James Bodin:
CLASS OF 1965
Manteca High SchoolClass of 1965
Manteca, CA
St. Mary's High SchoolClass of 1965
Stockton, CA
Saint Anthony SchoolClass of 1961
Manteca, CA
Yosemite SchoolClass of 1961
Manteca, CA
James's Story
After graduating HS (Frosh & Soph years at St Mary's in Stockton, Junior & Senior at MUHS) in 1965 I attended Delta JC with no particular direction or impetus to complete a degree or even to learn anything. I was stuck in a sort of funk about the war in Vietnam and the inevitability that I would be drawn into it. In due course, I was a willing partner to that inevitability when I joined the USAF in March 1966. In February 1967 I was posted to Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, AZ, a truly beautiful part of the southwest.
Mom and Dad towed my '55 Chevy down to Tucson in April '67 and I began to explore the area as my interest in phot0graphy took flight. As did my love life. On July 6th I met a sophomore at U of A. That was our first date and I was smitten - hard. The following month I received orders to Vietnam and after dating only two months I had to leave her in September. Her quite genuine sadness at our goodbye told me all I needed to know about her. For one year she wrote me at least weekly. To skip the intervening years I'll jump ahead to December, 1970 when we were wed at St Anthony's church in Manteca, where we lived until July, 1974. By that time we were 3 (Gregory came in 1971) and I had obtained a BA in Anthropology at Stanislaus State. In that Summer of 1974 I rejoined the USAF with a commission as a second lieutenant, immediately heading to flight school at Mather AFB in Sacramento. Over the next 16 years I accrued 5,500 flying hours in C-141's, KC-135's and EC-135's in Charleston, SC, Merced, CA and RAF Mildenhall, England. Retiring in late 1990, I began work in Madera as a city planner, and after 10 years there I moved offices to Patterson where I worked another 10 years. I haven't earned a cent since April of 2010 and now volunteer wherever there is a need for an old gaffer like me. I hang around with a gang of like-minded old geezers, helping even older geezers with yard work, minor home repairs and the like.
In the Summer of 2017 our lives were shattered when Suzanne was diagnosed with lymphoma. We are currently (as of February 2018) undergoing chemo and are hopeful that it will have a positive outcome. Please pray for her. We're still young. Who knows what the future holds?
Thank you for your prayers! Suzanne is in remission (as of 7/18! We are truly blessed that this worked. Follicular B cell lymphoma cannot be eradicated and is a very slow growing blood cancer. The long term prognosis is for 5 to 10 years after diagnosis, and her diagnosis was quite early so we are hopeful of having quite a few more years together.
It is now mid-October of 2018, and in failing to take care of myself as I was caring for Suzanne, I skipped a few knee injections and am now recovering from knee joint replacement. It is painful but doable, and with stern warnings to complete all recommended PT I am doing so. It's not something to put off, as good health is required; the younger the better. When my L leg has healed we're doing the right one.
I'll keep updating this as I remember to. In the meantime, join me on Facebook so we can all catch up on each other's lives. Facebook
james.p.bodin.
PS if you like my photos, there are better copies and additional photos on my Flickr account at flickr. Classmates won't let me post the URL, so, you know the three letters, then flickr dot com forward slash photos forward slash patrickbodin forward slash
Suzanne has been on supplemental o2 since May, 2018, and hates it. After 11 months with no apparent reason for the hypoxia, we now know that her medication she takes to prevent pneumosystosis is the culprit. Google Dapsone and you'll see why.
We are hopeful that in about 8 more days she will no longer be carrying around an 02 concentrator. We are praying for that to happen. We'll see. PB 4-05-19.
Suzanne has been free of supplemental oxygen for one week. Even after moderate activity (walking the dogs) her o2 saturation remains at around 95; quite good from someone 71 years old. Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. PB 4-21-19
As of July 2, 2019 (today) Sue is still doing well with no supplemental O2. On the 10th of this month, next Wednesday, I am having the ends of my leg bones sawed off and the knee joint replaced on my R knee. Hopefully by October or so I'll be ready to hike the mountain again.
