I haven’t been posting much here in a while and here’s why. In December, I was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. This was very disheartening, as my wife died from this 12 years ago. In February I had surgery, which removed almost all of my large intestine. In April I started chemo, which consists of 6 hours in the infusion clinic at the VA hospital and 2 days of being attached to a pump. This is repeated every 2 weeks. I’m scheduled for 12 sessions, which will end at the end of September. After the 6th session, which was 2 weeks ago, they did a CAT scan last week and there is no evidence of any cancer. I will complete the chemo regimen through September.
The chemo has some nasty side effects, which subside somewhat over the two weeks. One is extreme sensitivity to cold. I have to put my winter gloves on to take things out of the fridge or freezer. Another is that my mouth and tongue constantly feel like I ate a bucket of atomic chicken wings. It makes Riesling taste like 151 Rum. Until last weekend, I had only a few sips of wine since April. I can’t eat spicy foods and foods I normally enjoyed taste bland. On Saturday, I ate part of a pot-laced biscotti before going to a BBQ. Not only did I enjoy the food, but I also enjoyed several glasses of wine. While the pot did not give me a buzz, I was in good spirits and enjoyed myself. I figure that after my chemo session are complete, it my take 4-8 weeks to recover back to normal and I will be enjoying wine and food regularly by mid-November.
The folks at the VA Hospital have been great and I’m grateful to them.
I've been following Wine Focus and would normally have posted during Loire and this month's Riesling. In my head I'm already planning a November Wine Dinner. 
)