Good morning 1108

 It’s Sunday, and the weather is beautiful.

Yuki is planning to go to a 100-yen shop in the morning.

His radiation treatment for the brain started on Friday and will continue until Thursday. The radiation oncologist said that the paralysis in the fingers of his left hand might improve a little.

On the other hand, his lung cancer is getting worse.

Starting next week, a doctor will also begin making home visits. Once a month, Yuki will go to his main hospital for an X-ray and blood tests. Twice a month, a visiting nurse from the hospital will check on his condition. In addition, a doctor who specializes in home visits will come twice a month.

All of this is to make sure that they can respond quickly if his condition suddenly changes. We can contact a doctor at any time, 24 hours a day.

When I write it all down like this, it sounds quite serious. But Yuki is still able to get around quite freely. There are many things he can no longer do, especially household chores, but he still has a good appetite.

Apparently, despite how well he looks, his symptoms are progressing rather quickly.

I don't feel confident about caring for him at home until the very end, so we have also made arrangements for palliative care at his main hospital.

It's a little difficult to write about our situation in a positive way. But I wanted to give you an update.

Writing things down helps me stay calm and look at the situation more objectively.

Good morning 1103

 It's a holiday today. It's cloudy. We don't have any particular plans, but if the weather clears up, we might visit a nearby shrine.

Tomorrow, we are seeing Yuki's radiation oncologist, and his treatment plan will be decided.

I'm feeling emotionally unsettled, so I think I'll spend most of the day lying down and listening to the radio.

Yuki, meanwhile, has been searching the internet like crazy for a new amplifier for his speakers. I wonder if he'll be doing the same today.

We've had breakfast. At least we have a good appetite, so that's a good sign.

I want to stay calm and keep my feet on the ground, but it's not easy.

by YUKI

Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween!

Yesterday we went to see Yuki's doctor.

The doctor thinks that there is a tumor in his brain, and that it is probably causing the paralysis in the fingers of his left hand.

Next Wednesday, we will see a doctor in the radiology department to discuss possible treatment. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the paralysis will improve, but there may be a chance of preventing it from getting worse.

As for his cough, unfortunately, it is caused by the progression of his lung cancer. There isn't much they can do except prescribe some cough medicine.

It's quite a harsh reality to face.

And there's more...

Yesterday, Yuki updated the operating system on his Mac, but then his music software stopped working!

That has really brought him down, too.

Since he can only use his right hand to operate the computer, even simple tasks take a lot of patience and effort.

Helping him with computer work is not something I particularly want to do, because he gives me such detailed instructions!

After I finish cleaning the house today, it looks like I'll be spending my Saturday helping Yuki with his computer.

Good morning 1027

 We hardly ever buy snacks or sweets in our house.

But lately, I've been craving chocolate so much that I had decided to buy a pack of KitKat, the classic brand that's been around for ages, at the supermarket.

To my surprise, it cost almost as much as Japanese pork! I was shocked.

We would eat the pork in one meal, but the KitKat could last us five days if we each ate just one piece a day. Or at least, that's what I thought...

It really made me realize, even at this late date, how expensive sweets have become!

Good morning 1026

A new week has started, and it's raining.

This week, Yuki is having a CT scan and an MRI. The following day, we'll see his doctor. I wonder what the results will show. Things have already been changing and we don't know what to expect.

The other day, an elderly man who lived in our neighborhood passed away suddenly. He died what we call pokkurishi in Japanese — a sudden, peaceful death without a long period of illness. He had continued working until this spring.

On the other hand, another elderly man who had cancer has also passed away. His wife and I are friends through our blogs.

These days, I've been thinking about how we face death.

Good morning 1024

 Yesterday, I went with Yuki to his regular jazz café.

Unfortunately, Yuki can no longer play the guitar or bass. But he can still use the fingers on his right hand, so he tried playing the synthesizer as a bass. It was a kind of experiment. I played some jazz pieces on the piano along with him.

It wasn't so bad! There were some listeners and amateur musicians like us. They said that his playing was just as good as before.

Of course, playing bass on a synthesizer is different from playing a regular bass, and everyone there knows about his situation. Anyway, Yuki seemed happy to go to the café and join in as a musician, playing the synthesizer to provide the bass part.

Good morning 1023

We heard some serious news on TV yesterday  about a security problem with PHP.

According to the news;

PHP is a programming language widely used to run websites and online services. Two critical security vulnerabilities were found, and hackers might be able to exploit them to run malicious code on servers without permission.

I didn’t think it directly affected my life, but I was very surprised that I couldn't access some of my favorite blogs.

Nowadays, there is growing concern about personal data privacy. On the news, we hear almost every day about companies apologizing for data breaches.

So, what should we do to protect our personal information?

I feel scared to use not only the internet but also credit cards and smartphones.

Fortunately, cash is still widely used here in Japan, so I suppose I could get by without using credit cards, online banking, and so on.

But when it comes to a PHP security issue like this, there is usually nothing ordinary users like us can do because PHP runs behind the scenes.

But can I really give up blogging and online shopping just to protect my personal information? We’ve just bought a new electric kettle online.