We woke up late again (I’m on vacation, right? So sleep I shall, dammit).

We spent the afternoon strolling through opening day of San Francisco’s newest flea market on Treasure island. The eat-a-thon continues – I had a two absolutely delicious cheese mushroom personal-size pizzas with an egg cracked right in the middle. Calum joined us there, and later, Jason.  Calum and Kaki and I bought some 1500 thread count sheets for 40 bucks. They are unearthly soft. I also got Kaki a beautifully printed t-shirt, and found an amazing pair of white leather wingtips, bought from a guy named, coincidentally, Dusty (as some of you know, I use the name “Dusty” when ordering coffee or food).

They don’t call it Treasure Island for nothing.

Everything was great until we got home and noticed that after a while the bedroom smelled like kerosene. We hunted for the source for nearly two days before we discovered that my snappy new shoes were the offender. They can now be found on the street corner outside my house, gently off-gassing into the night.

Treasures in hand, we left the island and decided to go on a hike. Destination: Mt. Diablo.

For anyone unfamiliar with it, Mt. Diablo is a nearly 4,000 ft. high solitary peak with some of the most spectacular views in the Bay Area. In fact, it’s been said that with the exception of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mt. Diablo has the most spectacular panoramic view in the world.  It’s visible from most of the Bay Area and much of Northern California. On a clear day you can see from the Golden Gate and the Pacific beyond, to well past the Altamont pass.

This spring in San Francisco has been cold and windy, so we left that climate like a mangy, three-legged dog at the pound and headed to the East Bay hills and Mt. Diablo, which is typically 20 degrees warmer. Unfortunately, the East Bay had adopted a three-legged dog of its own. And this one was neither friendly nor housebroken. If anything, at 3,800 feet, the wind was colder. Kaki, being something of an exercise junkie, said, “Hey guys, let’s hike around the peak a coule of times and get warmed up. It’ll be just like it’s hot out.” So we gamely tramped all around the peak, taking multiple trails and ascending and descending hundreds of feet. I don’t mind mentioning that despite me being the one with cancer and all, it was Cal, Kaki, and Jason who were constantly chorussing complaints about their knees and joints. Pffffft. Knees. Really.

After a bracing hike, we drove back down mountain, where we were flagged down by a man and his two young daughters. They were pointing at something in the road in front of our car. Pulling over, we got out and saw what he had been pointing at – a juvenile (but still quite large) tarantula sitting square in the middle of the road.

After marveling for a bit and helping it to the side of the road, we drove on, only to discover a rabbit corpse being devoured by vultures another mile down the road.

California is such a wild place…

The eat-a-thon continued in spectacular fashion with a visit to the East Bay branch of another favorite place of ours, Burma Superstar. Pleased to say that the Oakland location is just as tasty as the SF one. Jason generously bought us all Burma Superstar T-shirts.

We wrapped up the night watching A Woman, a Gun, and a Noodle Shop, a great, oddball remake of the Coen brothers’ Blood Simple set in 19th-century China.

Woke up at 11:30. Remember the days when I couldn’t sleep past 4 am?  Oh, chemo, I miss you.

Speaking of chemo, it turns out that not only has all my hair not fallen out, but it’s gotten long enough to warrant a cut. This I got from my dear friend Sasha, new mom to a beautiful baby. And for the second time is as many days, cancer picked up the tab.

Kaki and I went to a restaurant we like in West Marin, about 40 miles away.  It was a nice romantic drive in a gentle rain. When we got there, however, we looked at the menu and both decided we weren’t that excited about it. So we turned around and turned our romantic 40-mile drive into a romantic 80-mile drive. 80 miles later we arrived at Millenium, which is about three miles from my house. Millenium is one of our favorite restaurants. I love it because it’s the best food I’ve ever had. Kaki loves it because it’s the best food she’s ever had, and everything on the menu is vegan, so she can eat it all (Though Kaki is not vegan she is highly allergic to cow’s milk). The food there is exquisite – it tastes like butter is the first ingredient.  For dessert we had chocolate mousse tart, chocolate cake, and a lemon curd ginger ice cream. Eat-a-thon continues!

Spent the morning writing journal entries from previous days. Seems a little “meta” to be writing that.

Had lunch at Slow Club with Cal. I had a cheeseburger, which marked the beginning of my eat-a-thon: a days-long mission to eat as much of as many different types of food while I still can.

In that spirit, after I ate with Cal I stopped off at Dottie’s True Blue Café for a hearty late-afternoon breakfast. Kurt (aka Dottie) bought my lunch. Thanks, cancer! (gives thumbs up)

Friday at 2 pm I began my  5 days off from work before surgery. Kaki and I spent the night with Kaki ‘s favorite addiction, Arrested Development.

Note to Jason, those bootlegged discs of AD failed in the middle of the Charlize Theron episode. Some friend.

I had a sobering meeting with Dr. Kirkwood about the actual details of my surgery.  Holy. Shit.

I was not aware I would have so many tubes protruding from my body. One in,  two out. I’ll be receiving nutrients though one directly into my small intestine, as my stomach may be paralyzed for a couple of weeks. Any pregnant or formerly pregnant women who can give me tips about dealing with an epidural (for seven days)? Any assistance would be much appreciated.

This is not a small operation. Dr. Kirkwood told me she booked the operating room for 14 hours. There will have to be a break in the middle, during which Dr. Kirkwood will have a snack and the residents assisting her will get a juice box and a bag lunch.

Despite this daunting news, I left the meeting comforted, and with even greater confidence in Dr. Kirkwood’s abilities.

