The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[Belegon]

Colonoscopy in 8 hours. I think the worst of the prep is behind me. Da boom tisssssh.

Yeah, colonoscopy no fun. Important though, says dude with stage 4 colon cancer...

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Yeah, colonoscopy no fun. Important though, says dude with stage 4 colon cancer...

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Another day, another fresh pot of coffee. The teapot is hot and there are assorted donuts and muffins on the counter. There's also a breakfast casserole on the counter for those who want something more substantial for breakfast ...

I got a whole scene completed and am actually looking forward to putting some words down so I'll be over in the corner if you need anything ...

 

[Belegon]

Go Candy! Write like the wind!

Coffee, a slice of that breakfast, and I'll be over by the open window. Got hit with that flu bug, so I'll join in conversation from a safe distance. No point making anybody else sick.

 

[MrPixel]

Colonoscopy all good. Doc didn't even have to take any samples. We're set for a while.

@Belegon , so sorry for your diagnosis. My wife's father succumbed to colon cancer when he was 45, so we take it seriously around our household.

 

[NotWise]

I'm finding a lovers' argument hard to write. Their confrontation is set up, and I know how it has to work out, but there be dragons in between. I've resorted to synopsizing the emotional core and walking them into it like a trap they can't escape.

I reached this point at an earlier stage in the story and found that it didn't work until Nick inserted wit into something that otherwise would be emotionally brutal. Rachel, on the other hand, has a license to be brutal.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I'm still sick, but now I'm coughing up green gunk, and Mum says that's a good thing. WTF? Really, it's good to have crappy green snot from your lungs?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I'm still sick, but now I'm coughing up green gunk, and Mum says that's a good thing. WTF? Really, it's good to have crappy green snot from your lungs?

Would you prefer that that crappy green snot stayed in your lungs, Millie?

 

[Duleigh]

I'm still sick, but now I'm coughing up green gunk, and Mum says that's a good thing. WTF? Really, it's good to have crappy green snot from your lungs?

It beats the living shit out of coughing up blood.

 

[MrPixel]

I'm still sick, but now I'm coughing up green gunk, and Mum says that's a good thing.

It beats the living shit out of coughing up blood.

They're right, Millie. Been there. You absolutely don't want the weird-tasting rusty-red shit. That's when it's serious. But you likely know that. The green is yukky, but is an indication you're healing. Keep it up!

 

[Rustyoznail]

Welcome to Friday, or pre-Friday for a lot of you. Coffee please.

Pup is regularly waking up at 7am wanting to be let out into the yard. I have no problem with that. Overall, he's doing well.

Millie, I'm WFH as Bec's down with a mild dose of pneumonia. She said she would be fine, but having a dose myself, that's a definite no... Stay in bed, rest, cough up the green shit, and we'll see you bright and chirpy next week.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Since my last post, I've been sleeping. So, what were we talking about??

They're right, Millie. Been there. You absolutely don't want the weird-tasting rusty-red shit. That's when it's serious. But you likely know that. The green is yukky, but is an indication you're healing. Keep it up!

 

[NotWise]

Since my last post, I've been sleeping. So, what were we talking about??

Green goo and you.

 

[Duleigh]

They're right, Millie. Been there. You absolutely don't want the weird-tasting rusty-red shit. That's when it's serious. But you likely know that. The green is yukky, but is an indication you're healing. Keep it up!

It's gross but its true. Take it from someone who's spent more time with a pulmonologist than his PCP - the first thing they ask is "What color is it?"
Green is good
Yellow isn't
Red is hospital time.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Oh, yeah. I feel weird... I'm worn out for no reason. I'm still dosing off, but Mum is still coming in and out checking on me. I just got up and walked around the house a few times to Jut move around and exercise for a bit.

Green goo and you.

No yellow or red.

It's gross but its true. Take it from someone who's spent more time with a pulmonologist than his PCP - the first thing they ask is "What color is it?"
Green is good
Yellow isn't
Red is hospital time.

