Some details, I was laid off from Nike after 27 years on 22 April 2024, but yesterday was really the first Monday here at the house when I did not get up and start work. It has been, I think, more than forty years since that has happened (ignoring vacations and illness). One hundred forty-four days ago, I was diagnosed with a non-cancerous, slow-growing brain tumor over the nerves that connect to hearing and balance on my left side. This is a Schwannoma tumor, to be medically correct. The procedure for a moderate-sized tumor, my size, is to sacrifice the hearing and balance on the affected side to make a path to remove the tumor and repair the impacted nerves. There are two surgeons; one deals with the ear and closing, and another repairs the nerves and removes the tumors.
My chances of surviving the operation are 95% or 1/20 chance of death. Matt V gave me a special twenty-sided die with ’20’ on all but one place with a ‘1.’ I have not rolled it yet. I will take it with me.
The surgery is on 20 May 2024 and will take the whole day. Dondrea and Linda, my sister, will be here. I will be in intensive care, according to Dr G, for two days and then likely two more days in recovery and monitoring. There is a 10% chance of a pressure issue in my brain that will require a second surgery. With luck, I should be home on Thursday or Friday. I will likely have some vertigo issues from the complete loss of balance controlling nerves on the left side. I have to be monitored until that fades–I cannot be left on my own. The expected recovery is to last over two months or less. I hope to make the June California party (more on that later).
My layoff will impact my medical coverage next year. Nike’s exit package covers medical expenses for the rest of 2024. I also receive 48 weeks of pay plus my unused PTO, which will take that to about 50 weeks.
Sorry, but we have not covered that in a while.
I could not sleep the night and was up at 4 writing the blog. I also sent a text to Dondrea that was too early (forgetting the time); sorry! Surprisingly, I found myself at loose ends. I started to move through the last things to do for Susie’s Concert and memories. There is a quilt-making company that takes T-shirts and makes them into a blanket. You have to cut the shirts to have one side. I had to supply 24 for a twin-sized quilt. I finished cutting up all the material and packing the shirts. I took Air Volvo to the nearby Walgreens, the closest FedEx drop-off location, and sent the shirts on their way. In 5-7 weeks, we should have a quilt.
My grey suit was much wrinkled by its trip back from Morocco, so the next stop was the cleaners. They will fix that up. I dropped that off. The mail catch-up delivery did not happen, so on Tuesday, I will go find the mail they still have held for me. My request to deliver it this week seems to be lost.
I am off to Portland and have an oncology appointment with Dr. B, but it is conveniently set to 2 (14:00) if I am working. Instead, it is convenient to have a Rueben sandwich and acquire some North African sauces and some excellent pasta before the appointment. I ate my sandwich there at Elephants Delicatessen, ignoring a gal from Idaho who was complaining about the wetness, crime, and everything that is wrong with Portland and why it is better in Idaho.
Aside: Idaho charges a 6% sales tax and, according to my research, a 5.8% flat income tax. The median income is over $33K, and Idaho is ranked 44th best for income. Here, Oregon has a 0% sales tax. Our tax rate is complex (not flat), as we return any overpayments to the people, so it is around 7%, but often less. Our medium income is nearly $38K. Oregon is ranked 18th for best income in US states. Washington State is ranked higher and has a strange mix of high sales tax and fees but no income tax. Yes, it rains here. Idaho has a higher gun mortality rate than Oregon and Washington State, but the crime rates in Oregon (25th) and Washington State (23rd) are higher, much higher, than in Idaho (41st). Sorry, it just annoyed me.
After enjoying my sandwich and practicing my aggressive ignoring skills, Air Volvo took me to Knight Cancer Institute at Legacy, where I met with Dr. B. He was happy to see me doing so well. He reminded me that I need to take better care of my feet with the nerve damage from both the chemotherapy and diabetes. I complained and received no sympathy for getting a blister from walking all over Casablanca, Morocco. He laughed at me. I will see him again, assuming my labs will be good (there is a test for a tumor factor blood test that should not raise), in three months and after yet-another-CT-scan. I should buy a six-pack of these or get miles.
I forgot my hat and phone and had to run back after quickly turning around Air Volvo and illegally parking for a few minutes. I escaped with my hat and no penalties. My blood pressure was up, and that was a surprise. That would be the coughing and the jetlag. I will watch that and will start taking it myself again once I can sleep (but with the surgery so soon, maybe not). I am jetlagged, and that does not make you smarter!
I returned home, rested, and actually slept deep with dreams–pleasant, but the details were lost in the reawakening. It was hard to restart. I made a can of beef soup with country veggies from a can. It was delicious. I am still hungry all the time. Dondrea says that is the jetlag, likely.
What would you do with jetlag and exhaustion? Yes, attend a Zoom call on Python Machine Learning for the Hillsboro area on how to build APIs to use classifier models. The host, Dr. Ernest, is Cuban and speaks fast. It takes you a while to get the accent, but once you do, you can follow along. He has published papers on life sciences and Machine Learning, and it was interesting to watch him do this all together. He used Flask, a framework I don’t know, to form the APIs. A 90-minute geekfest. I answered questions about my layoff, trip to Morocco, and future plans (none until after the surgery; I have to first make it to the future).
Dishes and laundry call me. I do them. I even order the new LG washer/dryer to clean itself. How cool.
I forgot to include that I put a 100 Morocco note in the collection plate at church. Dan Grey thought that was a gas; he was the usher but sobered when he realized he was the counter, too. I told him to just put it on the wall in the church office next to the Indian note someone (guess who) provided before.
I was stumbling-tired by 9ish and decided that was enough for my first day without work to do (or places to travel). I replaced the bandage after showering. I fell asleep and woke at 1, 2, 3, and 4, and gave up as I approached 5. Jetlag.
Here is my jetlag song: Wake me up when September ends. I just like the sounds and the words; I sing along on this one (with apologies to Green Day!).
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 