For those of you that have been reading this blog, you have probably found that it is a little self centered. You have to remember that I am an only child and I reserve the right to act that way. However, there have been a number of people behind the scenes that have helped me get through this so far. Certainly, my family gets high marks for their continued efforts, especially Julia who has to put up with my whining most of the time. Today is being set aside for some of the other people in my life that have made this a little easier.
Right off the top, I have to give kudos to my boss, Kevin, and the rest of those at Isagenix. They have been as understanding as any group of people can be. There is no questioning of where I am or where I am going nearly everyday as I walk out the door for yet another doctor visit. It has been made very clear to me that they want me around for a while and not to push myself. Not sure what I’d do without that backing and caring.
Of course, there have been so many cards, emails and telephone calls from so many of my friends that I can’t even begin to address. Several of our friends in the neighborhood wanted to bring over meals for us when this first started that we would not have had to worry about the next meal for weeks. However, when told of my special diet they decided that gift cards for the boys would work out even better. Now, when Julia and I have late doctor appointments, the boys can just grab a card to Chinese or Mexican and we don’t have to worry about throwing something together for them when we get home. (By, we, I mean Julia.)
But over and above all of this are my special “cancer” friends. It seems that I am not alone in this dreadful fight and having someone there to talk to that is going through the same thing always makes it a little easier.
One of the first that I talked to was Terry M. from Abbott where I worked for 30 years. Terry has been fighting multiple myeloma now for eight years and is currently in remission. He started this battle back when there were virtually no drugs for fighting the disease. I’m much luckier in that there are at least 20 with more on the way. Certainly, his insight helped me get through the first few hundred questions.
Some of you know that I write for an internet site that follows University of Dayton sports. I’ve been writing for that site for almost ten years with articles ranging from the pain felt when one of my favorite players lost his life to when Jason was five and he wanted to devour everything in sight while at a game. I wrote an article about a month ago that touched on the value of getting a physical and through that article (udpride.com) , I met Steve who is also fighting the disease. Great to talk with someone that is fighting the same kidney problems that I am and also into remission.
Since both of my parents have been gone for many years, I have become close to Julia’s family over the last 22 years. My favorite, of course, is my fellow out-law, Fran (Julia’s mother). If any of you know the Millers, you will understand that there is a lot of commonality up and down the Miller family. Fran and I really tend to stick out, but we tend to be a lot alike. I’m afraid a little too alike in that Fran found out that she had cancer 4 days after I did. Since that time, we have had our mutual pep talks and both remain positive about where we are going with this and how we are going to beat it.
How can I talk about anything in my life without bringing up baseball. For the last 10 years, baseball has pretty much decided what we do with our free time. Last year, when Jason and I were in Arizona by ourselves, I had an opportunity to meet a number of great parents from Jason’s summer baseball team. Although I have been considered one of the team moms by many, I really am a dad and struck up a friendship with Jay, one of Jason’s teammates’ dad. Jay is one of those guys that forgot to age which is what I like about him. He sometimes acts as though he were still 12. He thinks he has an arm as good as his son’s but one thing I don’t have to worry about is getting hit with a French Fry when Jay starts up one of his food fights. Sadly, Jay is also fighting the effects of cancer. Nice to have someone to kid with when you are facing a challenge like this.
I’ve gone a little long today and really have one more friend that I need to talk about, but I’m going to save that for tomorrow. See you then.
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