 

[Duleigh]

Oh, yeah. I feel weird... I'm worn out for no reason. I'm still dosing off, but Mum is still coming in and out checking on me. I just got up and walked around the house a few times to Jut move around and exercise for a bit.

There is a reason you're exhausted - your body is fighting off a very serious illness. Relax. Turn on Nexflix, pick something you really wanted to see, and sleep through it.

 

[Belegon]

Colonoscopy all good. Doc didn't even have to take any samples. We're set for a while.

@Belegon , so sorry for your diagnosis. My wife's father succumbed to colon cancer when he was 45, so we take it seriously around our household.

Thanks, bro. I've kinda adjusted to it now and just focusing on living as long and as well as I can. In January of 2024, before I started Chemo, the oncologist told me that I was looking at 5 years... and that the longest he had seen anyone last with my progression was a teenage girl who lasted 8 years. My instant thought was, okay, the goal is nine years! let's give him a new story to tell. 15 months into it, I'm mostly focused on accomplishing things with my kids and the idea of leaving a legacy. Chemo was rough at first, but it worked as far as slowing the progression of my disease to a point where my current chemo is what they are calling "maintenance," meaning they are focused on keeping my quality of life and hoping that doing so will extend my life. I feel like it's working. My side effects are much much less invasive then they were during my first six months. They changed my meds after the first set of chemo, and I've been slowly gaining back the weight I lost and learning to deal with the neuropathy, which in my case is basically that the chemo is killing the nerves in my hands and feet. That's still a big issue, and why I can't work, but it has lessened. Back in July, tying my shoes or buttoning a shirt button was a major challenge... like to the point where I had to have someone else do it for me. But the worst thing was that the neuropathy was spreading into my mouth. For that first six months, anything less than room temperature made my mouth go numb in a way that the best descriptor is ... imagine what your foot feels like when it falls asleep: now, take that feeling and put it in your mouth. It sucked! Late in August, I had my first cold beer in ten months... and my first ice cream about a month later. That was a major turning point. My hands and feet still give me trouble, but they've gotten better and the mouth issue has not returned.

I also was stable enough to travel again starting in late July. This allowed me and my two kids (both in their 20's) to resume our quest to hit all thirty MLB ballparks with a trip to Cleveland and allowed me to travel back to San Diego and spend two weeks (in between chemo appts.) with my Mom. The kids and I are looking at two more ballparks for this summer (I'm sitting at 17, BTW. My son is at 15, my daughter at 13.) and we are also starting to plan a trip to the UK. I want to visit the ancestral lands in Scotland before I go.

The pressure seems to have influenced other relationships. My wife and I weren't in the best of places before my diagnosis and the changes haven't helped. We were kinda separated within the same house even before my diagnosis and we haven't had, ahem, marital relations since my open heart surgery in Feb. 2022. Adding more health issues to that wasn't helpful. On the other hand, my younger brother and I have been a bit distant with each other for many years. In the wake of my cancer being found, he and I have become much closer again. That's been a complete godsend.

My wife um... "suggested" that I move out and into my son's apartment (which is 5 minutes from the hospital instead of a half hour) the week before Christmas. Suggested is in quotes because I wasn't really given a choice. She basically threw me out. We aren't going to pursue a divorce at this point because we are worried what that might do to my health insurance. I currently have excellent insurance through the board of education. Technically, I am still employed with them, but am on FMLA. But if I had to find other insurance, well, stage 4 cancer AND stage 1 congestive heart failure is one hell of a set of pre-existing conditions. So we are trying to avoid messing with insurance in any way. Just to be safe. The good news is that there hasn't been significant growth of the tumor in my colon on the last two CT scans, and the three lesions on my liver have actually shrunk! I also had a spot in my lungs they were worried about and that area seems to be clear now.

They discovered my cancer because of an infection that had perforated my colon. They had to remove quite a bit, so that has left me with a colostomy bag, which isn't fun, but they have hinted that if things continue to be stable they may okay a surgery to reverse it. I look forward to that day very much, despite not wanting to undergo a third abdominal surgery.

