First a no pity party update on my health. This is news for those of you who appreciate updates. Last spring, when I contracted pneumonia and c-diff, my kidney function went down from 30% to 25%, but my nephrologist held out hope that I would regain that lost function. I didn't. I've been at 30% every since I contracted meningitis in 1999, so my reduced function has been stable. Our hope is that I don't get sick again and that the 25% function stays stable. A person can still do all right but I don't want to lose any more. Function below 25% can spell more serious problems. Federal transplant rules allow patients to be listed for transplants when their kidneys are working at about 20 % of their function. Dialysis can become necessary at 15% to 10% function. If my disease continues to develop slowly, I'm a long way from dialysis. So what now? I listen to the title of Richard Hugo's volume of collected poems: Making Certain It Goes On. I've just got to make certain I go on.
1. Wednesday my Intro to Poetry students wrote "Where I'm From" poems and several read their work in class. They were terrific and made me very happy.
2. Friday it was fun celebrating Herb's 70th birthday at Kabuki's Japanese Steak House.
3. Colette wrote me that she enjoyed the poems I send her from time to time. I think Colette has suffered a poetry drought for several years and I'm helping her get poetry back in her life again.
4. In WR 122, I'm directing our study of Into the Wild away from focus on Chris McCandless and toward focus on what the story's different perspectives upon nature/wilderness/the wild are and I'm enjoying this approach a lot.
5. Wednesday evening I went to the Noodle Bowl for a chicken teryaki noodle bowl and in strolled Sparky and Joe. I hadn't seen Sparky for months and she invited me to join her and Joe and we had a dinner full of good conversation and good cheer.
No comments:
Post a Comment