You’re Taking What!

The newest addition to my list of drugs to swallow—number 23, but who’s counting—is Fluconazole (the generic of Diflucan), which many female readers will recognize as a leading treatment for yeast infections. 
 
The packaging boasts, “Just one oral tablet provides a full course of therapy sufficient to cure most vaginal yeast infections.” Me? I’m on a [...]

Shopping Like Jesus

As a result of my most recent sojourn in the gospels I’ve decided to stop shopping at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. This is a theological decision based on a fresh understanding of the life and teachings of Jesus.
 
When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God/Heaven, he didn’t mean the afterlife. He meant this life, as [...]

Drugged Out

Home today and slooowly recovering. It’s a wonder I can sit up, much less stand. I don’t know how to describe what chemo feels like. Instead I’ll list its causes and let you imagine the effects.
 
Over the last eight months I have been repeatedly injected with, or ingested, a pharmacopeia from A to Z; either [...]

The Cart

Tuesdays with Morrie may be enlightening but Thursdays with Mikie are a nightmare. Lots going on, but most of it bad.
 
It was the same with my first round of RICE. I’ve learned that surviving Thursday is the key.
 
That’s the day the cart comes by:
 
CART MASTER:
Bring out your dead!
[clang]
Bring out your dead!
[cough cough...]
[clang]
[...cough cough]
Bring out [...]

The Ride

Back in the hospital yesterday and on the bag. For the first time in chemo I shed tears as I felt the initial flush of my eighth round. Perhaps it was a premonition that the day would be rough—it was—or the sleep short—that, too.
 
But I’m still here. In fact, I’m off the pole and writing [...]

Pulling My Hair Out

I have raised four kids and written over a dozen books but it was RICE chemo that finally got me to pull my hair out by the roots. I stood over the wastebasket Saturday night and completely depilated my noodle. Now if someone ever tells me to go pluck myself I can say I already [...]

Express Yourself

If you are reading this blog you are obviously of superior intelligence. And if you have pondered my last post, it may have prompted you to produce some personal pithy proverbs as well.
 
Mind sharing them with the rest of us?
 
Post your sagacious sayings, apt aphorisms and wry witticisms in the “comment” box. In keeping [...]

Express Lane Proverbs

We all are making our way toward the check out lanes in the supermarket of life, but it can be a shock to find oneself in the express lane. Having cancer might put me in a shorter queue than my peers, however, I’m not fooled by mere geometry. The shortest line isn’t always the fastest [...]