July 31st, 2019. It has been 3 weeks since my second (right) knee joint replacement. I’m down to Tylenol for pain control, walk without the cane and am back to woodworking again. I’m very hopeful that I’ll be taking light day hikes by mid-September. Update: as of 25 September I have hiked about 1.5 miles of the Sandia Crest trail. Not a huge length but at 10,300" elevation it is considered a high elevation stroll. 2 weekends ago I hiked the slot canyon trail at Kasha Kutewe National Monument near the Cochiti Dam. This second knee isn't going as well as the last recovery but continued hikes and other activity will bring it around, I am confident of t...Expand for more
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As of today, September 27th, 2020 Suzanne remains in remission from her non-hodgkins lymphoma. She underwent chemotherapy in 2018 and has been symptom free since then. This type of blood cancer (B cell follicular lymphoma) is nearly always caused by certain chemicals, which are constituents of Roundup week killer. I used to use it in our back lot along the fence lines. I wish I hadn't, but then . . . . . It was also used in orchards near where she taught. Lesson learned. At any rate, we are safe and healthy for now, wearing our masks when we go out, but mostly staying in. We sneak out for a drive up the mountain just to smell the freshness and watch the deer now and then. What a year 2020 has been, eh?
Looking at our "now" photo I began musing about that word "now" and it's relevance to the photo itself. In a word; none. The photo was taken in Portland Oregon at our son's house in 2011. Sue has gone mostly white on top and I've a lot more snow on the roof. More wrinkles (me, not her). No, that was me at '64 (thank you for that song, Paul). I remember thinking about being 64 when I first heard it at age 20. I could only imagine. My parents weren't even close to that age. Now 64 has come and gone and again, I can only imagine but from the other direction; what would it be like. Time to update my photo - in the interests of full disclosure. Have a great week, stay safe, next year will be better. Won't it?
November 23rd, 2020: Good news! Suzanne's latest visit with her oncologist shows that she remains in remission. Yippee!!!
March 28th, 2022: As it has been a while since I have updated this diary(?) journal(?) or whatever, I begin with an apology to those of you who follow along. I must admit to having become a stick-in-the-mud from having been stuck-in-the-house and that has now ended. Suzanne has been in for several checkups at the UNM oncology dept and has gone from 3 to 4 to now 6 month intervals for her screenings, and she remains (touch wood) cancer free. We are back into the volunteering gigs at church and happier for it. She is practicing her calligraphy on greeting cards and I'm once again making watercolors worthy of any 3rd grade art student. But . . . . . it's fun. I've posted a couple in my photos below.
It's been a pretty dry year and we've had scant snow; only 7 inches and nearly all of that after January. Most of the state is in severe drought status or worse. We have rain barrels under all of the canales (roof drains) and that suffices for the native plants we have, including six conifers that were on our half acre before the house was built; a half dozen or so chamisa bushes; Agave, Joshua trees; Russian and Mexican sage; Ocotillo, several varieties of prickly and barrel cactus and cholla. Most years these plants would survive without water, but to really prosper and have significant growth they do need a wet summer monsoon season or some irrigation.
Gas (the cheap stuff) is currently around $3.80 and that seems exorbitant since it was $1.30 on this date 2 years ago (I keep a log in my truck). Well, that's us. Let us know, here or on Facebook, how you're doing and how you're spending your days. Cheers!
Well, it's been over a year since I wrote on here. Suzanne remains in remission and we're doing well . . . . mostly. Out of concern for the state of my prostate (women and children may leave at this point if you wish). Things were slowing down - a lot - and it seemed like I just had to go all-the-time. I emailed my urologist my concerns and he scheduled me for a visit in July. Nope! Can't wait that long. I kept a log for a few days and emailed that to his office - it worked! He is a great doctor, extremely thorough and very dedicated to his profession. All of the medical staff here in NM are incredibly busy. Anyway, I was in his office in a week he and staff did something called a cystoscopy, where a scope, with the ability to add tools to the mix, is inserted into - well, you know. In my bladder they found a 34 gram tumor - .3/4 lbs. I was scheduled for a TURP procedure 10 days hence and it, and a huge amount of my prostate gland were removed and subsequently biopsied. So now I am suddenly a victim of a stage 4 cancer. The Gleason score is 10, which apparently as high as it gets. SO, GENTLEMEN, please take heed: get regular PSA tests along with a digital rectal exam with your annual physical. YOU DON'T GET AN ANNUAL PHYSICAL? Please, for the sake of your wife, kids and G-kids, get an annual physical and with it, the above 2 exam/labs. I had not been getting the 2 tests because Medicare has apparently stopped paying for them. They can both be done by your Family Practitioner. Now I'm waiting up to 2 weeks for the University Cancer Center to call me and schedule tests so we know what to do next. Please, don't put yourself through this. If you have classic BPH symptoms that start to change, get an appointment to see your doctor. I will add to this as things move along.
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