I’m back in town!

I’m back in town!

After a faced paced week in the Northeast I am back in Florida and after cleaning off my desk, my mind is clear and I feel like writing again. It was an eventful trip but the pace tired me out. I flew up to Long Island and met with Pastor Jim Sullivan. I had a very pleasant afternoon with his family. For those of you who don’t know Jim, I’ll only say that, though we come from opposite ends of the spectrum on most issues, we have a tremendous respect for each other and enjoy debating topics like religion and politics.

Then it was off to Peconic to play landlord and spend the evening with my dear friends the Backus family of Orient Point. The Backus girls, Taylor who will be attending Vanderbilt University in August, and her talented and amazing sister Marland are not only a joy to be around but they both inspired me with new ideas for my own art and also some inventive ways to teach art at my Tuesday class at the Boys& Girls Club. More about that another time.

The next morning I was on the early ferry to Connecticut to attend the wedding of my old friend, Gary Garnet and his bride, Michelle. The hour and 45 minutes on the ferry on a very foggy morning was peaceful and revitalizing and I enjoyed my quiet time with a good book – “The Life Of Pi” by Yann Martel. Landing in New London, it was great to see Michelle and Gary so happy and be with the famiies. One interesting item of note was that, while waiting for my hotel room to become available, I sat at the bar for a few hours and watched the now classic battle between Federrer and Nadal at Wimbledon. I am not a tennis fan at all but I appreciate great athletic talent and sportsmanship and this one was a match for the ages. I was totally into it and, not caring who won or lost, was able to get into the pure competitive excellence as an impartial observer.

After breakfast the next morning with the Garnets, it was off to New London to hook up with another great friend, Heidi Gottlieb. You may have read about Heidi on this blog in a piece titled “Every Day Heroes” posted June 18. (also go to www.myedgewalkerblog.com for more about Heidi) It was my privilege to drive Heidi to Boston and escort her to her to her session at the Francis Burr Proton Center at Mass General Hospital. After getting her settled in an apartment loaned by a generous MIT student, we went to her appointment and I was invited to go back to see the machine and learn how Proton Therapy works. My mind was blown. This is the most advance treatment of cancer available and it works without the side effects of standard radiation treatments.

It is simply awe inspiring to think that these creations things come from the imaginations of people. As I was shown into the room, a massive, 3 story cyclotron. I felt like I was stepping onto the set of 2001 A Space Odyssey. The protons (charged particles) are accelerated with a large magnetic field in a cyclotron. Giant magnets help guide the proton beam to three treatment rooms. The machine produces shoots them into the tumor through a 3 inch thick, gold circle hollowed out in the shape and size of the tumor.

Two of the treatment rooms at the Burr Center incorporate 110-Ton gantries. These 3 story high gantries can be rotated to aim the proton beam from various directions. In the gantry rooms, patients lie on robotic beds that can be adjusted for precise alignment of targets contained throughout the body. Watching Heidi don her custom fitted mesh mask, the purpose of which is to secure the head from movement during treatment and makes her look a bit like Hannibal Lechter, I almost caught myself crying. I wasn’t sure but it was either tears of sadness for her unfortunate situation or tears of joy, knowing that science can deliver to us such miraculous advances and opportunities. Maybe it was a bit of both. For more information about Proton therapy, go to http://www.proton-therapy.org/ or http://www.massgeneral.org/cancer/about/providers/radiation/proton/index.asp.

I was truly impressed, not only by the technology but also by the compassion of the doctors and nurses at the Center, more every day heroes.

I was able to leave Heidi, resting and nourished and ready for bed and head down to Providence, RI where I was able to have dinner with more wonderful friends – Eric and Nancy Behr. Reverend Nancy is one of the religious leaders I mentioned in my last posting on immigration and we talked about the situation at length. As I figured, she is integrally involved in the situation and had much to say on the topic. I will share some of that in a future post. Her insights were spot on and, again, I must tip my hat to her for standing up for the rights and well being of people less fortunate.

After that it was off to New York City for a few days for a little business, a little socializing and some culture. I caught the Bucky Fuller exhibit at the Whitney, which I highly recommend, and the Turner exhibit at the Met. And I was delighted to have the aforementioned Ms. Taylor Backus as my escort for an afternoon of museum browsing. My trip seemed to short and I could go on but I’ve probably bored you enough by now. The last thing I’ll say is, when in the Big Apple, I recommend you have drinks while watching the sun go down on the Hudson at the Frying Pan and later enjoy the sushi specials at Café Society near Union Square. You won’t regret it.

 

 

 

 

With Taylor at the Met

Heidi and I arrived in Boston last Monday