Big C & Me (01)

On 11 July, buried in the 'Cancer Engine' post I said:

I think that pretty well does it for the Cancer Song. Come my next
birthday mebbe I'll give you an up-date... if anyone even bothers to
ask. But the odds are we will all be up to our arm-pits in various
projects. PAST history about a SUCCESSFUL project is really kinda
boring.

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Because this Group is about Homebuilt Airplanes.

Then one of you guys wandered into the hangar and said; 'Yeah... but
that's a part of it too."

Not maudlin curiosity but sincere interest. After all, it's the one
Flight we're all scheduled to fly yet one we tend to ignore, hoping
for a cancellation.

By the time I was on my second cuppa coffee several of you had checked
in with similar requests. And then someone asked: "Should you be
drinking that stuff?"

My bark of laughter brought my wife on the run and that made it even
funnier. Here I am with the ticket in my hand and someone's worried
that a second cup of coffee might be BAD for me?

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So... okay. The reality is Big C in the form of multiple myeloma.
It's a card on the table and ignoring it ain't gonna make it go away.
So let me give you a whiff of this particular Reality.

The button was missing from the right cuff of my shirt.

I don't know if there's a Book of Rules for getting through this sort
of thing but my first hack at it is Business As Usual. You can take
that as meaning no lolly-gagging in a bathrobe. Get dressed, have
breakfast and get to work. I can't stand up for very long but there's
plenty of chores I can do sitting down, so off we go.

Except the button was MISSING from that damned shirt! Good, sturdy
khaki shirt. Goes with the levis and the boots. And that meant the
REALITY of having cancer was to dig into the cup of found shirt-
buttons, go over to the dresser and get my sewing kit, then wander
into the kitchen and sew on the button while June scrambled us some
eggs as we chatted about this & that.

Properly buttoned, the sewing kit had to be returned to it's
accustomed place and that meant hiking across the house using a cane.
With the kit properly stowed the computer presented itself for
attention with about two dozen messages, most asking for help with a
sick VW, plus a growing list of airplane people taking the time to say
they thought the Big C should NOT be ignored.

So it won't be. But I've got a hunch the Reality of my particular
brand of cancer is going to be more about buttons and breakfast --
about continuing to do what I can -- than some sort of Medicine
Show.

Fer instance... leaving a mess for someone else to clean-up isn't my
idea of how things should be done. If you feel the same then it means
we've already found some common ground; the Big C will have to fend
for itself.

-R.S.Hoover