Dana was off with her sisters for their annual pilgrimage to the spa at Ojai, doing pilates and wearing mud masks and eating right. When she got back Sunday night, she carted John into ER right away, and they fixed him up with steroids and tested for mono, which it was, meaning the antibiotics were useless. I guess I could’ve killed him with inaction, and I am having some bad feelings about my abilities to parent any more. It’s a good thing Johnny is almost baked, 5 months and he’s 18. If I can just keep him alive for 5 more months!
I do much better with inanimate objects, and I don’t do well with them. Remember the hard drives I killed last year? Anyway, I was on my way up to Jade Cove last week, in spite of 15’ surf, and I stopped at Beauchemin’s to borrow his camp coffee maker. Some of my best beachcombing happens in his yard, and sure enough I noticed this giant piece of driftwood in his driveway, must’ve been there ten years. It was rotting in some places, but right away I could see that this piece would be perfect for a bonsai display. Sue didn’t care about it, and Mike said I could have it. He found it years ago at Arroyo Laguna, just north of Hearst Castle, and gave it to Bruce Mundt, and then Bruce gave it back some years later.
So now I have a new project, and like bonsai this could take a long time. First I have to decide how to handle the rot – either cut it out or chemically treat it. I have decided to experiment with the bottom side first, trying a chemical treatment like Liquid Wood. The thing about this piece is that it resembles a sea lion or seal, and has these large burls that would hold bonsai perfectly. I envision a piece I would call Seaside Dream, with swept-form Junipers or Cypress like you see at a windy coast. The trick is to not overwork the driftwood at the same time you make it into art, otherwise it is not befitting bonsai. It could just be a sculpture on its own, I suppose, and if I mess it up that’s what I’ll say, sorta like war with Iraq.
Today is megadose day, so I went to the docs and got shot up with vincristine, then came home and swallowed masses of pills. Johnny mono-boy was amazed that I can take all 23 pills at once, but they’re not big and line right up in the throat. All is as planned according to the doc, chugging along, bone marrow biopsy next week.
5 months is not so long. Just think of the 17 yrs and 7 months you've kept your son alive.
ReplyDeleteMy sister, who's kids are in their late 20's now, told me years ago that MY JOB was to keep my son alive until his 18th Birthday. Just 9 years and 6 months to go.
What a world indeed John. Over the years, The Little Woman (as have many others) mentioned one kind of common cold relief or another. A few years ago it was echinacea. Last year or two it's a product called Airborne, and on, and on. I have always been of the opinion that we need to use a great deal of common sense when it comes to such things. My position has been this: If you're not reading a huge headline in The Wall Street Journal, or seeing it being covered and recovered every time you turn the TV on for weeks on end, you can probably make a pretty good guess that no one has found a cure yet for the common cold. Last night I was looking at the current issue of Consumer Reports, where they talked about the Airborne product. There appears to no medical data of any backbone whatsoever that can support the effectiveness of this product to do what they say it will do. Yet the company that makes it racked up a nice tidy sum of $65 million in sales last year. I think I'm in the wrong business. Then this AM, the Today Show had on some medical experts who basically said don't even bother with any of the run-of-the-mill cold remedy shit you find on the shelf at the pharmacy or grocery store. Once the cold peaks - which it does fairly quickly, it begins to decline. And most people are actually experiencing the normal decline of the symptoms when they think the over-the-counter remedy they bought is doing the trick. Good reports on the effectiveness of cough drops though. Yeah, I know, I'm beating this to death here. My point is that you should not be too hard on yourself. When there's enough medical expertise out there to indicate that most of this shit is simply gonna take it's course and leave us as mysteriously as it arrived, it's not so crazy to think it's worth giving it a little time on its own. Of course, what the hell do I know? I never had any kids and the cats hardly ever get more than a hairball to deal with.
ReplyDeleteAnd so any way, it's good to hear you're on yet another level through your progression of treatment and beating the little leukemia bastards. I'm so happy you're moving along well with this. It's already been a tough year on friends who have run into health difficulty, or worse. I had another buddy who died Christmas day (that's three in 05). I just learned that my previous operations assistant's husband (34 years old) has testicular cancer that has matastacized. Then my business partner here had a double bypass on Friday night. It all makes me feel so fortunate, but brings one to wonder when the hammer's gonna drop. Well, enough of this crap. Keep on truckin buddy.
We're ending up with lots of nice breaks in the Alabama winter. We've had a lot of days in the 60s and even our share of those in the 70s. Still getting in about two days of golf each week. My level of suckness at the game however remains intact.
