Hello ALL -
It's been early 2018 since I last posted. I only have one excuse. I got sick.
Actually, I finally got a diagnosis from the local Well Center that I had a mass. But, that wasn't until November of 2018. I guess you could say, I was stubborn about seeing that my body was suffering. At the time, all I could think of was getting bills paid and prepping for my intent to rejoin my daughter and the grandkids since I knew I would be retiring soon.... and it blinded me to what was really happening.
My Diagnosis was Cancer. Yet, no one could definitively tell me when I had come down with it, nor exactly what type it was other than it being near or on my kidney. So, we called it RENAL.
Defining what was wrong with me, was relatively quick. And, luckily, I chose the best, most supportive Hospital without knowing it at the time. And, a month later they were operating to remove what they could so that I might survive. I lost my Left Kidney and a couple of lymph nodes inside of my spine.
As you can surmise, it all ended up going pretty well. And, I am here to tell the tale.
I am like all here, a huge Stephen Donaldson fan. When I had joined initially, I had joined just so I could read the opinions of others. I wanted to hear your flavor in the telling of YOUR reading the Chronicles... how you felt when Covenant would finally return home again having Saved the Land.
Many of you are most certainly more adept and descriptive than I. Imagine the shock I first had of finding Kevin's Watch to begin with. Nowadays, I doubt I would have called it anything else, either. It's a perfect Blog/Forum Name.
Back to my posting - After surgery, I spent roughly a year committed to what they now call Immunotherapy... which I found out later on, is still a form of chemical chemo, or what I would call Chemo-Lite. When you research the medicine they gave me, it instantly refers you to the Chemo page on the Internet.
The meds slowly caused my body to change and after about 6 months, my hair all began to turn white. Not grey mind you, but totally white. Not bad mind you, but it sure made me look ancient.
Since surgery, back in Dec 2018, things have slowly gotten better and as of Father's Day in 2020, I was given permission to return to the Health CLub and work on getting my strength back. Trust me, after getting cancer, the human body does not respond all that well to hard exercise. But, by Thanksgiving, I had added more muscle back which the cancer had stolen.
Cancer can take it right out of you. By that, I mean energy. You see, your hemoglobin is what controls your stamina and your strength. And, nominally healthy men should have a rate of 14-16 when the blood is tested for this. When I found out what was wrong with me, they said mine was 5.6 on the scale. Essentially, they thought it was crazy that I had managed to get out of bed and drive myself to the hospital.
Note - to the men - Cancer robs you of your strength as I had said, but it also causes severe E.D. And, for many, that can be the last thing a patient might regain. It all depends mostly I guess on how high the return of your hemoglobin might get. Currently, I feel like mine is 12-13. Not bad, but not what it used to be, either.... a work in progress.
UPDATE = While I've been recuperating, I've managed to get my SRD hardback collection caught up and right now, I am missing roughly 3-4 of his books.
I am reading Fatal Revenaut as we speak. So, don't spoil it, please.
I recently found separate hard backs of The King's Justice & The Augur's Gambit. They're printed up without Dust Jackets, preferring to use the old 1950's method of inking the actual hard cover, which I like. A lot of my sports novels from when I was a kid are done like that.
I will pick up The War Within, early this next week. That leaves The Last Repository for God's War.
I would like to add - I am fortunate to survive the Big C. It's not lost on me. I relish sitting back to read everyone's comments since I've been away.
I will say Linden suffering the gunshot at the fire as she did was a surprise. And, the closing of the Caesure which permitted use of the Illearth Stone thru time, was righteous. A Well Done!
Once I am done with reading the Last Chronicles, I will obviously have to return to Book One and start all over. I figure it to be my Winter Crusade now that I am retired and the grand ikids are around me.
Check it out - I even have a pristine collection of THE MAN WHO series. A very hard to find set of SRD.
More to follow .... Cheers!
Surviving and Returning To Talk About It
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Fist and Faith
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Enjoy the books...I'm planning a re-read soon myself. And must get the new series at some point.