Category: wandering photographer

Near and Far: Two Views of Bridges

On By Fred KingIn 2012, Architecture, B&W, Bridge, Brooklyn, buildings, clouds, Manhattan, New York, New York City, Nikon D7000, NYC, people, Personal History, Shadows, Streets, Travels, wandering photographerLeave a comment

Taken years ago. Top image is of the Manhattan Bridge-from the Brooklyn side of East River (DUMBO are= Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).

Bottom Image: Brooklyn Bridge in background – taken 2012.

Started Immunotherapy

On By Fred KingIn 2024, cancer, cancer clinic, iPhone12, personal, wandering photographerLeave a comment
First immunotherapy on December 17th. My recent PET was less positive than we had hoped. The cancer in my right lung is in check and things look stable. My left lung has shown the disease has continued and the intensity of the SUV ( PET scan values 2.5 and above are considered malignancy. (Mine went from 2.0 to 4.6 and in another it went from 4.4 to 4.8)) has markedly increased since last scan. The pain has increased in the last few months in my left lung. So, the oncologist is going to use these results as a baseline and I’ll get another PET in 90 days. If the immunotherapy hasn’t made headway on the left lung, then a new strategy will have to be developed and put in play. If anything is consistent, it’s the unpredictable nature of cancer.

💪🏻 and positive!!

TBT: 15May 2010

On By Fred KingIn 2010, Alki Point, beach, Blue Sky, Elliott Bay, Nikon D80, Puget Sound, Seattle, Thoughts, wandering photographer, Washington, West SeattleLeave a comment

Ferry boat traveling Puget Sound and Elliott Bay in 2010.

A couple of stats regarding this blog:

16 years ago I took the risk, by dipping my toe into this emerging medium of photoblogging;

To date: 49.8K views.

605 subscribers!

Very humbling to know my journey is out there with this level of exposure.

Thanks to all! 🙏🏻👍🏻

Portal to another World

On By Fred KingIn 2024, bubble, cancer, cancer clinic, Ireland, personal, Seattle, Thoughts, wandering photographer2 Comments

Finished 3rd round of chemo a couple of weeks ago. That part is going as one would expect- usual side effects that pass after a week or so. My anemia is negatively affected by the chemo so I now have to get a Retacrit shot every week ( side effect of the shot is a constant, massive headache 🤕). As much as I like the staff at the clinic….seeing them weekly was not on my radar. The normal weekly dose of Retacrit is 20K units. I’m given 40K! It’s become a real battle between Anemia and Cancer 🤷🏼‍♂️😙. A bit absurd, but what can you do? It’s fun to watch the doctors as they react to these skirmishes.

The fourth ( and perhaps last 🤞🏻) chemo is coming up on Tuesday, next week.Enjoying feeling normal -relatively speaking-for the next few days.

The title of this blog post is a reference to a song lyric by Dublin singer, songwriter, writer & guitar player, Keeley Moss. Her band, KEELEY, is pretty amazing. Like me, she is a True Crime buff, and has a WordPress blog, The Keeley Chronicles, which is dedicated to the 36 years old, still unsolved murder ( in Larne, Northern Ireland-Ballypatrick Forest)of 18 year old German student/tourist, Inga Maria Hauser, in 1988. It’s a heartbreaking case that Keeley Moss has presented in a multitude of chapters or posts on her blog, with sensitivity and insight.

Anyway, here is a shot of me during round 3 of chemo, recently. Not bad for almost 73! Lol!! No close ups allowed! I’m more comfortable being on the other side of the camera lens 😉.

My best to all!

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

💪🏻👍🏻💙.

Second Chemo

On By Fred KingIn 2024, B&W, black & white, cancer, cancer clinic, Fall, iphone 12, nature, Nature, Personal History, Seattle, Thoughts, wandering photographer, West SeattleLeave a comment
Was a long one yesterday, 4.5 hours. Mostly due to extra labwork to check on my kidney function – would I be able to handle a dosed down Carboplatin infusion ( one of two chemo drugs I’m getting). This particular lab had to be sent up to the main hospital lab, rather than the in-clinic lab. I was given an injection of Retacrit, which should increase my RBC. I’ll have to get this injection and kidney testing with each cycle of chemo, but I’m still on track to finish by November and then do a PET scan and assess where we are.

Can’t say enough good things about the Oncology staff and especially the nurses. It’s got to be a taxing job, on many levels. I have a great rapport with my Oncologist-brilliant guy!

It’s nearly the official start of Fall.

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

All good 👍🏻💪🏻🙏🏻.

First Chemo

On By Fred KingIn 2024, cancer, cancer clinic, Health, iPhone12, personal, Personal History, Seattle, themes, Thoughts, wandering photographer1 Comment

While in the chair a Social Worker stopped by to check on me. Pleasant conversation about fears and frustrations regarding cancer and my five year journey. She left me a ‘Bags of Hope, with lots of useful goodies. The bags are put together by volunteers that have been doing this since 2016. The support and assistance of the clinic staff is unsurpassed!

It takes a handful of meds to get through chemo- to help manage nausea and other side effects. Hopefully, I won’t be needing some of this collection, but better to have on hand.

“Don’t sweat the small stuff “.

All good.

🙏🏻💪🏻

Health Update:

On By Fred KingIn 2024, cancer, Health, Human, iPhone12, personal, Personal History, Thoughts, wandering photographerLeave a comment

The port was implanted yesterday afternoon. It’s under the skin, where you see the two horizontal incisions. The catheter is attached to the port, near the top incision and travels up and to the right connecting to the jugular vein. A large vein is needed to deal with the chemo drugs. It finally hit me, on the operating table ( I chose local anesthesia over total, so I was fully awake and aware throughout the procedure) things are getting serious. 99% of patients choose to be totally out.

The club no one aspires to. Because I have a port I have to carry a card identifying as such, complete with serial number on the back, etc. I also have to wear a wristband identifying the port brand as well as something for my keychain. Mostly, this is for the benefit of healthcare workers, but it serves as a reminder for me as well

It seems odd, but in order to fight cancer with drugs- in my case two in tandem- I need a handful of drugs to help me cope with the two chemo drugs, pemetrexed and carboplatin. In the past 5 years I have been through surgery ( I didn’t recover well and still dealing with collateral damage today) and radiation ( SBRT), 15 sessions, twice. This is the last option available to help me.

Always positive and strong! Hug your loved ones! 🙏🏻💪🏻🤗

Keystone Korner, 1970

On By Fred KingIn 1970, Architecture, B&W, black & white, musicians, San Francisco, Travels, wandering photographerLeave a comment

Located in San Francisco, Keystone Korner was a great venue for live music, especially jazz and blues. Apparently the venue moved to Baltimore. Also, there is some incorrect info on the web regarding the year the venue opened. One site listed it as opening in 1972. I believe the opening was in the late 60’s and operated until 1983. I was only 18 when this photo was taken so I wasn’t able to legally go inside. During this same trip I visited a club in Berkeley on Telegraph Ave. On that evening I stood outside of the service entrance and listened to Mose Allison for a couple of hours.

This image was scanned from a 110 50 year old print. Anyway, Boz Scaggs and Benny Cecil and the Snakes’ were on the bill.