Cabbages & Kings

Wow! A lot has happened since I last checked in. My wife's cancer is still with us, though growing slowly. We have moved from daily injections to a once a month "depot" injection administered at the doc's office. It is a kind of "slow release" treatment.

She chose a doc on the West Coast. That entails frequent flyer miles. She really likes the doc, so the trips are no problem, comparatively. She deals with this issue much better than do I. She goes hard all the time, with no regard for herself. I tend to be overly protective of her. Others who observe her clearly forget she has a serious illness. She controls the diahrrea by avoiding food. Eventually, that makes her weak. She has to stop then. The result is the occasional collapse for a few days.

While I am at it, let me chide those who are certain that cancer, or other serious illness, must be the result of some bad habit. I have been asked by acquaintances what caused her disease. If she knew, don't you think she would have changed it? She never smoked and she worked out regularly. Quite simply, bad things sometimes happen to good people. If there might be an identifiable cause, it is a teaching career in an inner city school district. Tremendous stress does wear on the body. Still, many others from many walks of life are also stricken.

Which brings me to an issue. There must be some kind of national health insurance in this country soon. My wife and I are fortunate that we have insurance. What must others do that cannot afford the treatments, which cost about seven grand a month? What must they do? They must die! As for the objections that such a move will result in long waits for service and poor care, let them try to get into M.D. Anderson in less than six months. And once they are there, I defy them to feel like anything other than one of the lowing herd. The treatment may well be effective in many cases, but it is delivered to patients en masse.

We go on.