August 31, 2011

  • Some Scary News Today

     

    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    I got a call from the Cousin's wife this morning.  It seems the Cousin had surgery yesterday for bladder cancer.    The first thought I had was *OMG!  Just like the Beast!*  His doctor did the chemo on him this morning, however.  He wasn't going to wait after removing three tumors from the bladder.  What is so strange is the doctor didn't think there was more than one small one in there from his original exam but they were coated with something or other.  The Cousin was catheterized after surgery because he wasn't able to relieve his bladder after surgery.  Plus, the doctor wanted to do the same kind of chemo that the Beast got.

    The Cousin's wife wasn't aware that the Beast had to go through that for six weeks.  I got the phone number for the Cousin at the hospital and gave it to the Beast so he could call him.  His first words to his cousin were, *You copycat!  I can think of a lot of other things you could have copied if you had only asked!*

    The thing that struck us all was that the Brother should probably go in to a urologist and be checked.  This seems to be a family thing.  The Beast and the Cousin have always been close....like brothers, actually....and his mother and the Beast's father were siblings.  The father didn't suffer from this that we know about but so much was not told to us.  We do know he had some major kidney problems and who knows?  It might have been related.

    So prayers for the Cousin, please.  He has, however, decided that if the bladder needs to be removed and he has to have a permanent bag, he will do it.  That's partly because of his wife's condition.  She has had an amputation (years ago) due to a wound on her leg that got some kind of rare infection.  She has had a cancerous tumor in her neck removed.  She had pharmaceutical leukemia at one point.    Her hair turned completely white!  When they finally got that under control and she recovered, her hair actually came back in her natural brown.  I was a bit surprised.

    She developed an allergy to ALL anesthesia medications.  They even tried some that were in development but it causes her heart to stop and they had a hard time reviving her.  She developed osteoporosis over the years and when she fell a couple months ago, she injured her hip.  If she could be operated on, they would give her a new hip but they can't.  She's now unable to walk without falling with her prosthesis so they have put her permanently in an electric wheelchair.  **Sigh**  That's what the Cousin deals with and he says they both can't be *out of it* so he will do what he must.  Very different attitude from the Beast.

    Love you all.  The Princess was sick today so she didn't work and I didn't get Chewlee.  I took advantage of that and just rested once again.  The Beast pretty much did the same but he will be busy around here tomorrow again.  Take care of yourselves.  Don't neglect your health.  Even though the Cousin knew all the details of the Beast's problems, he still chose to ignore the blood in his urine until it was copious.  Don't be foolish.  Get your butts into the doctor at the first sign that anything is out of the ordinary.  Life is short enough.