I had spent a good part of the morning moving from department to department at the hospital. My initial check-in required signing, initialing and dating pages of legal forms while digging into the pockets and corners of my wallet for insurance and I.D. cards. Once I’d proven to the administrators and clerks that I was who I claimed to be, and that I would pay them for imbuing me with new life, I was granted admittance and ordered to proceed to the Interventional Radiation Department.

It’s a big hospital. They do their best to move you along with a verbal explanation followed by a map painted on the corridor floors in multicolored stripes.

A heavy woman with an impassive smile and a name tag labeling her as “Helen” gave me the verbal piece, “Just follow the red line over there, then turn left, past the elevator, pick up the blue line to the stairs, go up a floor, then turn right on the yellow line.” She held up a finger, turned to another woman and asked, “Is that the yellow line, or the yellow and orange line?” The other woman answered with a nod and Helen continued, “Okay. There’s a yellow and an orange line up there, but that’s okay. Just turn right and keep going. When it becomes just the yellow line, follow that to Radiation. It’s real easy, Hon.” Continue reading →

A number of people have asked me why I wear the silly big nose & glasses disguise in all my photos.

No. I am not trying to hide my Earth identity. I’m not some super hero from another planet, I am not the Lone Ranger in an updated costume, and I have not been disfigured in a horrific accident. The answer is both simple and complex.  Continue reading →

I’ve had as many goodbyes in my life as hellos.

My formative years were spent as a victim in an alcoholic’s dysfunctional family. I left them after my 16^th birthday and began an adventure that became my life.  Continue reading →

I’ve been on vacation. Is that the right word to use when you’re retired and going out-of-town? I wonder. Anyway, this vacation is a big deal. Several guys fly up to a remote fishing camp in Ontario, Canada. We’ve been doing it for years. In addition to fishing for Muskellunge, We catch up on each other’s lives and confess to how well we can relate to, or cope with, events that seem to pilot our happiness. If you can imagine a “Buddy Film” that has been written and directed by Woody Allen, that would be us.  Continue reading →

What makes people think they can give meaningful support to people with irregular needs? What is support exactly? What’s it mean?

I have leukemia and a support group has been recommended to me. Wow, I thought. I just asked a few questions. What in my behavior triggered the nurse’s recommendation? I could only answer that with the thought that the medical hocus-pocus that lies ahead for me is going to be a tough ordeal. Continue reading →

I’ve been diagnosed with leukemia. It’s more difficult then you would think to keep something like this a secret for very long. You tell maybe one close friend or relative and soon after everybody knows. How does that happen, I wonder. I guess it’s that people gather for one reason or another and after exhausting all the usual polite conversation, there’s a quiet lull and then someone will say something like, “Hey. Have you heard about so-and-so?” They’ll reminisce and share stories about the person. In my case for example, about a predictable, silly, character who’s view of life and of humans can be both humorous and infuriating. And so, what follows are inquiries and well wishing through cards, phone calls and emails from distant family, friends, and acquaintances who have heard about your new diagnosed medical condition.

There’s a variety of categories I put these communications into, There’s the “Sorry to hear about this”, the “You’re a fighter”, the “I’ve been, or my mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, etc, has been through this very same thing.” My personal favorites are the humorous ones. The notes that ask for my stuff after I die, or the dirty jokes about doctors and nurses. Continue reading →