This week started out with a bizarre but happy twist to my wife’s chemotherapy regiment. On Monday, she met with the Oncologist who informed my wife that she’s done with chemo. Our understanding of what was going to happen was upended by this announcement. So, no more pumps or all-day trips to the Infusion Center each week.
We were left wondering why? If you recall, the chemotherapy was supposed to be done concurrently with the radiation treatment. My guess is that the new chemo drug was so strong that users need to take a break before having another round of treatment. Since the next round of treatment would be after the radiation, there is no need for more.
Meanwhile, my wife is having much difficulty keeping anything down, even water. She is miserable much of the time. As a result of her treatment, she has developed sores in her mouth and pain in swallowing. As expected, her esophagus also hurts because of radiation and acid reflux. Coughing fits were common during this week. Several nausea medications were given to her along with mouth rinses and other concoctions. While not having infusion this week, my wife did go to the infusion center on Friday to get some saline because she thought she might be dehydrated.
A few times during the week, she was able to eat scrambled eggs—many of which were from the local Costco. Specifically, she likes Three Bridges Egg Bites which come in Eggs Whites with Bell Peppers and Scrambled Eggs with Cheese and Uncured Bacon. Of the two, the egg whites were her preference as the bacon bits in the other “were like little pebbles as they were going down.” By Saturday morning she was able to eat two pancakes for breakfast and about 1 ½ more for lunch. This is the most solid food she has had in about eight days.
Without a doubt, this has been the toughest week thus far. My wife even had me drive her to radiotherapy one day due to dizziness. I expect next week to be better because she only has four radiation treatments left. Then the long and probably quiet pause before we start gearing-up for surgery. The only new appointment is one with an allergist to document the reaction to whatever was in the IV bags that affected her.
Lastly, the wife is still in great spirits and clinging to the belief that she can return to the classroom in February and complete the school year. However, …
A few hours ago, I was in the midst of explaining to my son what the treatment path was for his mom once the radiotherapy is completed, when she walked into the room. When I mentioned that if the tests prior to surgery showed that the cancer has spread that there would be no surgery then she got very angry and said, “That’s not going to happen.” If nothing else, it showed us that she is not willing to opening discuss the seriousness of her cancer. Flowers and unicorns are all she wants in her world right now. In addition, saying “No” to her about making long term financial obligations has also become a thorny topic but one beyond the scope of the current post.
A “Friend” of this blog, Urban Meyer found himself in a bit of a pickle this past weekend in Ohio. Urban Meyer, if you can’t recall, is the former University of Florida/Ohio State football coach, and currently employed as coach of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Meyer is a classic example of a true scumbag. At both college stops, Meyer stepped down from coaching due to “heart issues.” On the surface most would believe this, coaching is very difficult at the highest levels, and between the practices/workouts/games, and recruiting there is no offseason. Stress is a big thing.
However it always seemed his “stress levels” would elevate around the time his teams no longer would be competing for a championship. Meyer always had a charm to him, and because he coached Tim Tebow he was viewed as a great molder of young men. This is not correct, Tebow was an outlier, Meyer’s teams always had plethora of players on the police blotter. Some for heinous crimes, such as gun possession or armed robbery.
Meyer retired from Florida to work for ESPN. He denied any rumors of him being interested in the Ohio State job, and low and behold, when the season ended, he was named head coach at Ohio State University! Stunner. No way would Urban Lie!
After a few years and a championship at Ohio State, once again health issues forced him to “retire for good.” He was hired at Fox Sports. Then he took the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL job. He is being paid around 12 million a year.
Here is where the trouble comes into play.
His team played Thursday 9/30 and lost to the Cincinnati Bengals. After the game, the team customarily flies back to Jacksonville. Meyer stayed behind, this is unheard of. Seriously, it never happens. Meyer had an excuse; he is from the area and wanted to stay out to see his grandchildren and some friends. Not a crime but a bad look for a first-year coach of an 0-4 team. However what happened next was a way worse look and a PR nightmare.
A cell phone video came out showing Meyer at a bar/dance club sitting in a chair and receiving what basically amounted to a lap dance from a young co-ed. I would put the girl around mid to late twenties.
