The "C: Word Part 2

Well, it's been two weeks since my wife's surgery. She's healing just fine and feeling much better. We had a follow-up visit with her surgeon and got the pathology report on the cancer. It is neuroendocrine carcinoma, not a very pleasant type of the disease. We were referred to a doctor who is part of a skull based tumor team based in Barrow's Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital here in Phoenix. The good news is that he's on our insurance and we met with him this week. Now we await a time to have an MRI and PET scan at St. Joes.

After that we meet with the radiologist to learn the stage of the disease. From what we've been told the tumor board will then meet to discuss Vicki's case and recommend a treatment plan. The oncologist has already indicated it will most likely be both chemo and radiation with a chance of more surgery as well.

The oncologist was very upbeat and energetic about getting Vicki in the program and started on treatment. We both feel blessed that a team of doctors is available here to treat Vicki. Now we are all about getting on with the tests and treatments.

Oh, and as luck or fate or whatever would have it, Vicki got a call from a local non-profit she had applied to and will have a second interview this coming week. All this in spite of the fact she told them at their initial call that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Amazing!?

My role as husband here seems defined by my wife's needs and my need to stay employed and insured. So far things have seemed to work out in our favor and I pray they will continue that way.

RT

The "C" Word

My wife had her surgery yesterday. The removal of the large tumor in her sinus cavity was successful, but the tumor was malignant. Now we wait to find out exactly what kind of cancer it is and how we go about fighting it.

I spent time these last couple of days researching paranasal cancers. There is a good deal of information from sites like NIH (national institutes of health) that inform the laymen what the sinuses are, where they are and what kinds of cancer happen there.

This particular type of cancer is rare. It is especially rare in women. As always my wife (the most beautiful and unique woman ever to come in to my life) has found yet another way to express her singularity.

We have a followup appointment with the surgeon this Friday. We may or may not know the results of the stained tissue samples at that time.

Vicki is doing well following the surgery; at least now she can breath through her nose again.

I am supposed to return to work tomorrow. My heart is not in it yet now more than ever i need a job and the insurance that comes with it.

At some point I will most likely get good and drunk and cry. But not now and not where Vicki can see me.

For now I still hold out the foolish hope that the tests will come back with the most easily cured type or better yet they'll find the initial biopsy flawed and tell us the tumor was benign after all.

Please say a prayer for Vicki....and for me.

RT

Father's Day 2010

Well, this week started off with depressing news for me on the medical front. The blood tests I took came back and my doctor informed me that I am type 2 diabetic with high cholesterol. I am now on medication for the cholesterol and my diet has changed dramatically. Still, it could be worse, at least I'm able to take steps now to get the diabetes under control without the need of insulin therapy and if I can eat properly and exercise my condition should improve.

The weekend was spent chilling out and enjoying sports on the tube. The world cup, though annoying due to the lame horns, did provide some entertainment. In addition the U S Open golf championship brought some excitement as well as some disappointments.

A couple of my kids called today. My oldest son who resides in Atlanta and my middle daughter who lives in Enid, Oklahoma lifted my spirits with news of their lives.

So overall this was a good Father's Day.

I hope yours was good as well.

RT

Bringing home the Bacon

So, I guess you heard I got a job. Well, if you haven't heard, then let me tell ya now that I did indeed find gainful employment. So far it seems like a pretty good job, with a great company and pretty good benefits. I will admit that it feels very good to be back in the workforce and even better to once again provide for my family.

We'd been doing OK on the funds from the sale of our last home, but that was destined to run out at some point. Now, we're able to actually think about the possibility of both of us working and becoming prosperous again. (though to a lesser degree than in the old economy)

And that brings me to the really good news we got this week. Vicki will be going in to interview for a job on this coming Tuesday.

If there were any justice in our economy or the slightest bit of fairness, she would have been employed months before I found work. But we all know that isn't the case in our country, perhaps not in any country, that the best qualified and hardest workers always get the best jobs first. So, a semi-slacker like myself gets a good gig and my hard working and vastly qualified spouse sits at home.

Such is the plight of the working class today. Your fate rests on the spin of the wheel, the quirks, age and attitude of the interviewer and in my wife's case perhaps the gender as well. She has sensed the reluctance of young female interviewers to pass her along to the next step. We think it's the intimidation factor of her age, experience and qualifications. A case where the better qualified she is for the position the better chance she has of not getting it.

It would be funny were it not so frustrating and unfair for Vicki.

Wish her luck this next week, will ya?

RT

A short post on spam comments and spam creators

A while ago I discovered that some people were posting spam comments on this blog.

To alleviate this problem I instituted moderation on the blog comments. Now each time I write a new post I check for them and delete the nefarious spam.

