Mets Day 681 - What I'm reading

As I've slowly emerged from the brain fog of chemotherapy, I've returned to reading like a rediscovering a long-lost lover.  Long on my list was the third volume of William Manchester's biography of Churchill:  The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965.  I read the first two volumes more than 20 years ago, and thought that the second volume was one of the most powerful studies ever written of a leader.  Manchester was unable to complete the third volume due to illness, and selected Paul Reid to finish it.  It is a powerful completion of the story of a most remarkable man.

I selected several other books by looking at NPR's list of best books of 2013 and selecting titles that looked interesting. I was given a number of those books for Christmas, and others I've obtained from the library.  After finishing the Churchill book I turned to Scott Anderson's Lawrence In Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly And The Making Of The Modern Middle East.  It's a well-written tale about the arrogance of Britain and France that sowed the seeds for the century of conflict that's followed.

Next was Five Days At Memorial, Sheri Fink's excellent account of the actions at a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina.  It's a fascinating read of the breakdown of normal judgment by medical professionals in very challenging circumstances, and the legal investigation that followed.

I've also been reading Lincoln's Battle with God: A President's Struggle with Faith and What It Meant for America, Stephen Mansfield's investigation of the Great Emancipator's religious evolution.  Sort of like Jefferson, Lincoln's religious beliefs were all over the place.  Mansfield recounts how in the early 1830s, Lincoln authored an athiestic diatribe rejecting all aspects of Christianity.  His friends persuaded him to not publish it.  For the rest of his life, Lincoln displayed a profound discomfort with organized religion (especially Christianity), but came to believe that, by fighting to preserve the Union and abolish slavery, he was an instrument in God's hands. 

For a bit of lighter reading, I've also been How We Do It: The Evolution and Future of Human Reproduction, an entertaining survey of sex, pregnancy, and parenting.  The author, a primatologist named Robert Martin, compares and contrasts human behaviors to mammals, making for some humorous and occasionally unexpected insights.

As I blogged last month, I also read Paul Offit's Do You Believe In Magic?  The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine. It was a quick and insightful read. 

Sitting on my nightstand is Bolivar: American Liberator by Marie Arana, about the man who liberated six countries from Spanish rule.  It's a bit more intimidating, but I'll get around to cracking it soon enough.

I've also downloaded number of e-books from the library, including:

My Spiritual Journey, by the Dali Lama

This I Believe: Life Lessons, by three NPR editors

Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician, by Anthony Everitt

The End of Your Life Book Club, by Will Schwalb

Look closely, and you might be able to detect a theme.  

Mets Day 664 - No chemo damage to heart or lungs

Last week my doctor had sent me an email saying that the tests that I had on my heart and lungs on Jan. 23 were normal.  I forgot to blog about it.  Today I received the hard copy of the test results.  The transthoracic echocardiogram was normal, with no evidence of dysfunction or damage due to chemotherapy.  It didn't see any evidence of pulmonary hypertension, either.  The v/q scan (pulmonary perfusion with ventilation) also came back normal, with no segmental perfusion defects. Chelsea looked over the test results and said that it shows that my heart and lungs are in excellent condition. 

In her email, my doctor suggested that I ease back into increased physical activity, as my energy level permits.  I've played racketball a couple of times with my kids.  They've quickly learned that the easiest way to score is to hit the ball very softly when I am at the back of the court.  There's no way I'm making it to the front of the court in time.  I have to take frequent breaks to try to catch my breath.  My goal is to slowly rebuild my stamina.

It's more difficult to be motivated to do the right things physically when I know that my odds of long-term survival are low.  It's not like I'm trying to keep up my health because I expect to live another 30 plus years.  Instead, I'm just focusing on the short term, trying to build my strength so I can better enjoy each day.  Doing things like playing racketball with my kids is enjoyable simply because we're having fun together.  The aerobic workout is secondary.  Sort of like life: enjoy the journey while you're on the way to your destination.