Tag: my cancer treatment

I’m Wiped Out

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Male Writer Worker Fall Asleep Front Stock Photo 469107836 ...

Sorry, but I’m knocked out, weary, etc. We have to go to the hospital again this afternoon–to get to a weekend of staying home, watching movies, and not having to take my chemo pills again till Monday.

If I could just get rid of those &%$#^ bladder stones! But the cancer has to come first. Until then, all I can do is pray for a decent night’s sleep.

We’ve also had to do some work on Ozias, Prince in Peril. My primary editor, Susan, lost those first several chapter sets when the hurricane messed up her computer. Good thing we had them stored here! And the rest of Prince Enthroned has to be typed up and submitted for editing.

I still feel normal while I’m working on my books. It seems my host of symptoms can’t follow me into Obann. Thank you for that, Lord!

‘Fighting on Two Fronts’ (My Newswithviews Column, Oct. 17)

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“Oh no, no, no, no, no! I’m much too holy to vote!”

I wasn’t confident that I’d be able to write a column this week, but I asked the Lord and He provided.

Fighting on Two Fronts

As for those Christians who plan to sit out this election because The Righteous Candidate isn’t running–well, I’m sure the Devil appreciates the boost you give his team. I’m also sure he’s laughing at you.

But you aren’t funny.

By Request, ‘Love Lifted Me’

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Requested by Erlene: Love Lifted Me, sung by Alan Jackson.

I somehow managed to crank out a Newswithviews column today. You’ll see it tomorrow. I can’t do much more this afternoon because I have to go to the hospital early so they can do some extra stuff. Can’t say much for my literary output today. Well, it couldn’t be helped, I had two bouts of doctoring today. Or is it gonna be three?

Thank you all for your prayers.

I Have to Keep Trying

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ben stuck in a hole | liam mcginlay | Flickr

I’m supposed to write a Newswithviews column today. I estimate my chances of actually doing that to be around 25%. I’ve got three doctor visits today, two at the hospital.

Maybe if I sit outside in the sun for a bit, something will come to me. It’s been weeks since I had a good night’s sleep.

Oh–and isn’t anybody going to kick off the contest. Finish the sentence in 25 words or less: “I despise and distrust the mainstream news media because _______,” Coolest answer wins an autographed book. And I’ll share the more entertaining replies day by day.

But now let me go rest a bit.

Not My Lucky Day

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Treasure Island (1934) -- (Movie Clip) Billy Bones

“I’m becalmed, Jim! I need a noggin of rum…”

I think I may have just stumbled into an exceedingly low point in my life. (I’m becalmed, Jim!”)

Went to the hospital for my radiation treatments. Today it was wait and wait and wait… in a room with daytime TV. Then the treatment had to be interrupted–here, have some more waiting–and resumed. Losing track of the time, but I think by then we were zeroing in on the two-hour mark. It was almost 5:00 when we got home. (No, I won’t say why the treatment had to be interrupted.)

Well, at least I can have my iced tea.

Uh, no, you can’t. Reaching for the glass, I knocked it over, spilled it all, had to clean up the mess. And my hands, for some reason, are freezing.  I’ve heard that chemotherapy can make you clumsy and give you brain fog. I’ve got ’em both.

My hip hurts. Again.

Good News!

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2,727 Prairie Dog Stock Photos, High-Res Pictures, and ...

Doctor visit this morning, hospital this afternoon. The doctor’s exam revealed that the baddest of my two tumors has shrunk by roughly 40%. That’s with just short of halfway through the radiation/chemotherapy treatments. There’s still a ways to go.

This does not equate to calloo,callay, oh frabjous day. But it is an awfully good start. Please keep me in your prayers. “Smite the cancer, Lord!”

As for the prairie dog–well, I felt like seeing a picture of one. You could do worse than to have a guardian angel as vigilant as a prairie dog.

 

So the Radiation Machine Wasn’t Working

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We got to the hospital early today, hoping we’d get done early; and sure enough, they put me right into the little waiting room outside the radiology room. My radiation treatment, I was told, would be ready “in just a few minutes.”

So there I sat for half an hour, a captive audience to daytime TV. These shows promote the worship of celebrities I never heard of. They talk real fast about the most uninteresting things you can imagine. My brain began to ossify. I suppressed an urge to scream.

Finally a nurse told me that my treatment today was cancelled, the machine wasn’t working, something about a key that used to fit 45 minutes ago but now didn’t.

That’s that for the weekend. I need the time off, anyway. Five days a week is enough.

Hospital Again

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I’ll bet he feels jollier than I do.

I am trying to finish writing Ozias, Prince Enthroned. So close to being finished! And so many obstacles strewn in the way. I also had another typically bad nooze story to report, but didn’t have time before I had to go to the hospital.

I will try not to write about this every day, my readers will get tired of it. Five weeks of this. They make you stick your face into a kind of rubber toilet seat, shins up, back bent–fantastically uncomfortable. I pray Mr. Cancer will find it even more uncomfortable than I do.

(St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital is actively promoting sodomy to children. And contraceptives. There. Do you wonder why I didn’t have the heart to write it up?)

Just now I feel totally worn out. Oh! And they’ve brought back the masks. Everybody has to wear them at the hospital. Allow 60 seconds for sighs of frustration.

Back from the Hospital (Again)

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Grey tree frog: I find they raise my spirits

So they had me face-down in a machine, I don’t know how long it took, it seemed exceedingly long. That was so they could identify and mark the targets for radiation treatment, instead of having to do it all over again each time. I now have tattoos that I will never see.

(“No mas, no mas!” he cried inwardly–with apologies to Roberto Duran, who was getting beat up pretty bad when he said it.)

The treatments will be five days a week. Hopefully they will shrink the cancers–maybe even enough to avoid surgery. I dassn’t count on that, but I can pray for it.

I miss my grey tree frogs, who tamed almost instantly. Unfortunately their nightly concerts kept my housemates awake, so I had to let the frogs go back to their swamp. I only mention it to let a bit of normalcy shine in.