2/11/09

A friend sent this to me the other day. Is there anything Andy Rooney gets wrong?

ENLIGHTENED PERSPECTIVE by Andy Rooney, a man who has the gift of saying so much with so few words.
I've learned.... That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
I've learned.... That when you're in love, it shows.
I've learned.... That just one person saying to me, 'You've made my day!' makes my day.
I've learned.... That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
I've learned.... That being kind is more important than being right.
I've learned.... That you should never say no to a gift from a child.
I've learned.... That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.
I've learned.... That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
I've learned.... That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand. I've learned.... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
I've learned.... That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
I've learned.... That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
I've learned.... That money doesn't buy class.
I've learned.... That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
I've learned... That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
I've learned.... That to ignore the facts does not change the facts.
I've learned.... That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only allowing that person to continue hurting you.
I've learned.... That love, not time, heals all wounds.
I've learned.... That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.
I've learned... That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
I've learned..... That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.
I've learned... That life is tough, but I'm tougher.
I've learned.... That opportunities are never lost, someone will take the ones you miss.
I've learned.... That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
I've learned.... That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
I've learned.... That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
I've learned.... That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.
I've learned.... That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
I've learned.... That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

2/8/09

I don't usually gripe in my blog. I can not seem to get around it today.
I constantly forget how much I dislike taking my chemo. I started Friday night and slept most of Saturday away. Sunday has been about the same. I know, I have nothing to complain about. My health is improving, along with my endurance. Fred is taking hopefully taking a permanent vacation. I just hate to lose my days like this.

I still have hope. It will get easier.

2/7/09

I have one huge reason for not writing more in my blog lately. It is a book called "Here if you Need Me" by Kate Braestrup. It is a beautifully written true story about Kate's life. After I finished reading her book I tried to write but couldn't bring myself to publish. Her writing is eliquant and beautiful. I think of my writing more like a dyslexic 3rd grader trying to complete a 10 page essay on Shakespere.



I may have overdone it yesterday because I fell asleep at 9 p.m. This morning we got back from breakfast and I fell asleep again for a few hours. I woke up in time to make lunch and now I'm resting. Again.



Yesterday I ran a few errands, met with friends, and stopped by the YMCA. My first errand was to the apple store in Boulder. After about 15 minutes I returned to my car parked in the garage. I looked up and there was a pigeon hanging out on a rafter above my very clean prius. First of all there shouldn't be any birds in a parking garage. Not when there are plenty of trees overlooking prime parking spaces. When I got to my car I quickly walked around to make sure there weren't any pots of pigeon gold left for me. Darnet anyway, I found the incriminating evidence on the window. It's to bad I couldn't catch that bird. I would have sent her/him off to Iran where I hear pigeon's are a delicacy. Dumb bird.

2/6/09

I had another good meeting with my neuro oncologist yesterday. My blood counts are healthy and I passed all of my testing. AND! it only took one poke to get my blood drawn. Oh Happy Day! I'm amazed how my world, once a month, seems to revolve around how many tries it takes to draw blood. On average it takes 3 attempts and I end up bruised. I gave myself one additional night off from starting my chemo. I'll begin tonight and end Tuesday. I'm expecting the energy suck to happen again, but that's about it. This means no reading and probably losing a lot of time to the t.v. My silver lining is that I'll get caught up on my commercial watching and get a healthy dose of media moping on our economy.
I have been cleared by Dr. Damek to begin volunteering. I'll have my Obama volunteer challenge completed by the end of the month. It feels so good to have a purpose again. Giving back to others is my way of paying it forward for all of the wonderful support, friendship, and love I've received over the last 11 months.

1/28/09

I realize that it has been a couple weeks since my last entry. My bad. I have been busy enjoying the weather, reading a book, and picking up and throwing away the dead mouse the cat left for me. Derek set out a sizable amount of mouse traps before Peanut proved her worth. He decided it would be prudent to let the cat have free range of the house and save some money on traps.

I finished reading 3 books since Christmas. This is a huge accomplishment for me because reading before was out of the question. To many headaches. I work out at the YMCA since physical therapy has ended. Sad but true I still can only military press 6 lbs total.

I mentioned that my latest round of chemo was no 7, and I'll begin round 8 on Feb 6Th...only 4 to go. The chemo zaps my energy. I say, "Energy Smenergy" it only lasts a couple days and it rarely makes me ill. It is exciting to say my last dose of chemo is June. Heaven!

Jan 10th

Janurary is turning out to be a positive month. Derek and I got our hair cut together at Super Cuts. This time a different stylist helped me out and it turns out she is a cancer survivor too. My experiences at Super Cuts have proven to be polar opposites. No conversations about death, just a casual discussion about her cancer and recovery.... and hair loss to regrowth.

I had my third MRI which was a little funny. There are two waiting rooms. The first is to wait to be called back to change into a gown and the second area to wait while in a gown for the actual MRI. It was pretty late and while I was waiting in the 2nd waiting room I heard a couple of the technicians talking about not being able to find the brain. This went on for a couple mins and made me laugh. Isn't it great hearing people chat out of context? Fearfully I realized that if they couldn't find the brain how were they going to find my veins to inject the contrast? It turned out to be a safe worry. Three pokes later and I was on my way.

Two days later I drove back down to the hospital to be examined and review the results of the MRI. When I drive down for these monthly meetings I practice saying the months of the year backwards. I'm not supposed to practice but I do. I don't want to look like a ding dong. I think I shared this quick story before. In the beginning and before radiation started one of my doctors asked me to subtract 7 from 100, then again and again. I'm not used to doing this without a calculator. Imagine the worry on the doctors faces when I only got the number 93 correct and nothing else. We quickly switched to months of the year. My exam turned out to be fine and the results of the MRI also turned out to be fine. Being the paranoid person that I sometimes can be I asked what the little white dot was at the back of my head, panic was slowly building in my stomach. I was told it was a blood vessel and everyone has one in the same spot. Crisis adverted!

Jan 1 2009

I've re-read my 2008 blogs. Did everyone receive the super secret Oveltine decoder ring? If you read everything I wrote you are a saint. I was less clever and funny as I would have liked to have been. I've asked a lot of questions and I will probably ask more. Thank you for your support in 2008, for giving me a hug when I needed it most and for listening to me re-tell my saga.

I'm ringing in the new year with a cold. I didn't realize it would be such an energy suck. It feels like I did a few months ago with no energy and headaches.