Hey! It's my birthday!

Wow, where did the year go? I was undergoing my 3rd chemo treatment this time last year. Hard to believe that much time has passed already.

I saw a new ENT doc yesterday. I like him. They did another hearing test and my hearing in my right ear is actually worse than the last one. My hearing in my left ear is perfect. Thank God for small favors. There was a point about a month ago that I thought my hearing had slightly improved. This was just as I was finishing my 2nd (and stronger) round of steroids. Since I had a ravenous appetite the entire time I was on them, I've decided I'd rather live with hearing loss than wanting to eat 24/7. The other downside to long-term steroid use is that it can cause necrosis (the death of living cells or tissues) in the hip joints. Since I already have severe arthritis in my left hip...well, steroids is probably not the best option. The ENT said they can inject a steroid into the inner ear canal, which would avoid the systemic approach of oral treatment, but I will need to see an ear surgeon for that. I will have that MRI I've been putting off. It will hopefully determine the cause of the sudden hearing loss and perhaps it can be treated. Until then....HUH??? Talk to my left ear please.

I am discovering how many times one can renew a library book. FIVE. I'm lucky if I read a chapter every other night. So I am only halfway through "Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver. I find some of her views slightly annoying, but I enjoy her writing style and she is often able to combine descriptions of nature with some very profound thoughts. I'll share one with you:

Eddie Bondo had spoken of acorn woodpeckers he'd seen in the West, funny creatures that worked together to drill a dead tree full of little holes, cached thousands of acorns in them, and then spent the rest of their days defending their extravagant treasure from marauding neighbors. How pointless life could be, what a foolish business of inventing things to love, just so you could dread losing them.

So very true and something I need to be reminded of often. It brings to mind Matthew 6:19-21:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.