The bus for my wife and I came about 4 years ago. She has hereditary osteoarthritis, and at 47 was going to have to have a hip and a knee replaced. In the pre surgery stuff, she went in for her annual physical, and the movable thing that had been popping up under her rib cage that I had been trying to get her to get looked at turned out to be her gall bladder being pushed out of the way by her kidney because it had a cyst on it the size of a kiddie soccer ball. Then we were explained about polycystic kidney disease, cancer, etc..

They went in through the front, removed the gall bladder and the kidney, splitting her from sternum to her hairline. The surgeon that removed the cyst said it didn't look cancerous and that he had done a lot of these. He had the weekend off, and the next day his partner came in to check on my wife and asked her when she was starting chemo and radiation. She said she hadn't been told she needed those, that it wasn't cancerous, and that we were waiting for the pathology to confirm that. He told her that it was cancer, that they never get that big unless they are...

We thought our lives were over.

Late on Monday the pathology report came back negative. When they went to remove her staples I had to leave the room. She looked like she had a zipper and I knew that but when they started removing them I just couldn't watch...

She healed up for 2 months, then had her hip replaced. 6 weeks later she had her knee done, and two weeks after that was my vacation from work. She wanted to go home to Vermont, so we went, her doing her therapy excercises in the car, my older son and I splitting the driving.

Since then we've had two more grandkids by our younger son, and each day no matter how mundane is a gift because she's still here. This year we'll celebrate our 30th anniversary!

You are a gift as well, to each of us, for sharing your life with us. Thank you!!!

alan

you'll be great! :) xoxoxo

That's it.

I'm taking your advice.

I shall wear my chaps BACKWARD today.

Not sure what to think (imagining backward chaps right now).

Maybe I'll just say how lucky you are that you have so many good people looking after you. I'm glad for you that that's one of your lessons. And you can pass the benefit on through the people that read your words. Thanks for teaching us.

"Eat breakfast for dinner."

I usually do since I can't cook...My usual cereal and or eggs/ toast.

But seriously...I was thinking the same thing yesterday as I was on the highway driving. The car next to me on the right didn't see me in his blond spot when he wanted to switch lanes..I had to swerve and had trouble controlling my car. It scared the poop out of me.

Life could have changed for me in an instint.

You continue to amaze me.

I took a hot bubblebath in the middle of the afternoon!!!! Wish I could do that everyday...

Deb:
You have heard that cliche "no man is an
island" we all need each other. Sometimes for
different reasons, but God put us on this planet
together and he did that for a reason.

Today I had a cupcake for breakfast!

Your assignment for me: Hug yourself and tell
yourself it's from all of us. A really good
hug.

Love,
Shoshie

I think I am learning so much from you. Giving up the idea of control is so hard. Like we really have control over anything anyway. I will be thinking about this for awhile I'm sure. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself and your journey. Peace.

I wore my boxers outside my jeans today. I felt pretty.

Leave it to me to make your cancer all about my ego. :-p