February 23-28

The predicted snowfall turned out to be largely a fizzle, getting out and about on Monday was no issue at all. When La Academia played at McCaskey on the 16th I thought I was done with basketball for the season but the district committee had other ideas. Jerry's club fought back through the playback round and hosted the fifth-place game at JPM on the 26th. Conestoga Christian (from Morgantown, about twenty-five miles east of Lancaster) was the opponent, La Academia won to advance to the state tournament as the #5 seed from District Three. On Friday the Royals returned home from a seven-game road trip (3-2-2) for the first home game since February 3, for me it was my first game since January 19. During my infirmity I missed three games (three too many in my opinion but hospitalization doesn't play favorites), one of the members of our production crew subbed for me on the mic and by all accounts did an excellent job which I was glad to hear. When I arrived I was approached by quite a few people who asked what happened and how I was feeling, I told them the weight and vital signs are being monitored and everybody seems to be satisfied with the progress. I was discharged on the 5th and Truth Be Known if we would have been at home that weekend I probably would have worked (or at least I would have tried), the fact that the club was on the road for most of the month allowed me an extra three weeks to be 100% ready. On this night the Greenville Swamp Rabbits visited from the league's Southern Division, they are the lone non-divisional opponent on our home schedule. The game was scoreless into the second period, Ben Meehan scored early and Jeremy Michel scored late making it 2-0 at the second intermission. Greenville got on the board early in the third but Michel potted his second of the game just twenty-five seconds later, Liam Devlin's empty-netter in the closing minutes put away the 4-1 win for goaltender Yaniv Perets. Game #2 on Saturday was the annual Pink In The Rink game for breast cancer awareness, a sellout crowd of better than 6800 was in the house. This was one of those wacky last-shot-wins kind of game, Greenville prevailed in overtime 6-5. Garret Devine scored two goals for the Royals, single tallies came courtesy of Kyle Haskins, Austin Saint and Jacob Frasca with Keith Petruzzelli suffering the tough-luck loss. The boys stand at 27-18-7 (17-7-2 at home), the Worcester Railers visit on March 14. Take care, thanks for reading.

February 16-22

The new week began with one last basketball game, on Monday night at McCaskey we hosted a first-round Class A playoff. Jerry Johnson's La Academia earned the right to a home game as the higher seed, on this night they defeated Shalom Christian Academy (from Chambersburg, about eighty-five miles west of Lancaster) 72-52. The rest of the week was quiet except for lunch with Jenny and her mother on Wednesday and Saturday plus a few assorted medical visits here and there. There was talk of another weather event on Sunday into Monday, they were drawing comparisons to what we got back on January 25. The precipitation didn't arrive until early Sunday evening and as the night progressed it didn't appear to be anything close to what we had previously, I guess we'll just wait and see what the morning brings. Take care, thanks for reading. 

January 26-February 15

Early totals from the snowstorm were in Monday's newspaper, here in the city we got eight inches while areas further north received more (in retrospect I'm glad I wasn't in any of those places). I saw the parking lot being plowed, I went over and moved my car so they could finish the job (when I came home on Saturday I parked strategically for that very reason). Saw my dentist on Tuesday morning, on Wednesday I had an appointment with my family doctor. This had been booked back in October and had nothing to do with the swelling in the legs and stomach I've been dealing with, once I arrived it became the topic of conversation. My doctor examined me and called my heart doctor, I was there in the afternoon and they told me to get to the hospital. After supper I was coming down the steps from upstairs, at the very bottom I fell AGAIN but amazingly was somehow uninjured. That made the decision all the easier, I was admitted on Wednesday evening around 8:00 or so and was discharged just after noon on February 5. They connected me to a catheter that essentially "did my business" for me and administered various medication through my chemo port, they said my having the port saved them from having to insert an IV. When I was admitted I weighed in at 272 pounds (I haven't been that heavy in ages), when I was discharged I was at an even 200 and just about all of the loss was excess fluid buildup which is almost impossible to imagine. Since then the weight has been holding steady around 200, I've seen a brace of doctors and they all seem to be pleased with the progress. My infirmity came at a time that forced me to miss work, for the first time since April of 2012 I was absent from the Royals (three games, all victories), I also missed three McCaskey games (one win and two losses). Basketball season at JPM ended on the 3rd, the varsity finished 10-11 overall and the JV checked in at 7-11. DeMere Salisbery led the club with a 24.1 average, the highest in at least the last thirty years (father Dustin is in second place, he averaged 22.2 during his senior year in 2003), Amir Thompson-Hanson was the only other man in doubles at 10.4. The Royals are in the midst of a seven-game road trip, they are back home on the 27th and I should be good to go by then as well. Take care, thanks for reading.