Meyer is in his fifties. Meyer said “”They wanted me to come over and take pictures, and I did. They were trying to pull me out on the dance floor, screwing around, and I should have left.” Wrong answer. It likely could have worked, but Urban is all about being holier than thou. A separate video dropped, one of Meyer grabbing said female’s rear end, cupping it, and squeezing it. He does not appear to push her away or tell her stop. The grabbing of her behind just further exemplifies Urban plays by different rules than we do.
Editor’s Note: Its worse than The Chief thought because Meyers has “known” the woman since June.
It only took a few days for Twitter to figure out who the young lady is and her name is Cayman Nebraska. She put her IG on private after a 2nd video of her saying someone got a video of Meyer sticking his fingers up her butt.
To make things worse, Twitter dug deeper and found out that the two have seemingly known each other since at least June.
By Tuesday, he seemed a bit more contrite, apologizing to the team’s owner and the players. Depending on who you read, the plyers do not seem to buy his line of garbage. (Some players are famous for having a different girl in each city they play in; home and away.) Urban was out trolling for booty and he most likely got some or got what he wanted. It appears Mrs. Meyer and the Jaguar’s owner Shad Kahn are none to impressed. Meyer is likely toast after the season ends. In reality he should be more worried about his marriage and home life. I doubt Mrs. Meyer was impressed by the first video, and likely was even more upset after viewing the second; especially after seeing a comment from said co-ed, “I love how someone got a picture of Coach Meyer sticking his fingers up my a**.” We call that game over folks. Meyer cannot run now.
Check out some of these quotes from Urban the Liar and others,
“It was stupid, so I explained everything that happened and owned it. Just stupid. I should not have myself in that kind of position,” Meyer continued.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan released a statement on Tuesday saying that Meyer will have to “regain our trust and respect” after the videos surfaced over the weekend.
“I have addressed this matter with Urban,” Khan said in the statement, via NFL.com. “Specifics of our conversation will be held in confidence. What I will say is his conduct last weekend was inexcusable. I appreciate Urban’s remorse, which I believe is sincere. Now, he must regain our trust and respect. That will require a personal commitment from Urban to everyone who supports, represents or plays for our team.”
Khan also called Urbans behavior “inexcusable.”
His players said this, “He even canceled the team meeting. He was too scared,” a player told Silver.
Meyer reportedly “only apologized to position groups individually.” Meyer said the woman in the video was a random person who was “just there dancing.”
“We looked at him like, WTF? Right when he left everyone started dying laughing. And he knew it,” the unnamed player told Silver. “It’s bad. I don’t know how he’s gonna function.”
One Jaguar’s player said the head coach “has zero credibility in that stadium” and “he had very little to begin with,” according to NFL reporter Mike Silver.
This is a tale as old as time, Meyer has always had folks making excuses for him. The heart issues were a crock of crap, he never likes facing consequences. Now he has lost the locker room, and his boss. His wife likely knows by Urban’s actions in the videos that was definitely not his first time. Actually he looked quite comfortable doing that. Not even trying to be sly. Meyer showed the world his a** and now he feels depressed, small and alone. Look for health reasons to be his reason for moving on.
By the way Meyer was also accused of cutting players from the final roster who were not vaccinated. He was later kind of exonerated, but knowing Urban I doubt it.
The Chief
PS word to the wise, everyone has a camera phone, even the elderly, be careful out on public. Marriages, careers, and even lives have been ruined since the invention of these devices.
Week three of chemotherapy was the most difficult yet. My son and I spent the week with colds while trying to care for our cancer patient. We did the home Covid test twice and it was negative—not that we could have done much about it anyway. Junior got to return to school about the time I started suffering from the cold symptoms.
Monday saw us do a two-hour procedure to install a port into my wife’s chest. The entire thing is under her skin and seems to take a path from its endpoint to somewhere near her heart. It is painful and uncomfortable. There is much bruising from this being done to her. Less that 24 hours after installing it, it was being used at the infusion center.
