Things are getting worse. Getting her up is harder. Her feet don’t work. She has to stay in bed. Cousin J is here to help. He loves her. He wraps his arms around her and muscles her into position when she slides down. She’s not talking any more. Back aches. It’s hard to move, let […]
Today, it was a struggle to find a subject to draw or paint. I had a dentist’s appointment and was in no mood. However, when I finally sat down at the desk where I paint, I noticed the sketch of my wife, I did last night. I got out the big paper and decided to […]
Had a scare today. While I was at work when I got a call that our loved one’s (C’s) status had changed. She is in hospice care at home. When I got there, C’s breathing was very shallow. She wasn’t moving and did not respond beyond some slurred words, when questioned. Just yesterday was having a […]
We have been having trouble with cancer lately. Suffice it to say hospice care is the order of the day. Our afflicted loved one is in good spirits, even if not feeling that well. She likes to “tell it like it is” as well as to be told the straight story, without sugar coating. She is […]
When I was a kid I had several methods of coping with scary movies on TV. The first was to hide behind the couch and peek out. The second, depicted below, was to put my hands over my face and look through my fingers. Dad offered to turn off the movie if it was so […]
I came up with a sketch for the three weapons we are using to combat lung cancer. It is a schematic and, as such, clearly indicates each agent and its route of administration. My watercolor is a transcription of the sketch, with little modification. The three modes include whole brain radiation; a pill that works on […]
More about Radiation I thought I would try redeeming myself from yesterday’s portrait. Today’s ‘After and Before’ refers the the effects after and before (reading the portrait left to right) radiation to the entire brain. Of course the treatment is supposed to kill cancer cells, while leaving the non-cancerous cells alone. The bad thing is, the […]
The portrait below is not what I hoped it would be. It is indeed quick and dirty, but it represents the aftermath of whole-brain radiation. There is some planning that goes into focusing the radiation beam, but it is not a surgically precise procedure. Redness, swelling, sweating and tiredness are part of the effects.
Not too bad at the beginning. Lung cancer routinely spreads to the brain. Symptoms creep up slowly. A little more weakness on the right side, inability to get the words out, a bit more incoordination. Falling. Then the medical imaging confirms the spread. Most of us can touch our noses with our finger with our eyes closed. There […]
Today’s watercolor experiment began with a swath of opera rose pigment that I painted with a 3″ hake brush. I thought about yesterday’s theme: lungs, air and cancer. The pinkish color opera rose, plus the medical them inspired an idea of somehow representing fluids of the body. I used English yellow and phthalo blue to paint […]
