I have begun to receive feedback on Rain In The Afternoon, and it has been really good. Yesterday I interviewed at the newspaper, and that gave me a real lift. Some feedback about my blog has confirmed what many of my teachers know, and God knows, I do. I don't spell well. Let me apologize.
Tomorrow the Hawks meet the Sharks. "Do you know the way to San Jose?"
Son Mike writes there for the San Jose Mercury. We have not discussed this encounter.
The Sharks smell blood in the water. The Hawks are cool and love the job. I'm a Hawks fan, but I've got to bet on the hungry Sharks for this one.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
A Picture Is Worth, Well Maybe Not a Thousand ...
A photographer came from the newspaper today. He was here because the publication of Rain In The Afternoon has been announced. I'm realy hoping that everybody will enjoy the book. It's about a Green Baret who quits soldiering to become a Capuchin. He is sent to Latin America as a missionery, and there he needs his soldier's skills as much as his priestly ones.
The book is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, as well as eventually, independant book stores. Or ask for it at your public library.
The book is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, as well as eventually, independant book stores. Or ask for it at your public library.
Monday, May 10, 2010
A new Lease on Life
Five years ago I lost a kidney to cancer. It was one of those stories with a providential ending. We were enjoying our family reunion on the Outer Banks. I had spent the afternoon with my sons at the shore, drinking beer and eating oysters. That night I woke with shortness of breath. That's a sign of heart failure. In the "business" we call it nocturnal dyspnea. It was eased by getting out of bed, but never completely went away. The following night it returned, and at that point I asked Tim, my son to drive me to the hospital.
The hospital was two hours away. After enough Lasix to turn me into a prune, the dyspnea was gone. The hospitalist of this small 19 bed institution told me that "the protocol" said that I should remain hospitalized over night.
I felt fine the next morning. The hospitalist was ready to discharge me, but "the protocol" suggested that, before leaving the hospital, I have a spiral CAT scan of the chest to rule out a pulmonary embolism.
The lungs were clear, he found, but there was a soft ball sized tumor of my left kidney.
Renal cell carcinoma grade III. This tumor is rife with vascular malformations that cause cardiac overload and heart failure.
Tony Bennet lost his heart in San Francisco. I lost my kidney at Loyola University Medical Center. I've had no more heart failure and no recurrance of the tumor these five years. However, the remaining kidney chuged and chuged along as well as it could, but that became less and less functional as the months went by, and I got sick.
That's why I have that big gap in the blog. Now I'm fine, thanks to robo-kidney at Loyola, and it's time I got back to business.
The new book,RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON has arrived from the printer, and it's a thing of beauty. Once you've read it, you can decide whether it's a thing of beauty on the inside. More about the story next time.
The hospital was two hours away. After enough Lasix to turn me into a prune, the dyspnea was gone. The hospitalist of this small 19 bed institution told me that "the protocol" said that I should remain hospitalized over night.
I felt fine the next morning. The hospitalist was ready to discharge me, but "the protocol" suggested that, before leaving the hospital, I have a spiral CAT scan of the chest to rule out a pulmonary embolism.
The lungs were clear, he found, but there was a soft ball sized tumor of my left kidney.
Renal cell carcinoma grade III. This tumor is rife with vascular malformations that cause cardiac overload and heart failure.
Tony Bennet lost his heart in San Francisco. I lost my kidney at Loyola University Medical Center. I've had no more heart failure and no recurrance of the tumor these five years. However, the remaining kidney chuged and chuged along as well as it could, but that became less and less functional as the months went by, and I got sick.
That's why I have that big gap in the blog. Now I'm fine, thanks to robo-kidney at Loyola, and it's time I got back to business.
The new book,RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON has arrived from the printer, and it's a thing of beauty. Once you've read it, you can decide whether it's a thing of beauty on the inside. More about the story next time.
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