Taxi in FL

Today started pretty well. Our ride picked us up a few minutes early - which was nice since it gave us extra time to get to the gate. Flight left a little late and arrived a little late - to be expected with all the bad weather around.

However, things went really bizarre when our taxi driver didn't have any idea how to get to our hotel - Spring Hill Suites Airport. He asked for the hotel name at least a dozen times as we drove. He asked if we had ever been there.

I finally, called the hotel and they told me we had gone too far and gave us directions. Our driver still couldn't handle it and I had to call the hotel again. I kept her on the phone and she said "Oh no, I can see your taxi and he just missed the turn."

Once we finally got there, he tried to tell me it was a Marriott even when I pointed at the Spring Hill Suites sign. He tried say it was my fault. It is owned by Marriott; but, it is not a Marriott. Just how slow and clear can you say Spring...Hill...Suites? And, how many times should need to give the exact address?

I asked him what he expected me to pay for that ride. I knew the meter was over $22 plus a $2 extra charge. He asked what I would pay and I told him I would pay $15. He shook his head and said that he would just give it to me free. Obviously, he didn't expect that I would say "OK" and went immediately to asking for the full fare - pointing at the meter. I handed him $20 - no tip. He took it and went away. I thought about taking his cab number but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. We decided it was as bad as our last car in Rome.

We checked in, got to our room and decided to order Chinese so we could watch the Olympics. Turned out the place we used (from the hotel-offered menus) was excellent. Hunan Wok II in Dania Beach. Way more food than we could eat; but, very reasonable price and delicious.

The rest of the night is Olympics and sleep. We take the hotel shuttle to the ship tomorrow.

Pants & Shirts

Well...yesterday I got a big box from Land's End. Loads of new pants and a couple shirts. Took all my old, larger pants out of the closets and replaced with the new pants which are 4" and 6" smaller. Will donate everything since they are all in good shape. I am hoping that I am about done with weight loss for now.72 lbs is absolutely enough.They also had a couple nice dress shirts which I bought at what we guessed is my new size. The shirts fit great. 2" smaller neck size. Now that I have confirmed the size, I will need to replace the rest of my dress shirts. Then, I will move on to the rest of the wardrobe. And, I don't need to shop Big Man sizes anymore!!

brain lesions

First, I was hit in the past few days by more than 150 attempted spam ad postings on my blog.  Thankfully, I learned how to change my settings after a few spam posts about a year ago.  Hopefully, I caught them all.

Today, I visited Dr Henderson to get the news regarding my MRI last week.  Happily, the news is that the lesions in my brain are stable.  No new lesions.  Current lesions not active.  Dr H discussed status of various side effects.  No new side effects and most previous side effects have reduced or subsided.  No neurological issues.  I am having a some short-term memory issues and a little difficulty coming up with words and names.  These are apparently common things after full-brain radiation and Dr H wasn't really concerned.  Go back for new MRI in late June.

I also saw my ENT this week regarding the tubes in my ears.  Everything is OK.  Go back for re-check in August.

So...lots of good news in the past few weeks.  I certainly realize that this will bite me eventually.  But, I am happy to take the good news for now.

Remission

Looks like I forgot to post regarding my appointment with Dr Einhorn this past Wednesday. Most important - my lung cancer continues in remission. In fact, he said that my CT scan looked very good compared to the last CT scan in July. So...I am not taking any meds/chemo or other treatments at this time. I am still approved for the test chemo from the NIH; but, will not start it until my lung cancer is active. My last extended remission was 18 months - that was August, 2007 to March, 2009. If I am lucky, maybe I won't have any chemo for a year or so. Will just have to wait and see what happens.

I see my radiation oncologist, Dr Hendersen, regarding the brain lesions on Feb 17 after getting an MRI on Feb 11. Haven't had any neurological side effects yet. So...hopefully I will get more good news. The radiation did cause the funkiness in my eyes and development of cataracts in both eyes. But, we are dealing with that and I will have cataract surgery when Dr Zlioba says I am ready.

Otherwise, no other real symptoms beyond the usual fatigue. It just slows me down and I need to limit activity. Thankfully, my very kind neighbor used his snowblower on my driveway last night and this morning. We got quite a bit of snow - maybe 8" or more. I'm pretty sure that would have been too much for me to handle.

And...tomorrow is the Super Bowl. We will be glued to the TV rooting for the Colts!!

New Clothes

Ordered some new pants & some shorts last week. I realized that my old shorts wouldn't fit me on the cruise. I took a shot and ordered a much smaller waist size. I had already gone down a size (2") but those pants & dress slacks are already way too loose. A few weeks ago, I ordered some jeans down another size (another 2"). Then last week I ordered another size smaller (yet another 2") and got the order today. I can't believe how small they look - couldn't believe I would fit into them. But...they fit quite well. Am now down 6" in the waist from about a year ago. That would be about 70 lbs. No more shopping at the Big Man shops.

This order was all casual shorts and pants. So, I will need to order some dress slacks for work. And, I will need to start replacing my shirts. I've been getting by wearing sweaters over my shirts. But, that won't work when it warms up. I don't think my weight will ever get back to as heavy as I was; so, I guess it's time to replace just about everything.