So today marks Lance Armstrong's return to the Tour de France after 3 years off and 7 previous Tour championships. He's the only person I know of to be so hated and despised by one country. Not that I care what the Froggies think. I think the guy is simply a stud. And probably the most well-known cancer survivor in the world. And this year, his return to the Tour is not about the bike. It's about those who are currently fighting this disease, living with this disease or dying from this disease. It's about his efforts to promote cancer research funding along with promoting funding for his foundation that has helped millions to fight and to cope with this disease.
When I see Lance ride, I swell with pride and my eyes get a little moist because I know (I believe) he's riding for me. And for my mother. And for almost 545 million Americans afflicted with cancer. I believe him when he says it's not about the bike.....if you haven't seen the new Nike/Livestrong commercial yet, you're missing out on a message that I think the whole world should see. And then you, too, will believe that it's not about the bike.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph6Gd2Cg4gc
It's time; time to kick cancer's ass for good.......
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Let Freedom Ring..............Happy 4th of July!
With a congressional approval rating of around 13%, most people rightly believe the current Congress does nothing to better our great country. It's hard to remember these days, but at one time there was a small body of great men who stepped up in challenging times and brought forth a new nation. Perhaps it's time we look back and read their immortal words that reached around the world........affecting not just tyrants, but others who yearned to be free.
Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776:
The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodations of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Happy 4th of July to all those who love freedom; God Bless The United States of America on this, her 233rd birthday.
Strength and Honor.
Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776:
The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodations of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Happy 4th of July to all those who love freedom; God Bless The United States of America on this, her 233rd birthday.
Strength and Honor.
Friday, July 3, 2009
The Longest Day of My Life
Thursday, June 11th, 2009..........
My wife and I arrived at M.D. Anderson's main building at 05:15 a.m. for my surgery, which was scheduled for 07:00 a.m. My doctors had told me ahead of time that this was going to be a "major" surgery......actually, it turned out to be two "major" surgeries. The first surgery was resecting approximately 75% of my liver, and the second surgery was to repair a large hernia that happened as a result of my two previous bowel surgeries.
It was about 05:45 a.m. when we were brought back to the surgical (O.R.) prep area. My heart was in my throat and I was probably more nervous than I had ever been in my life (and that says a lot if you consider I've been shot at, had a gun stuck in my face and have been in some real knock-down, drag-out street fights). I had been told that approximately 2% of the patients who underwent this surgery had either died on the operating table or had died later while recovering in the hospital. I knew I was looking at a 7 - 10 day stay at M.D. Anderson, but while I was waiting to go into the O.R., that 2% figure in the back of my head grew to about 90% and I started believing it was highly likely I might not ever see my wife, children and family again. I was terrified; not so much about dying, but at not being able to see my children grow up. I had those thoughts furiously running through my head until the anesthesiologist arrived and very quickly took my mind off of those thoughts.
They placed my I.V., gave me a mild sedative and placed an epidural (for pain management) in a matter of minutes. The last thing I remember is being told that they would place the epidural once my sedative began to take effect. After that, it was lights out.....I'd been hit with a liquid baseball bat.
Almost 13 hours later I was only beginning to come out of the fog induced by the general anesthesia. I was in a surgical recovery room and found myself in a tremendous amount of pain (until the Dilauded kicked in and put me back to sleep). I remained in a narcotic-induced trance for almost four days and wasn't really aware of what was going on around me until the next morning when my wife gave me a run-down on what the surgeons had told her on the day of my operation. She was upbeat and believed the operation had been a success; all the malignant growths in my liver had been successfully removed (after 7 hours) and my hernia had been repaired in a complex (almost 6 hour) procedure. All said and done, I'd been down and out for almost 13 hours, which, according to my surgeons, was a "very long day" and a "huge surgery." Now all I wanted, which was not possible at the time, was to see the pathology report on the large section of my liver that I was no longer in possession of..........that would tell the whole story: was the operation truly successful? Did they get all of the cancerous growths and tumors THIS time? Would I need more chemotherapy? But, for now, all I could do was hurry up and wait.
