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Big News!

I now have an eat-in kitchen with a window!

This is the dream of every New York Manhattan apartment dweller.

I discovered today that I could fit my wheeling office chair into my tiny kitchen and successfully swivel and maneuver it all about. I can cook, make tea, eat, clean, read my kindle, make phone calls and have a fabulous time. Food still tastes badly, but there is some improvement.

Denyse is in France for two weeks and I have been worried how I would manage. This is going to work!

It might be a nightmarish scenario for an Occupational Therapist but who cares?

- Joe Dressner 1-22-2011 9:19pm

I was over at Mike's apartment on 8th street. The gang (including the Captain) says hello.

posted by Gene 1-23-2011 3:50pm

Oh yeah!

Glad to hear about the MRI results and, of course, your new-found kitchen access. Good news all around.

posted by swsider 1-23-2011 7:44pm

You're an inspiration

just kidding! Seriously, great blog.

posted by 100aocs 1-28-2011 11:34am

Making tea certainly can help...

I found it comforting when I could finally do it on my own while I was housebound. I'm glad to say Hi to you, Joe, from my lovely Oakland, CA. Had a wonderful bottle of 2002 Clos Roche Blanche Cot the other night with salami.

I hope this note from me helps you to enjoy this rare and precious part of your life.

I'm hoping to go back to Benais/St. Nicolas de Bourgeuil this year to spend time with my vigneron friends during harvest. Nobody big name, good people. I'm friends with the baker in town. I love that spot on the earth.

Fondly,

Karen

posted by Karen Goetz 1-28-2011 1:41pm

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Joe Dressner - Captain Tumor Man!

Hi, I'm Joe Dressner the famous wine importer and I have brain cancer!

I already have a wine blog and frankly wine is such a luxury business that I hate to mix my cancer problems with my wine observations. I think it would be a general downer for the lifestyle crowd out there.

Furthermore, we in the wine trade always claim there are tremendous health benefits to drinking wine. I've already had cardiovascular bypass surgery over eight years ago and now I got a tumor aggressively rattling in my brain. My colleagues in the glamorous wine industry want me to keep it quiet.

So, I've started this wonderful new blog to discuss wine, brain tumors, my life and to give you hot tips on handling the cancer stricken around you. There will also be practical wine/radiation pairings when I start radiation therapy and chemotherapy next week.

Having brain cancer means I might both physically and intellectually decline. So, I will be using this blog as a venue to pursue petty vendettas against relatives, acquaintances and people in the wine trade.

I might also lose touch with reality and say things that are not true or are only half true. The important thing is to have fun and enjoy this rare and precious time in my life.

One of my pet vendettas is my cousin Dr. Barbara Hirsch. Dr. Barbara Hirsch is a very important Great Neck Endocrinologist, who was raised and nurtured by my parents. Dr. Hirsch waited until my father was near death and my mother was suffering from a rare neuromuscular disorder, to write them a seven page letter denouncing them for being horrible to her for the entirety of her life! Despite my concerns, Dr. Hirsch still refuses to apologize.

Last night, I drank a beautiful bottle of Bourgueil Clos Sénéchal 2005 from Pierre Breton. It was sublime and reminded me that I used to be healthy. Not only that, the vineyard used to be there before I existed. It exists independently of my having cancer and will continue to exist. You ought to buy some.

August 2009 Postscript: Not only does it exist independently of my cancer, it also exists independently of Louis/Dressner Selections. After 18 years, they have dumped us for Kermit Lynch. Oh well. At least I'm alive!