To those individuals who thought they could use this blog to propagate and advertise their spam bullshit, I have just one comment. Bite Me!

On an entirely different topic, my wife had a good time at the Renaissance Fair this year, though not as good as in the past. The idea of a girl's day somehow eluded some of the family participants and it just didn't turn out to be the quality female bonding experience it had been in the past. Knowing my wife and daughters I'm sure they'll find another event and time to replace it. They are a loving and tightly knit group, so they'll figure it out.

Vicki and I are headed to the Chandler Jazz festival tonight. The stately San Marcos Hotel is a great place to kick back and listen to live music while eating the Hotel's awesome Quesadillas.

Take your wife someplace nice this weekend and tell her you love her.

RT

Away from the Blog for far too long

I apologize for the long interval since my last post. Things had been sticky with job hunting and family and you know, life. On the bright side, I finally got a good job with a good company. On the dark side, my wife would have preferred to be the one going back to work. She is feeling down about not getting hired. I am doing my best to remind her what a great worker she is and how valuable an employee she will be be when she does get hired, but in the meantime she's disappointed with her situation.

She has been so supportive of my needs during the first week of my employment that I bragged a little to my coworkers. I am grateful for her support and care. When you've been out of work for a while it takes a bit to get back into the schedule and flow.

We celebrated my first week of work this Friday with some dancing and a visit to one of the local Casinos. We listened to a great band and actually managed to leave with not only our money, but a couple of bucks of the Casino's as well. The night turned into the wee hours keeping us there till early morning though and it's taken the whole weekend to recuperate from the adventure.

Things are going fairly well with the rest of the family. Vicki is planning the girl's yearly outing to the Renaissance Festival for next weekend and it looks like they'll have quite a group again this year. I look forward to seeing more pictures from their outing. Last year it was a great set of pics with the Tortuga Twins.

One of the great pleasures of Husbandhood is being able to take joy in your spouse's independent activities and achievements. I know this annual girl's outing is a fantastic way for the women of the family to bond and enjoy themselves absent the filters needed when in the company of the male family members. This event and others like it allow my wife to stay close to our daughters, her mother and her sisters. While men can't replicate the closeness and essence of feminine relationships, we can at least take comfort that our wives have them. Women without those bonds tend to be psychotic and strange.

Take it from me. The last thing you want in your life is that.

Hang in there my fellow husbands.

RT

Meeting our first blog friend

I received an e-mail a couple of weeks ago from an excellent writer and my blog friend Lisa Wines. She authors "Politics after 50" and "OMyWord", two great blogs that she pens from her apartment on the right bank of the Seine River in Paris.

She was coming back to America, Phoenix in fact, and wanted to know if I would like to get together. My answer was: Abso - fricking - lutely! I have lived my life vicariously through her exploits in Paris and we both have enjoyed the other's take on politics and life on our blogs. I was anxious to meet my first blog friend face to face.

Vicki and I met her at our local Starbucks and I spent the entire time grilling the poor woman about life in Paris, customs, language, culture, business, hobbies, sports and fifty thousand other questions about life in an exciting foreign country's capitol. I even managed to learn two, count em, two, French words. The first is "arondissment" which is means district or something to that effect. Each section of Paris is numbered and the sections resemble the parts of a spiral sea shell. It is pronounced "A- Ron- Dis-Mon".

The second word was "Boulangerie." This is a bread shop. Each district has several, and each day after work Parisians line up to get there bread before going home for the evening meal. This one is pronounced Boo - lingerie. Like in what they sell at Victoria's secret

Anyway... So much time was spent in getting to know each other that before we knew it, it was close to dinner time. Lisa followed us back to our place just a few blocks from the Starbucks. We had intended to grill, but after discussing it with our guest, we settled on Chinese takeout. Lisa explained that Chinese was just too different in Paris. As luck would have it, we have an excellent Chinese food establishment close by.

After gorging ourselves on egg rolls, pot stickers, chicken - both orange and cashew, we moved out to the patio. There we continued the conversation, smoked (Lisa a few cigarettes and me a good cigar), imbibed a few adult beverages and exchanged political views, thoughts and impressions. Of course I asked more questions about life in Paris. Both Vicki and I were fascinated by the lifestyle experienced by Lisa.

Sometime during the evening I dug out my guitar and learned that Lisa has a great Blues voice. It's hard to not like a chick that knows the blues.

So... my first experience meeting a blog friend turned out to be pretty cool.

Hopefully we'll get to see her one more time before she heads back to Paris. I'd like to hear her sing a couple more blues songs while I lay down a jam. Also, there's still some whiskey left at my house and we should probably work on that too.

Life is a funny, beautiful and wondrous thing; so is meeting your first blog friend in person.

The Daily Husband