(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Greetings From The Dead [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-06-30  

Hello all! Well, according to my Oncology PA, I should be dead now (she gave me 2-3 months about 3 ½ months ago). So, greetings from the Great Beyond, apparently. Odd, I didn’t think it’d look so similar to the Not-So-Great Not-Beyond. I mean, I keep hearing about Trump, so unless I took a decided turn downwards on my way here….

Anyway, I’m still here. The cancer hasn’t gotten me yet. I did visit on oncologist as University of Kansas to see if they had any thoughts on treatment since Mayo had dropped me. Though the oncologist initially was optimistic they might be able to do something to at least buy me some more time, as it turns out that is not the case. I have almost no liver left, it seems, and any treatment at this point is more likely to do more harm than good and damage what little liver I have left more than the tumors. And on the off-chance the treatments did work, they’d be unlikely to buy me more than a couple of months at most. So the risk far outweighs the potential benefits.

And yet I’m here. All things considered, what with having almost no liver to speak of, I’m pretty spry although I tire quickly and in the last few months have really lost some physical strength. I struggled with bringing a 15 pound package off the porch a few days ago and had to enlist my wife’s help to get it inside. I wasn’t exactly buff six months ago by any means, but I wasn’t near that bad.

My poor wife just can’t catch a break, and it breaks my heart. Three and a half years ago I was diagnosed with Stage IV Colon cancer, and now I’m finally out of options treatment-wise. Two years ago we lost her mother to Stage IV Gall Bladder cancer that took her in just a couple of months because of late diagnosis. And about a month ago her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer (fortunately Stage I, so after a few months of chemo followed by surgery (not sure yet if it will be a lumpectomy or full-on mastectomy yet), she hopefully will be cancer free.

But as you can guess, all of this happening the last few years has her pretty emotionally effected. I do what I can, but...well, given that I’m one of the sources of her stress, it’s hard to accomplish much in that regard. Thankfully, we have a cat. I think he helps her more than she wants to admit.

It is a good thing we share a dark sense of humor, though. But dang it, she keeps shooting down my ideas for putting the FUN back into funeral, so no motion sensors on the crypt, no googly eyes at the visitation or funeral, no Pepper’s Ghost, no letting my brothers take me on a wild “Weekend at Bernie’s” escapade..sigh. You’d think a gal who seriously considered Mortuary Science as a career choice (it was between that or Elementary Education. She decided on Elementary Education) would be a little more loose on that score.

Anyway, I’m off to see if I can find the Choir Invisible. Pretty sure they’ve heard rumors of my singing skills and are in hiding somewhere. Until next time!

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/30/2250114/-Greetings-From-The-Dead?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/