The infusion day was the longest yet. My wife had yet another allergic reaction to a whole different family of drugs. As it turns out, my wife is allergic to a secondary chemical used to keep the medicine suspended in the IV bag. I have heard it also referred to as a preservative. Anyway, this stuff is also a major component of the Covid 19 vaccines. Thus, my wife is medically excused by the CDC from getting the Covid jab.
As an aside, if my wife did get the Covid shot and died—which we now know would happen, the CDC would not classify her death as related to the vaccine because any death within two weeks of getting the shot doesn’t count under their methodology. So next time they claim to be “following the science” you can know yet another reason it’s a lie from the swamp.
Anyway, the infusion time was about 8 to 8 ½ hours for the first chemo drug. We also came home with a portable pump in a fanny pack. My wife is expected to pump this stuff 2.5 ml per hour for 96 hours. The pump uses those rectangular 9-volt batteries; one at a time. We learned this because they sent us home with two spares. We are currently on the second spare, and I had to dig up one of my own in garage just in case it quits at 1 AM like it did last night. Saturday night at 5 PM we can get the pump, hose, and needle assemble removed until the next infusion day. I can’t imagine having the same needle sticking in your chest for over four days while getting dressed and undressed, taking a shower, eating, sleeping, etc.
Meanwhile the radiation is affecting her ability to eat and drink. Even liquids are painful to swallow. The radiological oncologist says that this is expected and said it might get easier in another week. We will see.
Between the chemotherapy and radiation, this week has been the most difficult. My wife even had to ask for help to get to her radiology appointment yesterday. Today was better and she went on her own. Nausea and occasional vomiting and the medication to prevent them have been a big part of this week. Two more weeks to go until this phase of treatment is done.
It is only right to check in on the depressed every so often because…well we need to make sure they are ok. So, we wanted to check back in on Simone Biles.
After doing a thorough check of her social media, we can confirm she was full of human excrement during the Olympics. Check this out, boy does she ever look bad.
Simone has been busy on her Gold Over America tour, but the gymnastics GOAT just got a much-deserved day off. Naturally, she made good use of her downtime.
Simone shared some pics on Instagram of herself enjoying a little QT. There’s Simone hanging out in a black tank and mini skirt by a palm tree, and Simone posing by a stack of bright towels. “Day off = ur local pool girl,” she joked in the caption. Simone looks amazing in the pics, naturally, and it’s kinda hard to miss the fact that her legs look super toned.
Yeah, she looks flat out depressed. In the meantime, I wish we could check in on some of the girls who were left off the Olympic team. You know the ones who couldn’t make the trip so Biles could do the most American thing ever and grandstand? However, like the question of how many licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop…the world may never know.
In the meantime, she was interviewed about her Olympic experience. Specifically, her getting the “twisties”
“Say up until you’re 30 years old, you have your complete eyesight,” she said. “One morning, you wake up, you can’t see shit, but people tell you to go on and do your daily job as if you still have your eyesight. You’d be lost, wouldn’t you? That’s the only thing I can relate it to. I have been doing gymnastics for 18 years. I woke up – lost it. How am I supposed to go on with my day?”
Yep, no one who is blind ever asks the questions how they will get through their day. What an aloof girl. The Greatest of all time mind you. So good at her craft a simple little thing like a mental health cramp shuts her down. The horror. Imagine her going through actual trauma like being blind.
She went on….
I should have quit way before Tokyo,” Biles continued, “when Larry Nassar was in the media for two years. It was too much. But I was not going to let him take something I’ve worked for since I was 6 years old. I wasn’t going to let him take that joy away from me. So, I pushed past that for as long as my mind and my body would let me.”
Yes Simone you should have. What Larry Nassar did to you was terrible. The FBI screwing it up is par for the course, I do feel bad for you. But if your head wasn’t right, you never should have made the trip. It exposed your lie about mental illness. As I mentioned above, she looks quite depressed doesn’t she?
Like the title says I went on what has to be the craziest first date I’ve been on in a long while. Not anything she wore, did, or ate/drank made it strange. What was wild was the look into her lifestyle and her definition of the word “busy.”
