June 3, 2007
Well, what a whacky two weeks – some nice highs but mostly lows.
The abdominal muscle problem I have struggled with didn’t take long to return and this time put me in the hospital for four days over Memorial Day weekend (when all my normal docs were off).
This also happened to be one year after confirming, via biopsy, that my cancer had indeed returned. So, lots of emotional whip-sawing.
One of the things about last Memorial Day, I was feeling sorry for myself after the confirmation of the biopsy. Then someone sent me an email to web link about The Vietnam Wall Memorial (here’s one: http://www.virtualwall.org/, though this is not the one I saw because I could and did leave me a message).
Last year and this year, it got me to thinking of Vernon Rainey, my bunk mate in basic training. We later did a lot of other training together in getting ready to go to
Anyway, I visited
So, I need to accentuate the positive and do whatever it is we’re supposed to do (from the song lyric that won’t come to mind) with the negative.
I got to go through all that emotion while weak as a kitten in the hospital. I had a great chat about that with one of my nurses, who was working only one day while I was there (I was on the oncology ward, so they are used to patients like me).
So, rather than get into all that negative about having the intestinal “shut down,” which is probably more than people want to know, I will leave the hospital visit at that.
My oncologist and I decided to take a few weeks off from treatment to recover, check and see if the gastro guy has a solution. But most likely we will switch to a new chemical (or poison as I like to think of it). I told him I don’t want any more experiences like this one or the first chemo I did in early 2005, which whipped me badly.
Thanks to health problems, I have not done too much in the last two weeks since I updated.
One nice piece of news: I managed to have wife Freda drive me to New
I plan to get back to work some this week (Monday, June 4). Life goes on.
Thanks to everyone who sent me congrats, well wishes and get-wells. Your support continues to buoy my spirits.
2 comments:
It's a Bing Crosby tune...here's the lyrics...
AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE
(Mister In-Between)
(Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen)
You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
(To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark)
Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, do not mess with Mister In-Between
Do you hear me, hmm?
(Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear
About the elininatin' of the negative
And the accent on the positive)
And gather 'round me children if you're willin'
And sit tight while I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right
(You've gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between)
You've got to spread joy (up to the maximum)
Bring gloom (down) down to the minimum
Otherwise (otherwise) pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate (well illustrate) my last remark (you got the floor)
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they say (what did they say)
Say when everything looked so dark
Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No! Don't mess with Mister In-Between
This man I am married to never ceases to amaze me. He felt a whole lot worse than he's describing and he didn't complain much at all.
After days and days of being attached to bags of nutrients (steak and potatoes as one nurse described it), he finally got a chance to have a solid meal. Regular food the doctor said. So the cafeteria sent up a meal at 3 p.m. for Mike to enjoy. I lifted the lid, saw the food and had one of my less than demure moments.
Somehow, red beans and rice and hot sausage after 7 days of just fluids was not acceptable.
The dietician didn't think so either and the legumes were banished. She went over all of Mike's pending meals after that to my relief.
The experience in the hospital was the worst I've seen him go through, but Mr. Dunne just never gives up.
About that award -- it was a well deserved one, but Mike gave all of us in attendance a bit of a scare.
The group handing out the honor had arranged to bring the eagle (definitely 20 pounds or more) down to the seating area rather than have Mike walk up the stairs and across the stage.
Mike decided at the last minute that he was going to get up and walk across the stage and stand at the podium. Mind you, he had only been out of the hospital for about 30 hours. He made it up the stairs just fine, but Bevil and I just stopped breathing when he strode across the stage. That New Orleans humidity was starting to tug at him and we could tell he was putting all his heart into getting to the podium.
Of course, he made it, gave a speech and walked back just fine.
He thinks I hover too much. It's a Mom thing. And I'm not going to stop.
This week has been almost normal. We've both gone to work (instead of working from home) and we're babysitting the "grandcat" for our son Dylan who flew to Chicago to be best man in the wedding of the fellow who used to live across the street -- whose name is also Dylan.
We have a new kitten of our own in the house and watching Dylan's Musetta spit and spar with our Hope has been a hoot. When Dylan called to check on Musetta after he landed in Chicago, Mike told him it seemed like old times when Dylan and his brother used to grab each other's toys and run the other way.
Kittens, kids and husbands -- a lot of similarities there. A lot of love.
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