I had a very strange experience this week. We live on the top of a ridge and there's nothing behind our house (facing West) for at least a mile or more - all forest. I walk the ridge (which has quite a few homes) in the morning. Yesterday morning while walking I came across a small pack of what appeared to be wild dogs. Never saw that before up there. I thought, well shit, if these guys are of the variety you hear the ugly stories about, this could get interesting. They looked busy, so I kept going past where they were. When I got home and was out on the deck in the back, I see these same dogs trying to run down a huge buck right behind my house. So now what do I do? I called the county animal control and got the distinct impression that this is not gonna be on the top of their priority list. I don't wanna stop walking in the morning and I don't wanna stop letting the poor little kitties out on the deck once or twice a day. They get a big kick out of being out there. I think it's a fantasy for them to believe some day a bird is going to fly into their mouths. Generally speaking, they can't get off the deck (though one does occasionally). But a big hungry dog could certainly find a way to get on the deck. I'm a dog lover and it leaves me with a real challenge. I'm probably going to start packing a small handgun for my morning walks. After all, this is Alabama.
Hey, good luck with that driftwood project. It sounds like an interesting challenge and I'm anxious to see some pics of how you finish it up.
Have you been able to take advantage of any of the great surf we're hearing about out there?
Mac
I keep saying to my kids, in my efforts to get them to 18, that the best defense they have is soap and water. Wash your hands regularly (Dana just said it to Mike as I write this!). And now I'll add, watch out who you swap spit with. Although the 2 month incubation on mono makes it tough to figure who is infectious, just avoid the known spit-swappers, I guess.
ReplyDeleteYou might be better off carrying some meatballs, unless you're a quick and accurate shot. Good luck and be careful! Can you get cat insurance?
Mac,
ReplyDeleteWatch those kitties. I found the remains of a cat that the coyotes left in our front yard. Several days later, one of my neighbors came to the door looking for his cat (no tags) and I had to give him the grizzly news. He burst into tears and I felt awful.
Generally the coyotes hunt at night and early morning. Sometimes I see them coming down the middle of the street when I go out to get the AM paper. They steal the rats I catch in the traps, trap and all sometimes. I surmise that packs of wild dogs are probably worse once they get blood lust and I imagine they view you as a juicy steak. They are probably deciding which cabernet to have with you right now.
I am sure you have all read that a glass of red wine has certain health benefits. If so, I am going to be really healthy for a really long time. I find that ingesting alcohol kills all kinds of things, especially relationships if you really overindulge. I recommend a shot of Contraeu for sore throats and cough. You can take it with Airborne if it floats your boat. I started getting flu shots every year, and that seems to have really helped keep me healthy. This year they had drive thru flu shots at the hospital. You didn’t even have to get out of your car, just drive thru with your arm out the window. If they had served fries with the shot, I would have gone there, but I let my doctor give it to me in her office so she could collect the fee from my HMO. Although I haven’t read any huge headlines, I have heard rumors that flu shots may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s, so I may be trading current health for future ruin in accordance with Newton’s 3rd law.
Johnny
ReplyDeleteguess if they survive (and if YOU did, who wouldn't?) you don't get all the credit and if they don't you don't get all the blame, but ain't it a glamorous job?
when I was pregnant and terrified, Earl encouraged me, Pat you never know...this could be the kid in 20 years I don't know... holds up a 7-eleven.
it does take a village but most days you feel like the village idiot.
guess I am lucky that the dawgs I see on my walk are mostly loose pets using the beach as their toilet, not feral wanderers displaced by the floods hunting deer without a trailer. this leaves me free to count adults--
that one made it, that one made it.
Mac, keep washing your hands so you don't leave germs on your gun--
and keep the faith
You guys are feeding me some good stuff here. John, I like the meatball idea and I tried a test run on it. Unfortunately, I couldn't get them small enough to fit into the chamber on my 357 mag. And the thought of the wild dogs viewing me as a juicy steak with some nice cab was really thought provoking. I have been discarding my steak bones next to the trash heap of our redneck neighbor whose trailer spot lights stay on all night long. We also have coyotes, but I don't find them as intimidating as the wild dogs for some good reason. But shit, now I can't remember what it was. I can't remember what I was going to say next. I can't remember if I already had the flu. If I did, I can't remember if it was real bad. I can't remember why I'm here. Probably had too many flu shots and they're starting to take their toll.
ReplyDeleteMac