First some backstory. We had been texting for a few weeks and we had been in the “lets pick a date” stage for about 10 days. She was the busy one, I can respect that as my “busy” evolves from work, and extra-curricular events, such as church and gym. I figured she had legit reasons, so I let it go. D-Day finally came, I showed up early, as did she. Things got off to a good start but then things went awry. I inquired as to her work, and she obliged. She was a young professional working for the county; however, this is where things got odd. She was describing her job as a typical 8-5 desk job, while she was explaining her work, I noticed she appeared to be wearing some kind of war paint, as she had brown smears on her cheeks. Turns out after she realized her makeup malfunction that she excused herself to use the lady’s room. She did properly “put on her face” and then returned to our table. I guess no harm no foul. First dates can be hectic, and most guys have it pretty easy in this regard, as most of us don’t spend much time on getting ready. After she returned, we tried finding common ground but very little was found.
The Fonz
Then things took a turn for the bizarre in my opinion. I asked her what she liked doing for fun, and she replied, “she is always very busy.” When I asked about hobbies, I got the same response. Ditto for places she wants to go, and things she wants to do. That being said, I basically asked what goes on in your life outside of your 8-5? Keep in mind I already had mentioned all my goings on. She went on to mention she watches the SF Giants baseball team religiously, never misses a pitch. Also watches; The Voice, America’s Got Talent, The Bachelor/Bachelorette, America’s Next Top Model, Shark Tank, Top Chef, and to be honest I quit paying attention after that. This girl isn’t busy with life, she is busy with fantasy land TV shows. Just by my count, Giants games are roughly 3 hours, and the other plethora of shows are about an hour long each. While I will readily admit I doubt all these shows run on same days/seasons we can all agree that’s a lot of T.V. The night continued and after dinner she offered to pay, she actually insisted going as far as grabbing the bill. Her card was returned/declined/rejected twice. I picked up the tab.
The night ended with her driving me back to my car. I was parked about 3 blocks away. Her car was messy and trashed. I wished her good night and we exchanged “we both had a great time.” She texted the following day how much fun she had, but I could not let this go any farther.
To wrap this up, here is my reasoning and why I call it a bad first date. First, I don’t let the makeup thing become a deal breaker, I believe she was rushed; however, I think it was her “prep time” interfered with “show watching time.” The idea of all these TV shows paints a bad picture. It paints a picture of her being glued to the couch whilst watching one show after another. Embracing fantasy land as opposed to real world things. None of the shows she watched except maybe the ball game are even based on the real world. The cards being declined is a peek into the way she manages her life, no regard for money, buy now pay later. The car being trashed is just icing on the proverbial cake, she lives on an “I’ll get around to it basis.” If the car is trashed what does the apartment look like? Nice girl, but she comes off as a 24-year-old recent college grad as opposed to a working professional. The TV is always on, and personal finance and hygiene take a back seat. I wish her the best, but this was doomed to fail badly.
When looking for a match, having very little in common isn’t a deal breaker, but the “busy” in her life were things she has chosen to be busy with. I cannot fathom sitting in front of a TV with a messy car, and my financial house not in order while watching shows that are of little significance to my life. Not to mention the “after shows” that usually take place following.
I get it; you’re collectively saying “who?” Raimondo is the former governor of tiny little Rhode Island who “failed upwards” by being anointed Commerce Secretary by the current Democrat Party. I won’t say Joe Biden because we all know he “aint callin’ the shots.” Raimondo who is famous for shutting her state down during Covid, might just be what pure evil is. Like all other Democrat governors and weak-kneed Republican ones, under the fake guise of Covid being the plague, she actually stopped commerce. I guess she deserved promotion?
Raimondo was approved by the Senate and most recently made headlines again for wanting to use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to produce more “electronic chips” like the ones in computers, and most new cars.
“The Biden administration is considering invoking a Cold War-era national security law to force companies in the semiconductor supply chain to provide information on inventory and sales of chips, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Thursday.
The goal is to alleviate bottlenecks that have idled U.S. car production and caused shortages of consumer electronics and to identify possible hoarding, she said in an interview.
Her team for months has sought clarity into how companies allocate their semiconductor supply. But previous meetings that convened firms from different industrial sectors haven’t led to increased transparency and many companies have refused to hand over business data to the government.
