment. Dust in the earth's atmosphere makes the surface of the moon appear blood red. We got these photos about 8pm from our balcony.An eclipse occurs when the earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's light. It is rare because the moon is usually either above or below the plane of the earth's orbit. The next total lunar eclipse visible in Australia will occur in December 2011.
It is the home stretch now, and am eagerly anticipating the last of my treatments. Despite generally managing better once I get home, sitting through the chemotherapy treatments is difficult. I have started reading one of my favorite and most engaging authors, Alexander McCall Smith, during the treatments and he seems to be able to divert my mind. Just finished The World According to Bertie, one of the 44 Scotlad Street series. For the last chemo I have his latest, an Isabel Dalhousie novel The Careful Use of Compliments. I cannot recommend his books highly enough, particularly The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, which remains my favorite. His biography as well as his story as an author (in his own words) is interesting as well...
Our good friend Chris Stephens is here in Brisbane on a mini-sabbatical, and we had her over tonight for take-away Indian. She enjoyed meeting Denali, and all the cats joined in our dinner....
During the PICC dressing change today no sign of infection was evident. This is a photo of my PICC line, which is where blood is drawn from and where the chemotherapy is given. It helps to protect the veins in my arm which would otherwise be damaged (perhaps permanently) by the chemotherapy if it were given via injection or a canula. It drains the chemo drogs directly into a large vein just above my heart; this allows for efficient distribution without having too concentrated a dose in the small veins of the arm. Below is a schematic of a PICC (but in the chest rather than the arm).
Today I finished my tenth of twelve chemotherapy treatments. However, there was a suggestion of an infection in the PICC line in my arm, so the hematologist prescribed some strong antibiotics. Unfortunately, these reacted badly with the chemotherapy drugs, and I was laid up in bed for most of the subsequent week...
Today Geoff departed for Uluru (Ayer's Rock) and Alice Springs, sights he had missed while living in Australia. He and Tim had a great time together, getting to go to an Australian Rules Football match, play a round of golf and generally have fun. We'll miss him....
Today we had some New York slices with Geoff and our friend Ed Helmes from Townsville. These slices are the closest thing here in Australia to my very favorite NYC pizzeria, Ray's pizza. Although they are located all over the City, the photo above is the one I personally like to visit while in the Village...
They are doing a lot of construction near the business school, building a new teaching building. We caught sight of these Bush Stone-Curlews using the site as a mating platform. This curlew has a truly haunting call - click HERE to hear it! (need MP3 player but should load automatically...)
Today we strolled up Mount Cootha for a look at the city - it was a perfectly clear day...
...Finally, we went for a stroll in our local park, which is on the Brisbane river. Saw quite a few birds, including an Azure Kingfisher.
Today our good friend Geoff MacDonald arrived from Toronto via Malaysia. Geoff was a senior lecturer at UQ in Psychology before taking up an Associate Professorship at the University of Toronto. He is here for a week to visit with friends and colleagues, and is staying at the Tim and Nancy B&B. The cats were excited to see Geoff, and he was very happy to see them, especially Zamboni and his new friend, Denali...
Our cherry trees have been in bloom, which has been really lovely. We have two cherry trees as well as a native cherry. In the house photo you can see a kookaburra in the tree on the right, as well as the cherry trees in the lower right-hand corner...
Today Rod and Arlene left for home. Our gift to them was a metal sculpture of a kingfisher, similar to one Tim and I have. We also bought one for Allen, Tim's brother. The artist is Jim Peterson, the husband of a developmental psychologist in our department, Candi Peterson. We thought it was appropriate that each of the far-flug Kastelle clan have a Kastelle Kingfisher!
Now exhausted from their time with Nancy and Tim, Rod and Arlene can safely depart for home...
