The Most Amazing Year of My Life.

I didn’t know it at the time, but this time last year I began the most incredible journey of my entire life.

The start of this journey was a suggestion by our daughter that we go to Europe for a week after she finished her law school finals.

Discussion and research finally had us settling on Ireland, Dublin specifically.

What none of us knew at the time was that I was in the grip of Large B Cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and had been for a year or more. I knew I was tired all the time and (I thought) my asthma was getting worse all the time.

This was also the time everyone was panicking about so-called “Swine Flu.” With this background I climbed on planes wheezing and coughing constantly. I kept my inhaler at the ready and carefully explained to seat mates I was asthmatic which seemed to relieve their fears.

Our first day in Ireland was wonderful, a mild spring day with alternating sunshine and showers. I loved Ireland and its people. They were amazingly friendly and helpful. Whenever we got lost or confused someone would stop and help us.

The whole trip was a mixture of amazingly wonderful sights, sounds and feelings. And this was in spite of my constant fatigue and problems breathing.

When I got home things got worse until eventually my doctor began ordering tests. The initial results scared me out of my wits. “Masses in the lungs” meant only one thing to me. Lung cancer, which meant I was looking at a life span of weeks or months.

Eventually when enough tests had been done the final diagnosis came in and the cancer was wide spread but treatable. It was even a type that can be cured in some cases. At that point my spirits bounced from deepest, blackest hole they’d ever been in to the highest point I’ve ever known.

People now seem to keep saying “You are so cheerful. Every time I need to hear a cheerful voice I know I can call you and you will cheer me right up no matter what is going on.” I like being this person.

During my various testing and treatments I’ve met some incredibly wonderful people. Doctors, nurses, medical assistants, lab techs are the warriors on the front lines in the battle against cancer. Then there are the patients themselves because here is where you discover who you really are. Are you one who gives up? Someone who expects others to do all the work? A fighter who is going to do everything you can to help defeat this foe? Here is where you find out.

My year has provided me with some goals; I want to help others find out what they can do to help beat cancer. I want to go back to Ireland when I feel good so I can enjoy the home of some of my ancestors even more. I want to share my adventures and discoveries with others. And, as I move forward, discover more goals to strive for.

Making Money

You'll notice a side bar advertising products you can get from Amazon. Amazon now offers the opportunity for people to make money off of them.

Since I spend a lot of money with Amazon I decided to take advantage of this new program. If you click on something in the sidebar and decide to buy it I get a commission off the sale. This is my BIG advertising effort for this business.

This is my brain on chemo; skip, blipt, skip, duh...

One of the problems I didn't know I'd have when I started chemo is the effect of the chemotherapy drugs on my brain. My mind skips and jumps around like one of those old vinyl records that has been scratched up. I'll begin with what seems like a very good idea only to have it vanish before I get to the end of it and a new one takes its place only to vanish in its turn.

All of this skipping is even worse during and immediately after my treatments. My doctor and others who've gone through this particular treatment assure me that all of this will go away once chemo treatments are finished. I certainly hope so. I want to get back to being able to write coherently on a regular basis instead of just now and then.

I'd meant to record more of my experiences, but I now see this is going to have to happen after the fact. Meanwhile the chemo appears to be successful and I am nearing the end of treatment. Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. I know they've helped tremendously.

People Chow any one?

A friend sent me the following piece via email.

A TRIP TO COSTCO

Yesterday I was at my
local COSTCO buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for my loyal pet, Biscuit, the Wonder Dog and was in the checkout line when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think I had, an elephant? So since I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting the Purina Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn't,
because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that
it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that
practically everyone in line was now enthralled with my story.) Horrified, she asked if I ended
up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her
no, I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter's butt
and a car hit us both.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack
he was laughing so hard.

Costco won't let me shop there anymore.

Better watch what you ask
retired people. They have all the time in the world to think of crazy things to say.

When I was at Sam's yesterday a woman at the next checkout counter had a basket of dog food Milk Bones etc. and I nearly choked trying not to laugh out loud.

BUT why don't they make a Chow for humans? Why does so called diet food always have to be sweet? Savory is my taste of choice and I'd like a nice meat, veggie or cheese tasting food bar to use for some meals.

New Directions

November has left me dazed and confused.

It started just like any other month, but after the first week it was as if someone had stuck me in a barrel and rolled in down the mountainside.

A trip to the doctor for what I thought was a minor problem turned out to be anything but. It led to CT scans, PET scans biopsies and an eventual diagnosis of Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (non-Hodgkin's).

Once I realized we were dealing with cancer I was terrified it was lung cancer so the eventual findings were a great relief. What I do have is treatable.

Just to add to the drama of the month I ended it by falling face first onto a side walk. I didn't break my nose but I do now have two black eyes as well as a smashed nose. The rest of me is pretty bunged up too.

Be interesting to see what December brings.

Ahh, I'll be posting some stuff on AC about this new adventure of mine.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2439052/hitting_the_restart_button.html?cat=70

Creativity vs Logic

According to my mentor creativity is not my problem when it comes to writing. However, I do need to do serious work on the logic of my stories.

This assessment has led me to a study of logic, which has led to philosophy and who knows where things will go from here. Venn's Diagrams have caught my attention for one thing.

Taking a creative idea and building a logical thread for it turns out to be a completely different task than merely thinking of a story in the first place. At the moment I'm deconstructing some well known fairy tales in order to understand why some work and others don't. This is leading to an understanding of why some of my story ideas work and others don't.

Writer-can't find a mentor?

Mentors are important. Finding one, especially a good one is difficult.

I've been getting my mentoring from Holly Lisle for many years now. I've never met her, never talked to her in person or on the phone, but she is a writer who pays it forward and has been helping me improve for many years now. She has over 30 books published and a huge body of work dedicated to helping other writers available on the net.

Mugging the Muse for Fun and Profit was the first book I ordered from Holly and helped a lot. It is still out there for anyone who wants to learn more about the nitty-gritty of publishing.

Holly's course How to Think Sideways is the latest thing I've gotten from her. And I have to say I was delighted when the very first page of the course cleared up a problem I've been having ever since I decided to get serious about becoming a published writer. Though I am a published writer now I still have a lot more to learn about the business and I think this course is going to be of great benefit to my aspirations.

For those of you interested in becoming a writer or improving your skills go to for a look at Think Sideways.