The Commerce Department is now asking companies to fill out questionnaires within 45 days providing supply chain information. The request is voluntary but Raimondo said she warned industry representatives that she might invoke the Defense Production Act or other tools to force their hands if they don’t respond.
“What I told them is, ‘I don’t want to have to do anything compulsory but if they don’t comply, then they’ll leave me no choice,’” she said. “I said today we’re evaluating all of our options right now, all the tools. I hope not to go there but we need to see some progress and we definitely need compliance.”
I will go ahead and say it. What an evil b***h this women is. Hand over your data to the government? Fill out questionnaires? What the heck is this? Compliance of what? Just remember folks she is from the government, and she is here to help! Big shout out to the “never Trumpers” I say to them I hope they reap what they sow. Things may be bad but at least the Orange Man isn’t tweeting mean things!
If you are wondering, the DPA is a large government order that essentially requires business to adapt and do anything possible to ramp up production of needed materials for national defense. The DPA has been around for since 9/8/1950 around the Korean War I believe. Trump used this during early Covid stages essentially forcing Ford/GM and others to make ventilators since, well every American would be on one…. because Covid.
Now apparently computer chips are a vital national security thing, I guess we need to make sure junior has a faster laptop to play Grand Theft Auto, or my new F-150 super duty can be finally put together. Since you know those are real priorities right now.
My biggest gripes are this. Benevolent Queen Raimondo shut her state down, and kept it shut, not following science, she was following Fauci. Now she wants entire industries to not only work but work harder. Yeah, did you know any person ignoring her decree about DPA is subject to a felony and a $10,000 fine? All while government workers, most corporation’s office staffs, long term unemployed, and executives stay at home, because errrrr Covid. Yeah. Makes no sense to me. Push paper? Well, you can do that at home. Work in a factory? Get your butt to work and prepare for 60-hour work weeks! No time off, no vacation. This is a decree from your benevolent queen.
Sadly, idiots like Raimondo honestly think this decree will help. The worst part is, more and more workers will simply walk off the job, it simply isn’t fair to them to sacrifice while others stay at home. We have seen it play out at Frito Lay and Oreo plants across the country, with workers walking off the job due to conditions and poor work life balance. Sadly, Raimondo and the Democrats will never understand this. Maybe that is why the jobs report wasn’t that great the other day?
Hopefully I can get a chip from China for my new laptop or my new truck soon!
The Chief
(Editor’s Note: President Trump was accused of xenophobia and hating minorities when he expressed concerns about microchip production being vital to our economy and saying that it should be in the US and not overseas. Raimondo invoking DPA is another case of symbolism over substance. She is grandstanding on an issue which she has no control over. )
Chemotherapy week two has been an epic failure. (Is it just me, or do you think of Aaron Park whenever someone uses that term?) Anyway, after five and a half hours at the hospital’s Infusion Center, session two was cancelled by the doctor. Again, my wife had an allergic reaction to the chemo drug even though they gave her three different drugs to prevent any reaction prior to beginning the introduction of the main drug. She was given no more than a fourth of the solution. We were sent home with orders that the doctor would be contacting us the next day.
Some here at the blog wonder if my wife’s reaction is related to the fact that she is a Trump loving Republican that is being given a known poison called “tax all” via an IV. Clearly many Democrats in California are addicted to this stuff. As you might expect, “tax all” was the easy path. One that has now been denied to us as we learned from the doctor the following day.
In reality, my wife ended up speaking with the doctor twice the following day. It looks like the new treatment will be Cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU).
If I have this right, Cisplatin will be given weekly at the Infusion Clinic and the fluorouracil will be administered at home over a series of days via a pump connected to a port. Yep, we get to do self-administered chemotherapy for the next three weeks. What could possibly go wrong?
This treatment requires that my wife has a “port” installed.
Your healthcare provider’s decision to recommend a port may depend on several things. Some chemotherapy medications can only be given through a port because they are too caustic to be delivered into a peripheral vein.
Beyond that, using a port is often easier than inserting an IV each time if you will be having several infusions of chemotherapy.