As I was soon to learn, the longest day of my life would give way to the longest week of my life..........but, at least I was still alive. I had managed to come back with my shield.
My wife and I arrived at M.D. Anderson's main building at 05:15 a.m. for my surgery, which was scheduled for 07:00 a.m. My doctors had told me ahead of time that this was going to be a "major" surgery......actually, it turned out to be two "major" surgeries. The first surgery was resecting approximately 75% of my liver, and the second surgery was to repair a large hernia that happened as a result of my two previous bowel surgeries.
It was about 05:45 a.m. when we were brought back to the surgical (O.R.) prep area. My heart was in my throat and I was probably more nervous than I had ever been in my life (and that says a lot if you consider I've been shot at, had a gun stuck in my face and have been in some real knock-down, drag-out street fights). I had been told that approximately 2% of the patients who underwent this surgery had either died on the operating table or had died later while recovering in the hospital. I knew I was looking at a 7 - 10 day stay at M.D. Anderson, but while I was waiting to go into the O.R., that 2% figure in the back of my head grew to about 90% and I started believing it was highly likely I might not ever see my wife, children and family again. I was terrified; not so much about dying, but at not being able to see my children grow up. I had those thoughts furiously running through my head until the anesthesiologist arrived and very quickly took my mind off of those thoughts.
They placed my I.V., gave me a mild sedative and placed an epidural (for pain management) in a matter of minutes. The last thing I remember is being told that they would place the epidural once my sedative began to take effect. After that, it was lights out.....I'd been hit with a liquid baseball bat.
Almost 13 hours later I was only beginning to come out of the fog induced by the general anesthesia. I was in a surgical recovery room and found myself in a tremendous amount of pain (until the Dilauded kicked in and put me back to sleep). I remained in a narcotic-induced trance for almost four days and wasn't really aware of what was going on around me until the next morning when my wife gave me a run-down on what the surgeons had told her on the day of my operation. She was upbeat and believed the operation had been a success; all the malignant growths in my liver had been successfully removed (after 7 hours) and my hernia had been repaired in a complex (almost 6 hour) procedure. All said and done, I'd been down and out for almost 13 hours, which, according to my surgeons, was a "very long day" and a "huge surgery." Now all I wanted, which was not possible at the time, was to see the pathology report on the large section of my liver that I was no longer in possession of..........that would tell the whole story: was the operation truly successful? Did they get all of the cancerous growths and tumors THIS time? Would I need more chemotherapy? But, for now, all I could do was hurry up and wait.
As I was soon to learn, the longest day of my life would give way to the longest week of my life..........but, at least I was still alive. I had managed to come back with my shield.
Friday, June 19, 2009
E Tan, e epi tan
So one of the things I used to hear alot of from my old man when I was growing up was "to come back with my shield or on it." You know, low stress times such as before tryouts, big tests, auditions, interviews, big games, etc. But, along the way I learned to understand what he meant: "There is no try, just to try; you do, or you do not. Otherwise, don't waste your time with it. And, there should be only one result: that you win.
So, when I was told that I would be undergoing a somewhat risky surgical procedure after only six months following two surgeries within 20 days, I could only resign myself to sigh and tell my wife "with this or upon this." It's time to play for keeps. This was going to be the last one I would ever endure, period.
The story, you see, comes from the Ancient Spartans; they were pretty much the marines of their time, and had not tasted defeat in so long they didn't believe they could beaten by anyone. They lived together in communal barracks and wore bright red tunics and cloaks under their hoplite armor, supposedly so that no one would see them bleed in battle. Their hoplite shield, weighing in at close to 35 pounds of wood and bronze, was useful for two things: to defend themselves with in battle or to be carried off the field of battle with when they were dead. Hence, the Spartan woman, not a stranger to seeing her man march off for many campaigns, would hand him the hoplite shield and say, "e tan, e epi tan."
