Friday, August 15, 2008

What Brings You Here?

It's 1:30 am.  I had chemo yesterday and it usually makes me wake up in the middle of the night. But this time it is thunder and lightning.  I don't think I have ever seen lightning in LA, and yet I have been counting it every 30 seconds for the past 45 minutes.  Evidently it doesn't work like sheep because I'm still awake.

There's not much chance it will bring rain.  That would be way too bizarre for Southern California in August.  It looks more like what we called "heat lightning" when we were kids.

Exactly as I typed that, the sprinklers in the yard came on, as if they sensed what was missing.

I'm fairly sure that the majority of my readers don't sign on for a weather update.  Why do you sign on?  I doubt that it is for more information about my grandmother.  If it's for an update on my health, I appreciate that so much.  My oncologist told me yesterday that my PET Scan was clear and we will schedule a bone marrow biopsy this week to determine if indeed this next chemo treatment is my last.

If I sound nonchalant  about that, it's because that is how the oncologist presents it to me. After chatting with him for 15 minutes about the Olympics, and figuring he was delaying bad news, I finally asked about the scans and he said, "Yeah, they look good."  So I ask, "Does that mean the cancer is gone if the bone marrow test is clear?"  He says, "Well we'll see." And then immediately transitions into, "You know Michael Phelps has a ligament disease, which makes him amphibian-like." 

If you sign on to my blog for humor, I want you to go to my favorite funny video.  www.YouTube.com, and type in "MadTV, Wizard of Oz alternate ending."  No matter how many times I watch it, I still laugh out loud.

If you sign on for comforting words of wisdom, I'm working on that.  Remember, it's the middle of the night right now.  My next blog will be brilliant!

The lightning, the thunder, and the sprinklers have all stopped.  It is very peaceful now.  I think I might take a walk up to Sunset Blvd. just because I've never done that at 2:00 am.  I might be very popular if I'm glowing in the dark from the chemo.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are correct, but not totally. I don't read your blogs for a weather update. I do want to hear how you are doing. BUT, most important I love to read anything you write. I love the way you look at life, from the silly stuff to the heavy subjects that you always put in a simple but eloquent perspective.

I seem to check periodically every day to see if there is a new blog. And if there is, for some reason I have a smile as I hit the bookmark that allows me to see more of what Bill is about.

Anonymous said...

Bill, for some reason, every time I
post a comment, the computer says my password is incorrect. From now on I will put my name at the end. The first comment on your last blog was mine,

Elaine

STU said...

found this blog via TLLS site.

i've bascially been diagnosed w/ NHL. i have some CTs this week and then a biopsy the following week to see how far along i am.

this is all new and weird to me. i haven't told family or friends yet, until i know more. just my wife knows.

i'm 31, live in the silver lake area of LA.

not really sure what else to share right now...

Anonymous said...

Why do I read? Selfish really, I love how you make me feel and think and emote (is that the right word?). You always know just the right combinations of words to express such a wide range of life lessons.... from cancer to nuns and breast milk!!!! I love ya, Bill...... hugs from Switzerland. ang