The port may be placed on your upper chest or occasionally your upper arm. It is then attached to a catheter tube that is threaded into one of the large veins near your neck, such as the subclavian vein or jugular vein, and ends near the top of your heart.
Oh, while all this is happening, the radiation therapy continues, and its effects are starting to manifest.
Lastly, Really Right junior has come home from school with a runny nose, sore throat, and cough. As a precaution, we told him to start the over-the-counter Covid symptom reduction stuff that we bought at the local pharmacy. We bought the stuff just in case something like this happened.
Week three is coming fast and looks to be a bumpy ride.
Folks we all know that America’s citizens are honest, hard-working folks; just ask any politician. Conversely, we all know that our leaders would sell-out their dear old granny for another term in office. Stuck in the middle are America’s families.
Families are faced with the question of where to send their child/children to college. I know this process can be a daunting task. My son is looking at a college with an annual tuition of $50K plus room and board. Given the high cost of college, perhaps you should rethink college.
Why, you may ask? We have solid proof that college is a waste of money.
How? We have data from people without four-year degrees self-reporting their 2019 earnings to the government. If widely circulated, the data we are about to present would shatter the myth that college is the path to wealth. The data that we are about to present is not manipulated by government bureaucrats or defenders of college. Why encumber yourself with debt when you can earn the wages that we are about to present for more menial jobs?
What you are about to read is data that was randomly collected during a one-week period processing unemployment claims at California’s Employment Development Department. You may ask how I know this stuff is true and all I can tell you is that the following wage information was visually verified by our blog’s staff.
Occupation
Salary
State
Beauty Operator Apprentice
$ 65,000
New Mexico
Beautician
$ 80,000
Montana
Bone Cooking Operator
$ 70,000
North Carolina
Barber
$ 70,000
Georgia
Photographer’s Model
$ 80,000
New York
Contractor
$ 75,000
Pennsylvania
Hairdresser
$ 75,000
Indiana
Beautician
$ 68,000
Nevada
Abstract Manager
$ 83,000
Texas
Assistant Manager
$ 95,000
New Hampshire
Retail Area Supervisor
$ 96,250
Illinois
Maid
$ 950,000
Arkansas
Photographer’s Model
$ 78,000
Virginia
Retail Area Supervisor
$ 82,000
Texas
Security Guard
$ 60,000
Texas
Retail Area Supervisor
$ 50,000
Michigan
Cashier
$ 56,500
Illinois
Beautician
$ 82,850
Texas
Chef
$ 72,000
North Carolina
Delivery Driver/Warehouse
$ 90,000
Arizona
Cashier
$ 80,000
Arizona
Cashier
$ 56,500
Illinois
Abstract Manager
$ 120,000
Utah
Manager-Fast Food
$ 900
Missouri
Apron Cleaner
$ 65,000
Florida
ASC Certified Auto Tech
$ 33,034
California
Invoicing Clerk-warehouse
$ 78,855
California
Business Office Cashier
$ 120,000
California
Gardener
$ 79,000
California
Banker
$ 120,000
Texas
Account Information Clerk
$ 125,000
North Carolina
General Maintenance/Janitor
$ 150,000
Minnesota
Abstract Manager
$ 300,000
Florida
There it is unequivocal proof that you don’t need college.
Analysis
Gospel truth, the highest paid person in our list was a maid who made $950,000. I guess that she learned from Al Capone that if you report illicit income, they can’t send you to prison for tax evasion.
The Beauty Operator Apprentice was one that I didn’t recognize. I had to ask the wife. Her understanding of the job is that this babe is the one sweeping up the hair clippings after you get a haircut. I never knew people pushing a broom were paid $65,000.
I tried searching for Abstract Manager on the Internet but came up with nothing that made sense. Given the wage scale, you’d think they were government employees, but we all know that government never lays off anyone. With a pay range of $83K to $300K, it must be a good gig.
The last job that needs special remarks is the General Maintenance/Janitor gig. Please note the wage of $150K. Folks this person claims to have earned this wage in Nevada County California. Per Nevada County statistics, the per capita income for this county in 2018 was just over $37K.