That wasn't quite my wife's reaction, but she got the drift. No second chances this time. So, with that attitude I moved ahead and maintained the only type of attitude I could: being upbeat and enthusiastic. I'm not saying I don't appreciate the positive thoughts, I do; I'm just not the type who rolls over and quits. E tan, e epi tan.
So we moved on to embolization of two-thirds of my liver, which was the first part of the procedure, which would become known as a liver resection with portal vein emobolization. The first few weeks of that were a hard time for me as the smaller, healthier left side of my liver was forced to regenerate to an acceptable level (the volume change was to be in the 10-25% range). After three weeks of "recovery", I was feeling better and looking ahead to the big date: June 11th, 2009. My CT scans indicated my liver volume had increased enough (almost 22%) to support the resection in one week. E tan, e epi tan.
I continued to work up until the Monday of the week of my surgery. I walked into M.D. Anderson's main building on Thursday morning, June 11th, 2009 ready to do battle one last time. E tan, e epi tan.
What a long battle it turned out to be.......
So, when I was told that I would be undergoing a somewhat risky surgical procedure after only six months following two surgeries within 20 days, I could only resign myself to sigh and tell my wife "with this or upon this." It's time to play for keeps. This was going to be the last one I would ever endure, period.
The story, you see, comes from the Ancient Spartans; they were pretty much the marines of their time, and had not tasted defeat in so long they didn't believe they could beaten by anyone. They lived together in communal barracks and wore bright red tunics and cloaks under their hoplite armor, supposedly so that no one would see them bleed in battle. Their hoplite shield, weighing in at close to 35 pounds of wood and bronze, was useful for two things: to defend themselves with in battle or to be carried off the field of battle with when they were dead. Hence, the Spartan woman, not a stranger to seeing her man march off for many campaigns, would hand him the hoplite shield and say, "e tan, e epi tan."
That wasn't quite my wife's reaction, but she got the drift. No second chances this time. So, with that attitude I moved ahead and maintained the only type of attitude I could: being upbeat and enthusiastic. I'm not saying I don't appreciate the positive thoughts, I do; I'm just not the type who rolls over and quits. E tan, e epi tan.
So we moved on to embolization of two-thirds of my liver, which was the first part of the procedure, which would become known as a liver resection with portal vein emobolization. The first few weeks of that were a hard time for me as the smaller, healthier left side of my liver was forced to regenerate to an acceptable level (the volume change was to be in the 10-25% range). After three weeks of "recovery", I was feeling better and looking ahead to the big date: June 11th, 2009. My CT scans indicated my liver volume had increased enough (almost 22%) to support the resection in one week. E tan, e epi tan.
I continued to work up until the Monday of the week of my surgery. I walked into M.D. Anderson's main building on Thursday morning, June 11th, 2009 ready to do battle one last time. E tan, e epi tan.
What a long battle it turned out to be.......
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Mad World
All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Goin' nowhere, goin' nowhere
Their tears are fillin' up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dyin
'Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad world, mad world
Mad world, mad world
Children waitin' for the day they feel good
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sits and listen, sits and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson?
Look right through me, look right through me
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dyin'
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad world, mad world
Mad world, mad world
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dyin'
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad world, mad world
Mad world, mad world
Mad world. End.
For those of you who have not heard this song before, just listen to it one time...I dare you to.
Says it all if you ask me..........
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Goin' nowhere, goin' nowhere
Their tears are fillin' up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dyin
'Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad world, mad world
Mad world, mad world
Children waitin' for the day they feel good
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sits and listen, sits and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson?
Look right through me, look right through me
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dyin'
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad world, mad world
Mad world, mad world
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dyin'
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad world, mad world
Mad world, mad world
Mad world. End.
For those of you who have not heard this song before, just listen to it one time...I dare you to.
Says it all if you ask me..........
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Happy Mother's Day!
