Green Mountain Meandering Missives

Recently, I had purchased and watched the movie "Conclave" on Saturday (via YouTube) and then watched it again, twice over, afterwards, in following days: Yes, it is that good. Truly. The investment in buying the movie, rather than merely renting it for 48 hours, was definitely worth it. In my opinion, it is an excellent and very well done film and, believe it or not, one that I will more than likely view yet again in the future. It is a film that, for those who have not already viewed it, I highly recommend. It should be noted that I am neither Catholic, nor necessarily religious either.

  Photo: Miss Cleo, lounging comfortably underneath her human's new premium high quality walker/wheelchair. View more photos of the walker/wheelchair, here . Quite a lot has gone on since my last blog post ( here ), including having been discharged from the UVM Medical Center nearly two and a half weeks ago (more or less), with time seeming to pass by rather slowly or so it seems. In addition, even though I was using a cane, having taken a fall and skinning my knee a bit sometime in between then and now. Due to this, because of recently posting on my Facebook page about needing as well as wanting to obtain a new walker with a seat, I was generously and kindly gifted with a premium high quality walker/wheelchair earlier yesterday (Thursday). It is such a blessing, indeed, particularly since my balance has been rather poor of late (read: vertigo) and I have also been somewhat weak at times. With it having a seat with which to sit and rest upon, it should help in these regards. ...

Photo: Stained glass windo w within the second floor chapel of the Central Vermont Medical Center  (CVMC): Late last year, as I had previously blogged about earlier this year, I had been hospitalized for a full two weeks at the CVMC, here More recently, due to the overly intense and quite severe acute as well as oftentimes chronic pain being experienced, I went to the emergency room and had been admitted. It appears that this could possibly be another prolonged hospitalization;  including due to needing to assess and putting in place a different pain management plan, run tests as well as undergo an upcoming aggressive palliative radiation five day treatment course -- which is taking place at the UVM Medical Center Cancer Treatment Center located in Burlington, where I am currently located and likely will remain for nearly a week or so before returning to CVMC. Had been transported from CVMC to the UVM Medical Center via the Barre Town Ambulance   service. As I understand...

Photo: Thanks to advocacy efforts led by two different people on my behalf, my cat, Miss Cleo was allowed to visit me during my stay at the Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC) late last year (2024). Since having been diagnosed with, among other things, a malignant cancerous colon tumor while at CVMC for two full weeks late last year, I have been the recipient of a priceless wealth of kind and generous encouragement as well as support that has taken many forms, including deliveries of food (e.g., freshly homemade omelets and scrambled eggs as well as, recently, breakfast and a half dozen donuts from the Wayside Restaurant and so on. This is what I term as going the gracious extra mile and beyond. Everyone who has done so, has my deepest gratitude. It means a lot and is highly valued by me as well as has made a huge difference in my quality of life and has contributed to my growing positive outlook on life. It helps to know that I am respected, loved and valued by so many caring souls ...

Photo: Person living unhoused outdoors resting on a bench in Montpelier, the capital city of Vermont (photo shared with the direct consent of the person pictured; image credit: Morgan W. Brown). (*since edited for the purposes of clarification and readability*) An Open Letter to Governor Scott  Regarding Homelessness Dear Governor Scott, State of Vermont It boggles the mind how your administration can be so deliberately indifferent and uncaring when it comes to those who are being or already have been evicted from the Vermont Hotel/Motel Program without those persons having anywhere else safe and secure to go inside, day or night. The rationale used by your administration for not allowing everyone to stay in the program who are currently eligible as well as clearly in need and most vulnerable does not wash, nor does it pass the straight face test, either. The fact is that it actually costs much more in terms of fiscal (read: funding), human, medical and other social related matters...

With apologies for not being able to post for a while, however, among other things that had been going on these last few months, I had been unable to gain access to my laptop computer for about two months or so for some reason, until now. For those not already in the know and without going into all of the specific details within this particular blog post of mine, in late November of last year I had gone to the emergency room at the Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC), was admitted and stayed in one of the units there for two full weeks. Had been diagnosed with, among other things, a malignant cancerous tumor in my lower colon, which as it turns out might or might not be operable. Various potential treatment options were mentioned and discussed, including surgery, as well as radiation and chemo; if I understood correctly, the latter two of those treatments would be done five days a week over the course of four weeks, on an outpatient basis at CVMC, possibly followed by continued chem...