Luckily, my mother is flying into town the day before the surgery. Knowing she and my brother will be around gives me great comfort. And of course, Kaki and all of my friends. Except for Cal, who has disappeared on some kind of walkabout and left me high and dry.

(editors note: Hi, this is Cal. I’m actually typing this as Dan speaks, and though i have to include everything he says, I can reliably inform you that he is full of shit and just busting my balls. Sorry Dan, one of the drawbacks to having an official stenographer 🙂   – and now back to our story in progress…

OK, where were we? After the meeting with Kirkwood I dropped Kaki off back at work and went to the jobsite to meet the granite installation guys, who to my chagrin did not show up till 4:30 PM. As a result, my planned quiet evening at home started at 10:30 PM.

On Friday I spent the day handingover the reins on the kitchen job to my shopmates Toph and Aaron. Hallelujah and praise the Lord!  I could not be more happy and thankful that they are taking over. I have spent my entire illness remodeling this kitchen and when it looked like it would not be done in time for Jen and Craig to come home with their children it was very disappointing.

Now, thanks to Toph and Aaron, the end is in sight.

Kept working on that kitchen.

Sunday was a continuation of the weekend’s festivities with Kaki’s family. Her brother Karl engineers circus-like flying performances for a living. So we went to see a performance he rigged, a balletic visual feast including flying dancers, hula hooping, and tetherball performed on the side of a four-story building. Incredible.

Kaki and I drove east to Oakland to try and find some warm, windless weather.

San Francisco has had a bitter, cold spring. We haven’t turned our heat off yet this year, and it’s almost June. We spent Saturday wandering Oakland thrift stores well into the afternoon.  We had a nice long visit with Dave and Deb, since they weren’t going to be around till after the surgery.

Tonight we had dinner with Kaki’s sister Karina and her husband Bobby. We also got to meet Bobby’es new truck, Susan. She’s from Japan. Dinner was at one of our favorite restaurants, Lolo

We followed dinner with a trip to Karina’s favorite ice cream parlor, Bi-Rite, where I got a hot fudge sundae. This marked the beginning of my eat-whatever-I-want onslaught. I’m not sure what I’ll be able to eat in the aftermath of my operation, so I’m tasting everything now.

The sundae was incredible. Unfortunately, the lavender ice cream was overwhelmed by the hot fudge. Sundaes should be a strictly chocolate or vanilla affairs, otherwise the delicate flavors get lost in the flood of chocolate sauce.

On Friday afternoon,  Kaki and I went to see her brother Kyle inducted as an officer in the U.S. Army. While momentous enough in its own right, this event turned out to be the beginning of an extremely busy evening

Because of my chemo brain (see Monday, May 9th) I had ordered some doors for the kitchen I was working on in the wrong size. Luckily (ha!) I was able to pull the cancer card and have themanufacturing company remake the doors and UPS them out to me in record time.

I only mention all of this because I  had to leave Kyle’s indoctrination ceremony early to chase a UPS driver through San Francisco’s Bayview District (think warehouses, housing projects,  and industrial parks),  because – as  Murphy’s Law dictates – my regular driver’s truck broke down and his replacement didn’t know the route. Thus, the whole delivery schedule was thrown off.

After finally catching him, I headed over to the Huntington Hotel to meet the rest of Kaki’s family, including her father (an anesthesiologist) ,who had diagnosed the air-bubble-related shoulder pain instantly.

I would have made it to the Huntington on time, but I had to take a phone call from Casey’s Bar in Somemrville, MA, where a bunch of old friends from high school (whom I haven’t seen since high school) were holding a fundraiser for me. They decided to call me and pass the phone around the room. What an incredible experience!  My iPhone had been turned into a time machine.

I did finally make it to the Huntington for Kyle’s reception, where i met Kaki’s extended family on her father’s side. I got the added bonus of getting to see her brother Karl and his wife Charlene,  which was great because I haven’t seen them in over a year.

I’ve spent the last couple of days lying with my head below my waist, trying to get the air bubble in my chest to disperse.

I have learned that when you have a laproscopy they blow your chest up like a balloon so they can see more clearly.  This creates an air bubble in your chest which, apparently, commonly causes shoulder pain.

I spent the rest of the week lying low. and trying not to walk. It only seems to hurt when I walk.

Today’s the day: laporoscopy. Thumbs up or thumbs down. I woke up and went to the jobsite because I was so anxious and needed something to occupy my mind.

At 11:11 AM , I got a text message from Kaki wishing that the time till my procedure that afternoon would pass quickly. At that exact moment, I got a call from Dr. Kirkwood saying a surgery scheduled ahead of us had been cancelled. Could I come the hospital early?

The pre-op time at the hospital was pretty uneventful.  Everyone there was consistently lovely and attentive and took great care of me. I felt in good hands.

As some of you may know, I have a long history with the time 11:11. So I saw saw the early Kaki/Kirkwood text/call as a good omen. But I think the even better omen was that as I was falling asleep from the anaesthesia, Dr. Kirkwood held my hand until I went out.

The next thing I knew I was  waking up to a beaming Dr. Kirkwood, who kept repeating, “Your liver is clean, everything is fine.”

I immediately started bawling, which seemed appropriate, and trying to get out of the bed, which was not. They gently told me to stay in bed for a bit.

Kaki, Donna, and Cal hung out with me while I recovered, which only took a couple of hours.They disconnected me from a spaghetti of monitors and I went home, sore but very happy.

Because I find myself, after three make-or-break tests and three long months, still in that lucky 15% of pancreatic cancer patients who have a shot at survival.