Hopefully by now, you are suspecting that I have withheld some information. If you think this is the case, then you are correct. Remember that I said that these wages were self-reported. This is true but I didn’t say why and therein is the rub. These wages were reported by people applying for California unemployment. The State category in my list is the state the person lives in now. Oh, none of these folks had any reported income on record with the State of California.
Who said crime doesn’t pay? These folks are doing all right or so they would have you believe.
Final thought, I hope this small widow into the fraud making its way thru EDD would be of interest to our readers.
This week marked the beginning of chemotherapy and radiation treatments for my wife. She still maintains that her treatment will result in being cured and that come sometime in February, she will be able to resume her life.
Let me break this down in a little more detail.
First, chemotherapy is being used because leeches are like so Middle Ages. Chemotherapy is the purposeful injection of poison into your body that works much like the theory of the game “chicken”. You hope the “bad” cells are killed before the “good” ones. Depending on the dosage and frequency of treatment this may or may not work. However, it turns out, your body and immune system take a beating. Oh, to get your body to tolerate the chemo drugs, they give you other stuff before and after.
Radiation is more of the same. It is trying to concentrate a lethal dose of this unseen killer at a particular point or points in the body. As mentioned in a previous installment, the radiated tissue must be removed in a window five to ten weeks after “treatment” ends. Also, they forget to remind you that all the tissue which the radiation passes thru to get to the cancer takes a beating as well. The military would call this collateral damage but guys in white lab coats call it medicine.
Oh, my wife’s new basis for claiming that she will be cured is that the doctor filled out her initial disability application and said that the soonest that she could return to work would be February 2022. In her mind this means that she will be cured by February. Is this an example of childlike faith or utter delusion? I think the latter. In my opinion, my wife’s optimism is that of a five-year-old aspiring to be the next Disney Princess. This may be cute when looking at five-year-old children but in adults its disturbing.
As to the actual treatment. We were at the hospital for just over seven hours for the first round of chemo instead of the expected two and a half to three hours. My wife had a reaction to the drug, and it took much longer than advertised. After a few hours at home, she had a horrible headache and was not allowed to take any medication for the pain. (The following day she was told Tylenol would be ok to take.) In addition, while she has no fever, it looks like she spent 14 hours in the sun yesterday as her skin is a very bright shade of red; especially her face.
Two days later, my wife is lethargic and had some nausea. There is a prescription for that if she remembers to take it. She also spent a few hours in bed but was unable to nap so she opted to read a book.
The treatment train has left the station. I plan to post another update in about a week as we travel thru this journey.
Sad stories aren’t typically reserved for a Friday afternoon, hopefully this blog airs some other time. But this blog will showcase alcoholism and how it affects a person, a family, and their inner circle.
A close friend of mine from back in the day used to live kitty corner from us. We were thick as thieves, the two of us were. Best friends, our parent’s best friends as well. It seemed we did everything together or were always with the other one’s parents going/doing something. My mother hired his mother, and my dad and his dad were always working on a project or working on a 12 pack. Everything was great until I went off to college. Suddenly his parents were having major relationship issues. I never really understood it, but in a sense, I chalked it up to him being a hot-headed prison guard and her being a strong woman. Anyhow the relationship started boiling over very quickly. Suddenly the arguments almost came to fisticuffs, nasty exchanges were the regular. He could not get away from her quickly enough or stay away long enough. I never really understood it. They eventually had the world’s messiest divorce, literally fighting over the smallest things.
Things started becoming clearer after a couple years, my mom would never be able to see her because she was “sick all the time.” Literally plans made weeks/days/months in advance were cancelled, at the last minute…. sometimes literally the last minute. There were rumors of heavy drinking, but in all honesty, the household and groups I grew up around, most parents enjoyed a drink or two after work. Nothing out of the ordinary. I found out later she was actually guilty 3 separate times of taking a break at work, going to her car and sipping on a flask. Keep in mind she worked for my mother. She was caught all 3 times by parents at the school, never once was she disciplined.