I'll end with a couple positives. One, the lack of work has pushed me to start writing again as a way of feeling productive. I hadn't published anything since 2013, and I left a lot of ideas on the table, so to speak. Party Favors, which I uploaded a couple weeks ago, is the first new writing I've put out there since I finished my novel Real Vampires Don't Surf. Also, in my return to writing I opened up the gmail attached to my pen name for the first time in several years. Sitting at the top of it was a four year old email from my first writing mentor, who I met here at Lit, Gwen Masters. (That is her nom de plume, not her RL name.) Reawakening that friendship has been a wonderful thing, and plans are being formed for me to visit her late spring or early summer.

So yeah, I drew a tough hand... but the game isn't finished yet!

 

[Belegon]

There is a reason you're exhausted - your body is fighting off a very serious illness. Relax. Turn on Nexflix, pick something you really wanted to see, and sleep through it.

EXACTLY! One thing I've learned in the last year... give yourself the time to recover from things!

 

[MrPixel]

Thanks, bro. I've kinda adjusted to it now and just focusing on living as long and as well as I can.

Sounds to me like you're mastering how to make lemonade. Keep on keepin' on!

 

[Candy_Kane54]

I've got a fresh pot of coffee on and the teapot is hot. There's some lemonade in the 'fridge for those who want to make Arnold Palmers. I have some Pączkis on the counter for those who want a snack.

Finished a couple of scenes yesterday and will be over in the corner doing some more writing. What a pleasure to be able to enjoy writing again ...

 

[MrPixel]

Yeah, writing. I was getting back into the "next" chapter, and realized that in the minutia I was creating it was getting tedious. "Yeah, keep rubbing it in that you guys live in a ritzy gated community, but get over yourselves and let's screw."

Or something like that.

 

[Belegon]

What a pleasure to be able to enjoy writing again ...

I soooo feel u on this one. Coffee for me please. Although the idea of a cup of Earl Gray is tempting, too...

 

[MillieDynamite]

Another day has come and gone, and a new awakening. Feeling a bit better (not to sound too optimistic), so maybe I'm on the mend. Somehow, my Mum let Cat into the garage yesterday, and she (Cat) brought a plaything in with her. A grey and freshly killed mouse that Cat laid on my bed last night, and she yowled at me until I took notice of her gift to me. I've only just got up. No, I didn't sleep with the mouse; Jo gave it a proper burial in thrash. Mum is leaving today to go and take care of pops for the weekend. She's staying until Donnie is off for school, and Jo is only working until 3:00, so she'll be back before Donnie is home. I'm having Irish Coffee (no boost in it), scrambled eggs, and bacon.

 

[Belegon]

Another day has come and gone, and a new awakening. Feeling a bit better (not to sound too optimistic), so maybe I'm on the mend. Somehow, my Mum let Cat into the garage yesterday, and she (Cat) brought a plaything in with her. A grey and freshly killed mouse that Cat laid on my bed last night, and she yowled at me until I took notice of her gift to me. I've only just got up. No, I didn't sleep with the mouse; Jo gave it a proper burial in thrash. Mum is leaving today to go and take care of pops for the weekend. She's staying until Donnie is off for school, and Jo is only working until 3:00, so she'll be back before Donnie is home. I'm having Irish Coffee (no boost in it), scrambled eggs, and bacon.

glad things are looking positive. I HATE being sick .

 

[NotWise]

I've got a fresh pot of coffee on and the teapot is hot. There's some lemonade in the 'fridge for those who want to make Arnold Palmers. I have some Pączkis on the counter for those who want a snack.

Finished a couple of scenes yesterday and will be over in the corner doing some more writing. What a pleasure to be able to enjoy writing again ...

Yay CK!

I'm closing in on the end of my WIP and it occurred to me that I haven't thought a moment about title or short description since I scratched "Denial Is Not a River in Egypt." It turned out that fear was the underpinning for denial, so that title would have just been a diversion.

Anyway, it should be good for Romance and O's Pink Orchid event.