It has a name!

Went to the dermatologist today. She's a specialist in scalp issues and diagnosed my thinning hair as seborrheic dermatitis. I have a skin infection, kinda like a yeast infection but on my head, and it should be easy to treat with steroids, prescription shampoo and OTC Rogaine. While she doesn't think it's serious because the hair on the unaffected areas of my scalp is still "dense," it may take a while to cure.

So it's good to know what I have. She dismissed autoimmune disease because my pattern of thinning/loss is inconsistent with that diagnosis, and that's also good. But, since she doesn't believe I suffer from an autoimmune condition, it means that the scalp issue and my ongoing fatigue are unrelated ... and I still have no reason to point to for the fatigue. So in 2017, I guess I have an apnea/sleep study to look forward to.

But let's keep focused on the pony: What I have has a name, it's treatable, and it may be tenacious but not serious. YEA!

Happy birthday to me, part 8

Last night I had dinner with Kathleen where we celebrated both her and my birthdays and Christmas. We went to a new (to me) Mediterranean restaurant and shared a variety of small plates as we exchanged gifts.

She gave me these adorable little notecards. Each one looks like a Beatles 45 rpm record, as well as a book about "the swinging 60s." Clearly she knows where my heart is!

It was good to catch up with her. She's an interesting woman -- a good mother, an ever-evolving career woman, wife to a challenging but fascinating man, good daughter to ill and aging parents. Well over 50, she's become a passionate runner. I enjoy hearing about how she connects to her body now that she's a cancer survivor.

Thinking of that, it was a relief to talk to her about Barb. I think of Barb, her husband, and cancer all the time. It weighs heavily on me. It confuses me. I want to help but I don't know how. I want to help, but I don't want to intrude. Kathleen not only knows Barb, she understands what it's like to face cancer.

Kathleen promises that we have to get together soon to see the Christmas blockbusters. I know she means these things when she says them, but we'll see if it comes to pass. She was also going to watch a Cubs play off game with me, too ... I think I have to learn to enjoy her when I see her but not expect more time/involvement than she can deliver at this time in her life.

You give love a bad name

I try to visit everyone who plays Saturday 9. I inherited the blog from "Crazy Sam" and Bud and feel a responsibility to keep it going. Last week, one of the questions asked our players to tell us about an interesting relative.

As I scrolled down one blogger's comments so I could leave mine, I came upon a post that really disappointed me. This woman said that she was related to an actor I grew up watching, that she heard he'd died and wondered if he'd been "saved," but since he was a "libtard," she couldn't be sure.

It always upsets me when people wrap their hate in piety. And make no mistake about it, the suffix of "tard" is ugly and contemptuous. Instead of expressing the love and joy that can come from following Christ, it makes Christians sound judgemental and exclusionary.

But this insensitive ass got to me to thinking about Jesus and what He wants and expects of us. Would He prefer that we proselytize and spread "The Word," but treat others with disapproval/disgust, or would He rather we not believe but treat one another with respect and love. (And the "libtard" actor she mentioned was famous for having marched for civil rights n the 1960s.)

Obviously, I think He wants both: our hearts and our deeds. But I think that He probably looks more kindly upon the well-meaning but non-believing actor than He does the woman who uses her faith as an excuse for her scorn.