Circles Around Goals

So I am walking everyday before the surgery. I had told my friend, Craig, my goal was to do the Piestewa summit trail three times this week. The real goal is to get some abdominal muscle tone before surgery. The idea is that the better my abs are, the shorter my recovery time. This X-Ray should tell the story – I am not the owner of abs of steel.

This image is probably more information than anyone really wants. I called my doctor the same day I saw blood in my urine. The first CT scan and IVP were inconclusive, so we had to re-image about 3 months later.

The surgery to remove my kidney, the ureter and part of my bladder is going to be laparoscopic, which means that the recovery time shouldn’t be too long. Of course, if the doctor finds something unexpected, the surgical team will have to open me up. That would mean a longer recovery.

A pathology report will be done on the carcinoma once my kidney is out. The results of that test will determine whether chemotherapy will be required.

Today, I walked 5 miles in about 90 minutes. I carried Teri’s old camera, but discovered I had forgotten to re-insert the CF card. I never do that. That means that today’s images are cell phone images. The image above is graffiti on a block wall with protruding mortar near Dunlap Road and the Arizona Canal, my halfway turn point.

Some landscaping has been completed on portions of the Arizona Canal where I walked. This canal brings water for lawn irrigation to some older neighborhoods in Phoenix. The tree shadow looks like blood veins or a river’s drainage. The round concrete looks like a vessel.

This year, in the Salt and Verde River drainages, the snow-pack levels were well above average. I’m sure that most people in the Valley are unaware of the droughts hitting other parts of the country. Dams and reservoirs above Phoenix provide storage for relatively dry years the city has had recently. The irony is that places where water is typically more reliable lack the infrastructure to store water for two years. Here, where water is scarce and dry conditions are the norm, there are more long-term contingencies for drought.

The Valley’s reservoirs are nearly full, though. And knowing this, most everyone in the Valley is using water in the same old wasteful ways. There is no change in behavior to prepare for what might happen tomorrow.

It’s supposed to be unseasonably cool tomorrow. I have a morning appointment, so I can’t climb until after 11:30 AM or so. Midday in May is typically not a good time to climb Piestewa. We’ll see.