Just Look for the Union Label

So Dad got a clean bill of health from his oncologist (as clean as you can get after 3 bouts w/ cancer). Going North to bury my Gram next week. Can't wait to be around some slightly more sane people. The neurosurgeon gave me the all clear. Eight months since the surgery looking good and feeling good. More later - I'm beat.

Sudoku

For whatever reason I have become addicted to Sudoku. I started doing the one in the morning paper every morning. It drives me crazy if I can't solve it before the next paper comes.

DAD

   My Dad has cancer. Again. Lymph nodes and liver - spread from his bladder. The bladder cancer was over  7 yrs ago but one lil cell has been tooling along looking for a place to set shop up. He's doing chemo - he was bad for about 1 week but he's doing a bit better.

When I was a child I would make him march up and down our driveway with me.  Practice for someday when I got married.  Well I'm not even close to being married. There was one thing I never practiced with him - the father/daughter dance(he dislikes dancing). I asked him last week if when he felt stronger we could have that dance. He said yes and on New Years Eve we had our dance. I cried the whole time, but I was also very happy. So no matter how this ends up my Dad danced with me on my wedding.

When It Rains It Pours

So I got my health pretty much squared away and now my Dad has been diagnosed with cancer(liver & lymph nodes). The doctors are giving him 60% chance for survival. He started chemo last Wednesday - he's having a hard time. 

monkey see, monkey don't go there

The Republicans are pulling it out of their (collective) asses. They are so desperate to win this November that they are attempting to reinvent "Hillary". For the record Sarah Palin is no Hillary. However she might be a female version of Pat Robertson or James Dobson. Actually I think she is more dangerous than those two. No choice for abortion EVER - even in cases of rape and incest. She does not believe in equal rights for GLBT persons. Approves teaching creationism in our Science classrooms, banning books, abstinence-only sex education, drilling in ANWAR and home schooling. She endorses aerial hunting of wolves and bear. Proclaims herself as a hunter and outdoors woman but cares nothing about the environment or conservation. In fact she does not believe global warming is man-made and does not think polar bears are endangered. She is a rabid fundamentalist evangelical christian who truly believes "God" is on her side. If McCain equals 4 more years of Bush I truly wonder what 4 or 8 years of Sarah Palin is equal to... I hope we never find out.

illness

Illness is funny. Sometimes what the actual cause is doesn't seem to relate to the symptoms at all. In November I started with constant diarrhea and abdominal pain. By December I started to lose feeling in my hands. After the New Year the tingling and numbness spread thru both arms, legs, face and neck. After every test you can imagine they narrowed it down to two things. MS or damaged vertebrae. After a lumbar puncture this month they ruled out MS. So now I have to sit with the pain until September 12th - that's when the surgeon can see me. The pain is in my spine now (woohoo) but at least they got the diarrhea under control. Ok enough crabbing for now.

I've been very ill

I have just felt awful. Had lots of gross tests done. Preliminary results: hiatal hernia, ibs, gastric polyps and gastritis.