Book 2, 2012

Lucky Man, Michael J. Fox (kindle edition) 4 out of 5 stars.

From amazon.com:
"The same sharp intelligence and self-deprecating wit that made Michael J. Fox a star in the Family Ties TV series and Back to the Future make this a lot punchier than the usual up-from-illness celebrity memoir. Yes, he begins with the first symptoms of Parkinson's disease, the incurable illness that led to his retirement from Spin City (and acting) in 2000. And yes, he assures us he is a better, happier person now than he was before he was diagnosed. In Fox's case, you actually might believe it, because he then cheerfully exposes the insecurities and self-indulgences of his pre-Parkinson's life in a manner that makes them not glamorous but wincingly ordinary and of course very funny. ("As for the question, 'Does it bother you that maybe she just wants to sleep with you because you're a celebrity?' My answer to that one was, 'Ah...nope.'") With a working-class Canadian background, Fox has an unusually detached perspective on the madness of mass-media fame; his description of the tabloid feeding frenzy surrounding his 1988 wedding to Tracy Pollan, for example, manages to be both acid and matter-of-fact. He is frank but not maudlin about his drinking problem, and he refreshingly notes that getting sober did not automatically solve all his other problems. This readable, witty autobiography reminds you why it was generally a pleasure to watch Fox onscreen: he's a nice guy with an edge, and you don't have to feel embarrassed about liking him. --Wendy Smith"

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I've been a fan of MJF since my teen years. Not a rabid seen-all-his-work-dozens-of-times type of fan, but a fan nonetheless. I've been meaning to read this book for years; when it came out as a daily deal for the Kindle in November, I jumped at it! It did not disappoint. Highly recommend it to his fans, rabid or otherwise. I learned a lot about the man in reading this book. Fascinating!

Diva: January Monthly follow-up.

I might make an entry later with all the gorey numerical blood serum details, but I'm sick with a cold and have a short attention span right now...Yeah, I know, cry me a river... ;/
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Reader's digest version...she's about the same. Last month I forgot to get an anemia panel run again to make sure she was still alright in that department, but remembered this month and her numbers for that particular issue are still normal. The Pet Tabs supplement (soon to be switched to Pet-Tinic because that's what Jazz takes every day and it's the same thing basically) is doing the trick! YAY!

As for her other numbers, they were about the same as last month. Most concerning is her serum calcium is still registering off scale for their lab equipment. Dr. B. shook his head and said it's probably related to her kidney function. As I said in my last post about this, we've run all the mostly non-invasive, least expensive tests to determine what's the root cause of the hypercalcemia and everything's come back normal. The next step is checking her for cancers, which is not only expensive, but tend to be much more invasive than a blood draw. She's simply not exhibiting any symptoms that justify doing it. She's eating well, behaving normally, maintaining weight. All signs are it's not a cancer...

What to do? About all we can do is watch and wait and see if anything changes with regards to her eating, weight or behaviour that might indicate something is amiss. I can't see spending the money and putting her through a mess of invasive testing--especially since if there is a cancer detected we're probably not going to treat it outside of keeping her pain free and comfortable as it progresses because we simply can't afford it, or at least *I* can't. I'm barely affording the CRF treatments for both her and Jazz right now, and I get help from J from time to time for that as it is...That's a different story, though--right now both are doing well and aren't suffering ill effects of their treatments and are doing well on treatment. It makes sense to continue as things are now in that department, at least to us.

All things considered Diva's doing well--feisty, eating well, keeping weight on, very affectionate. She fights like a demon sometimes when it comes to giving her fluids, but I take that a good sign that she's feisty enough to protest what she doesn't care for. Jazz doesn't like the process any more than Diva does, but she seems to accept it better and doesn't fight us at all. I think that has more to do with the fact she's been doing it for a couple of years now vs. Diva just starting a few months ago--she's used to it. I don't think Diva will ever get used to it, but oh well. She forgives us as soon as the food bowl of gooshy food goes down on the floor for her, so all is good. ;)