The last-minute cancellations continued but things took yet another turn for the worse. She had moved in with her mother to save money and continued her drinking ways. Worse yet, hiding it from her 87-year-old mother. When my mother and I would visit, it was not uncommon to see her taking bathroom breaks or pouring something from behind the cover of the fridge door directly into a coffee cup. Clearly this was the rule not the exception.
My friend came home for a long weekend, flew in from out of state (upper Midwest) to visit his mother, he knew it wasn’t great, but felt obligated as any son would. I dropped him off, and saw his mother on a small trike, as she had broken her foot from falling (likely alcohol induced, but I cannot say for sure.) She fell repeatedly off her trike, and I decided after about 15 minutes, that it was time for me to leave. It was 9 AM. Not long after, my mother received a call as my friend had “disappeared.” I called him and he was driving (his own car was left here) back to the upper Midwest. Yeah, he had seen enough after a short stay.
The DUI charges also began racking up, with 4 happening over a 20-year period. She called me once to ask for a tow company while not knowing where she was saying only “I’m on the side of a freeway.” Folks Sacramento doesn’t have too many freeways, the northeast corner has even fewer. I cannot recall a time when I didn’t know where I was whilst stranded on the side of the roadway. This story led to bracelets around her wrists and a trip to the blue roof inn to detox.
She has been in and out of rehab more times than anyone can count. When my mother would visit, she would routinely smell booze on her breath and be told, “there is more being drank inside these walls than outside.” Sad but there is far more, and it only gets worse.
After about 3 years, my mother finally figured she just had to show up unannounced. She did, and likely regretted it. Her friend had the front door open only the screen closed, it wasn’t locked. She found her friend on the couch, half clothed. Jack in the Box burger and partial order of uneaten fries on the table. She claimed it was her lunch, the time was 3:45. Two drained bottles of wine rested not far from where she was seated. My mother inquired as to how she obtained the beverage and food. The response was door dash for the food, and AM PM delivers wine. Most disturbingly, she said she just can’t help herself in regard to drinking. Her friend had finally lost her license after several major surgeries and DUI’s. She had bruises on her body, from falling. Her friend used to be a well-built woman, not fat or heavy by any means, and was always on the cutting edge of fashion. Now she ambles around with a walker, and likely weighs 100 lbs. while being 6’3. Her legs are the size of golf balls, she is all skin and bone. She refuses additional help, or rehab, and my mother was quickly whisked away. Her son does not wish to see her again, but she wants to leave all kinds of money behind for him so he can love her.
In conclusion this is what addiction does to the human body. My mom’s friend likely won’t last until Christmas, and it is no fault of anyone but her own. She didn’t want to work for the State anymore despite being only a few years way from being fully vested, instead she went to work for my mother. She became parttime worker, fulltime drinker. Any amount of the grape or beer or hard liquor will eventually cause major damage to the human body. The DUI’s just put the toll in real dollars as opposed to physical appearance. She ruined her marriage, her relationship with her son, and all her friends because her world revolved around drinking. It’s sad but it happens quite often. She couldn’t even slow herself down when her son visited …because like any other addict, they do not care. Most disturbing was the comment about having AM/PM, a gas station by the way, delivering your beverage of choice. If there is such thing as a rock bottom, that has to be scraping pretty close to it.
At 74, I’m sure this was not her idea of the glory years unless happiness is staring at a bottle and hoping to drain it in one night. College days are over, and you have ignored warnings from the health community, you had parts of your colon, and stomach removed, and you are still refusing to change your ways. Lunch isn’t served at 3:00, that only happens after passing out from drinking on an empty stomach. The empty calories “filled you up” and your body is lying to you as far as being full. The going to sleep isn’t because you need rest, it’s because your body can not take it any longer and needs a shut down. DUI may be a badge of honor at 25; it’s a sad story after 35. It’s flat depressing after 55, and unconscionable after 65. A lesson never learned. Now you are in serious peril of not making it to the next year. Friendships, marriage, and your only child, all lost because you couldn’t put the bottle down, even after several trips to rehab. It’s so bad folks that even her only brother is done with her, she moved in with her niece and was kicked out after 90 days due to you guessed it, her drinking. Addiction kills, sadly for this person. At least without a driver’s license, it won’t make her kill anyone else.
