Another year, another bump

I've been putting off trying to do something deep and meaningful about the New Year. So much of the hoo-haw seems, from my perspective, either irrelevant or superficial. Resolutions? Lose weight? Let me recommend the 10-day in the hospital fast and cleansing. Six pounds gone immediately.
Work more productively? Today's the first day I've felt good in almost three weeks. Productivity of any kind is still a long-term goal.

Mostly the resolution continues to be, as it has been, to Deal With It.
What it comes down to is that I don't know how long any predictions or resolutions are good for, and an annual rite like New Year's just reminds me of uncertainties.
I'd prefer to just keep going one day at a time, with my only change remembering to write 2009 on checks.

One thing that made me less than cheery the past few days is that I've had since Monday an annoying and painful bout of wandering arthritis: sharp pains and stiffness that move from joint to joint. It was bad enough that yesterday we went in to see an internist, who said that it could be reaction to yet another painkiller that I seem to be allergic to (in which case it's self-limiting and I just have to get through it), a virus of some sort (ditto), or something like rheumatoid arthritis triggered by inflammation. So Monday I see a rheumatologist. Jerry points out that we now have seen just about every specialist in the med. center except for neonatal and adolescent mental health. In the mean time I take Tylenol, saunas, and hot baths.

On the other hand, and because in spite of the tone of the above, life really is good, I got a call from the oncologist's office late yesterday afternoon. My tumor marker number, the CA19-9, which we've been tracking, has continued going down (good!) and is now at 32 -- in the normal range!!!! This means that whatever else is going on, the cancer is not doing anything at this time. And that's worth focusing on.