To my mother, my mother-in-law, my sisters-in-law and most importantly of all, my wife: I hope you all have a wonderful day and know that what you all do to support our families, each other and the rest of us is greatly appreciated. To all of my female friends out there who have children (and you know who you are), my sentiments are the same: You all do a tremendous amount to support your children, families and friends, and I hope your efforts and contributions do not go unnoticed today. I love you all, and again, have a wonderful, special day.
Strength and Honor......Mom's have a lot of those attributes!
Strength and Honor......Mom's have a lot of those attributes!
Ah, Yet Another Surgery.....
So I've had my surgical consult and an additional round of CT scans and X-Rays, and now I'm looking forward to the wait (not really). After speaking with my oncologist last week, I was told the initial plan should be changed due to the fact that my liver surgeon believes it would be very beneficial to move ahead with an immediate surgery to remove the cancer cells from my liver before they spread anywhere else. So, I'll be undergoing a procedure (PVE or Portal Vein Embolization) to kill the right lobe of my liver (where the two lesions are located) and to stimulate the left lobe to grow. This procedure, which requires an overnight stay at MD Anderson, is scheduled for the 18th of May. Following a two to three week recovery period, I will then undergo surgery to remove 5 of the 8 sections of my liver, leaving me with about 20-25% of my liver but also leaving me (in theory) "cancer-free." The remaining part of my liver (the left lobe) should continue to grow in the weeks and months following my surgery. The caveat is this: The surgery will take approximately 5-6 hours, followed by another 1-2 hours for a hernia repair to my abdomen, and will leave me in ICU for 24 hours and in the hospital for 10-14 days. The recovery period following the surgery should take 3-4 months, which means I'll be working at desk at the station for awhile. I won't know if chemotherapy will be administered after the surgery until my oncologist gets the pathology report on the part of my liver that was removed.
If I don't seem to happy these days, it's because I'm not. I have nothing but bad memories from my previous surgery (which some of you know was a real nightmare) and am not looking forward to this one. I know, I guess I should be happy because it will save my life, but for those who don't know, the last time I ended up staying in the hospital for 30 days and developed a severe infection that was hours away from turning septic (and potentially lethal). The result of that stay was a second surgery and a five-months long recovery once I was discharged from the hospital. Oh, and let's not forget that cool life-flight trip to Bryan from Nassau Bay courtesy of Ike. And yes, this latest surgery is scheduled to coincide with the start of Hurricane season 2009. To me it seems like I'm living through a bad episode of the Twilight Zone.
At any rate, I'm optimistic that this will be the last surgery and the last I hear from this disease. I'm done with getting cut on after this anyhow, so if something else crops up I guess it'll be nothing but chemotherapy to treat whatever may rear its' ugly head.
Once I have a firm date for the surgery, I'll be sure to let everyone know. I hope the food at MD Anderson is better than the food at St. Joseph's in Bryan!
Strength and Honor.
If I don't seem to happy these days, it's because I'm not. I have nothing but bad memories from my previous surgery (which some of you know was a real nightmare) and am not looking forward to this one. I know, I guess I should be happy because it will save my life, but for those who don't know, the last time I ended up staying in the hospital for 30 days and developed a severe infection that was hours away from turning septic (and potentially lethal). The result of that stay was a second surgery and a five-months long recovery once I was discharged from the hospital. Oh, and let's not forget that cool life-flight trip to Bryan from Nassau Bay courtesy of Ike. And yes, this latest surgery is scheduled to coincide with the start of Hurricane season 2009. To me it seems like I'm living through a bad episode of the Twilight Zone.
At any rate, I'm optimistic that this will be the last surgery and the last I hear from this disease. I'm done with getting cut on after this anyhow, so if something else crops up I guess it'll be nothing but chemotherapy to treat whatever may rear its' ugly head.
Once I have a firm date for the surgery, I'll be sure to let everyone know. I hope the food at MD Anderson is better than the food at St. Joseph's in Bryan!
Strength and Honor.
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