Is there anybody healthy out there?
OK, so I'm finally about to take the plunge and put in my first journal entry, and what do I have to talk about? Death and dying.
Pat and I went to Walter's funeral last Friday and saw many friends and heard an interesting (i.e. strange) service. So, I'm sitting there with my mind wandering (it does that a lot...) and I hear someone mention that his life would read "1959 to 2005." Obviously I misheard something, since Walter was around 60 and older than me, right? Wrong. Walter was 46. From the day I met him, I knew he was older than me, and I was comfortable with that. Now I'm thinking: Aren't we supposed to live forever, or at least 'til 80? I'm 52 - What am I doing alive?
Recent events:
1) For the last year or two, my brother Harvey had been getting anemic at random times, about every other month. CT scans, etc. found nothing, though the doctors suspected a small ulcer somewhere. Then, late this year they found liver cancer. It looked like it metastasized from somewhere, but again they couldn't find the source. However, the fact that it came from somewhere else made it one of the nasty kinds. Naturally, chemotherapy didn't work (that would be too easy), so he finally had to go to Houston (he drove there from Atlanta - another story) for surgery. The surgery went well and his latest prognosis is that he might live another 5 years or more - much better than the original guess. However, since even the surgeon couldn't find the original source, the "or more" could be 30 years. The doctors are baffled.
2) There's a woman at work, Linda, who battled breast cancer and (we thought) won. She's my boss' boss and, among management, one of the good guys. Then in September she announced that it had metastasized (I'm beginning to hate that word) to her brain and she was going on radiation therapy immediately. Rumor had it that she was doing well, and actually improving. Then I got an email that she was admitted to BWH last Thursday. No further news, but I can't imagine it's good...
3) Pat had a biopsy a while back when a scan found a lemon-sized tumor in her chest - not on her lungs or in her breast, just lying around in between. The biopsy was indeterminate, probably benign, but regardless, the standard approach to this particular type of tumor is to remove it. Apparently, if the surgeon removes it easily, it's almost definitely benign, but if s/he has difficulty because it's wrapped itself around things, then it's more likely malignant. Pat's came out very easily (thank G-d!) and the surgeon is convinced it's benign, even though we haven't gotten the official report from the pathologist yet. She's home recovering nicely (and quickly!).
(An interesting note: The surgeon now says the tumor (thymoma) was only "lime sized," not lemon sized. This is one of the differences between men and women: Women get citrus-sized tumors, a man's would be "baseball-sized." Thought you'd like to know.)
4) Today is my father's third yahrzeit - that's the anniversary of his death based on the Jewish calendar. He died in December 2002. (I'll leave the exact date out for those who like a challenge and want to determine it themselves)
My father was 80, but Pat, Harvey and Linda are all in their 50's. Pat stopped smoking about 25 years ago and Harvey and Linda (to my knowledge) never started. None of them are obese, excessive drinkers, risk-takers, etc. They all just had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when fate decided to toss a random disease into the general public. I can't come up with any other explanation. I'd appreciate any better suggestions.
I've got a lot of cheerier stuff to talk about soon (like kittens!), but this entry's long enough...