And blow, it did. Pardon me for sounding like Yoda.
Last night Hurricane Zeta, or what was left of her, blew through north Georgia. Around 4 or 5 this morning we had some of the strongest winds I have ever experienced. Today many trees are down and many roads are closed.
We are fine. Our house and yard sustained no damage, but our next-door neighbor's Bradford pear tree was uprooted and currently is lying (laying?) across the sidewalk, partially blocking our street. The authorities are saying our highest winds were between 50 and 55 miles per hour, not extremely high as such storms go. The eye of what had been Hurricane Zeta passed very close to Canton on its way to somewhere else. Locally, one man died just a few miles from us when a large oak tree fell on the monile home where he was sleeping and he was crushed to death.
In other news, the pathology report on the biopsy of the growth over my left eyebrow confirmed that it is a squamous-cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer. I am having a consultation with the surgeon on November 9th to determine the next step, which will probably be to schedule what is referred to as Mohs surgery, named after the physician who first performed it. In Mohs surgery, a layer of skin cells is removed and examined under a microscope. If cancer cells are present, another layer is removed. The procedure is repeated until a layer is reached in which no cancer cells are present. I had never heard of Mohs but it apparently is quite common and its success rate for the treatment of both squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal-cell carcinoma (BCC) is 99 per cent.
And all these years I thought BCC meant blind carbon copy. Do not make me feel any older than I already am by claiming not to know what a blind carbon copy is, or carbon paper, or a typewriter.
Here, for your amusement and amazement, is Leroy Anderson's "Typewriter Song" performed by the Brandenberg Symphony (3:56).
You're welcome.
Good luck with the cancer thingy. Watch Moh, the Mohs we have just remove the whole head.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Adrian.
DeleteGood luck with the removal/eradication of cancer cells. Typewriter? I still have mind.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sue.
DeleteSeems like 2020 has been a series of unfortunate events....but perhaps life is always like this and we're just overwhelmed? I am. So glad you and Mrs. RWP are safe and sound. Take care, my friend.
ReplyDeletePam, life is not always like this but we are overwhelmed. I think of a verse in Isaiah 59, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.’
DeleteSorry to hear about the SCC. I had one off my neck and a couple of BCCs off my nose. The surgeon didn't use the MOH procedure. She just cut out what she though plus a bit and then the 'plus a bit' was tested. In all cases the 'plus a bit' was free of cancerous cells. Your procedure seems very much more sophisticated. That was several years ago and not so much as a pip since then. So I hope that all goes the same for you. You'll be in my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAs for winds of 55mph we had over that last week and I didn't even think to put the storm shutters up. I don't do that until over 100mph is forecast. But then my tallest tree is only about 12 ft high and in the winter when the hurricanes come they are devoid of leaves.
Graham,, thanks for sharing your experience and for your good thoughts. We get our hurricanes in the he summer and fall. This year I think there have been 27.
DeletePraying all will go well with the removal of your growth. Sorry to hear about your windstorm and about the poor man who was killed. We had a terrible windstorm go through central Iowa in August. 100 mph sustained wind. Cedar Rapids area was hit bad, almost all trees in town were blown down or damaged. The meteorologists called this windstorm a "derecho". I truly do not know what a blind carbon copy is, though I do remember carbon paper and mimeograph machines.
ReplyDeleteJeannelle, thank you for your prayers. My dad and his four brothers grew up in Cedar Rapids and three of the five raised their own families there. Today I don’t think there is a single Brague left in Cedar Rapids. A carbon copy (sometimes called a courtesy copy) is a secondary list of recipients in addition to the primary addressee or addressees. A blind carbon copy is a third list of addressees that only the author of the document knows about. The two types of recipients mentioned previously cannot see the third list.
DeleteI'm glad that you did not have any damage from the wind. These storms are scary. I wish success in your up coming medical procedures.
ReplyDeleteRed, thank you for your wish for success. This storm was very scary, especially coming in the middle of the night. I wouldn’t want to experience higher winds than these.
DeleteI'm sorry about the diagnosis, but I'm glad the prognosis is good. Prayers for a good outcome.
ReplyDeleteWe had some rain and wind from Zeta too, and I think there are still some power outages around here. So sad about the loss of life and property damage. It has surely been an awful year in so many ways.
Kathy, thank you for your prayers. Some areas around here won’t have power back on until late Sunday because so many power lines were brought down by the trees. We didn’t lose power in our area because we have underground utilities.
DeleteThank goodness you were not hurt in the hurricane. You found the cancer which may not seem like it but it is good. There are treatments that can get rid of it. It is inconvenient and will be uncomfortable and I know you will be glad when it's done. Best wishes.
ReplyDeleteEmma, I agree totally with your perspective. No one likes to hear the word cancer, of course, but this one did not cause me undue alarm since there is a known remedy for it.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I missed this post until now but I caught the one after it. I'm glad you didn't have any damage from the storm, that had to be frightening.
ReplyDeleteIt also had to be frightening to learn that you do have the skin cancer. I hope you will be able to get that taken care of very soon. They are generally very successful at treating that type of skin cancer. Tom had two of them removed in past years, one behind his ear and one on his arm. He's had no problems with either place since then but they do recommend yearly checkups. I'll be thinking of you and sending prayers for an easy procedure in removing the cancer.
Bonnie, the word cancer is always startling, but I was not frightened since int seemed to be an easy type to get rid of. Easy as compared to the terrible kinds that killed both my mother and my father. Thank you for sharing Tom’s experience and for your prayers. I’ll be glad when it’s all over and done with.
ReplyDelete