Well, I hope everyone is ready for Thanksgiving. I caught that upper respritory thing that has been going around---not pleasant. It looks like we are not going to be able to have Willie and his family over for Thanksgiving. They are leaving on a cruise Friday and they dont want to expose the kids. I totally agree.
I have had 2 flying lessons. The third got cancelled because the plane wouldnt start. I had to cancel yesterday due to illness. I hope to get out next week assuming I am finally over this stuff.
We leave for Houston on the 6th of December and hope to have the surgery on the 11th and be back here by the first of the year.
Doesnt seem like I do much here lately except lay around---poor Kaye I think she is getting worn out from running around getting all the prescriptions filled.
The consensus is the reason we had to call EMS 3-4 weeks ago was that I had an allergic reaction to one of the scripts. They have changed it and hopefully I wont have to take anymore ambulance rides.
Just talked to my sister-in-law June down in Texas, she said Ron is down working on the house we are staying in down there and they have ordered a new couch. Now that is what I call service.
The house in Pearland, Texas did not get damaged during the hurricane, except for a small leak in the roof, but evidently it tore the trees up and filled the yard with limbs. So my brother age 7o soon to be 71 is chopping up the trees with a chain saw.
I hope everone has a great Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
November 16 2008
It has been a quiet week here at Lake Cedar Creek. Waiting for surgery and trying to heal. The radiation and chemo have played havoc with my digestion tract so I take a variety of pills and solutions.
I took a flying lesson yesterday. We took off from the Downtown Airport in a light sports (not experimental) airplane. It has a bubble canopy and you sit out on the nose of it. The view was great. My instructor was 23 years old and graduated from K-State in their pilot training program. He let me take off and fly but decided he should land it. I am sure I could have landed it but I might have bent it in the process. I think it will take a few more lessons before he will allow me to land. I enjoyed it so I will pursue it for now in sas much as it is a welcome distaction for now. I don't know how far I will pursue it. The expenses of it clash with my cheapness but we will see.
We will leave here December 6 0r 7th and I am sceduled for surgery on the 11th, with luck I will be back the first week of January.
I took a flying lesson yesterday. We took off from the Downtown Airport in a light sports (not experimental) airplane. It has a bubble canopy and you sit out on the nose of it. The view was great. My instructor was 23 years old and graduated from K-State in their pilot training program. He let me take off and fly but decided he should land it. I am sure I could have landed it but I might have bent it in the process. I think it will take a few more lessons before he will allow me to land. I enjoyed it so I will pursue it for now in sas much as it is a welcome distaction for now. I don't know how far I will pursue it. The expenses of it clash with my cheapness but we will see.
We will leave here December 6 0r 7th and I am sceduled for surgery on the 11th, with luck I will be back the first week of January.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
November 8th 2008
So, here is the deal. We met with the KU surgeon yesterday and told him we were going to MD Anderson for a complete work up beginning and second opinion and possibly for the surgery. We will leave here on December 6-7, they test the 8-9-10th and do the surgery on December 11. However if we are not satisfied with MD we will return to KU for Surgery on the 16th. He was very supportive and urged us to get a second opionion and said he could use whatever tests MD used and that he would pencil us in for surgery but to let him know as soon as possible. If we do the surgery in Houston he suggested that we stay there at least one week after being discharged from the hosital in case there were any complications but after that if we returned to KC they can do any follow up. So now we wait!
I will try to fill out the hours with pertinent and insiteful prose---and hopefully very few organ reports.
I will try to fill out the hours with pertinent and insiteful prose---and hopefully very few organ reports.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Thursaya November 6 2008
I wrote an email to my friend Paul this morning and decided that it reflected on how I felt and would like to share it with you.
I woke up early this morning and I feel great but it is a little ridiculous to wake up at 1:30 am toss around until 2:30 am and then get up. Oh, well! I feel very good this morning. Some stomach pain, but really it is so great to feel good after the last few days.
Well, the election is over and I know your guy didn’t win---but don’t you feel a certain amount of pride in the fact that in this country anything is possible and there is little excuse for not trying to reach the stars.
I have always had an idealized concept of this country and the justice system. That is what attracted me to the law and I devoutly believe that everyone—everyone is equal before the law. It has been interesting to watch the various interviews of people on the street and their obvious pride in this country and it’ promise of equal opportunity and that we can all start from where we are at with what we have and seek whatever goal our God given talents allow us to seek.
I just finished the book on Warren Buffett “Snowball”. I urge you to buy it or check it out at the library. Buffett talks about having won the “ovary” and “geographical lottery” born of good parents in country of opportunity. In his comment on taxes he states “if you have two twin brothers born in Bangladesh and you tell them one of you must stay here and the other must go to the U.S. and pay at least 25-30% of your income in taxes, what would you choose.?
I know, I know---the U.S. and no taxes, but Buffett does make an emphatic point. I can see why he and Bill Gates hit it off so well. They are both nerdy guys who, by accident of birth and talent have created wealth beyond belief. The book even talks about why Buffett decided to leave the bulk of his estate to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
There was an article the other day about the Hughes Medical Foundation that was created by Howard Hughes to avoid taxes and it has now become the largest medical charitable foundation in the world and has been responsible for some of the most dramatic changes in medicine. I think that is called serendipity .
As you may suspect I am wired tonight and I have had nothing---I take that back, I went to the Bar luncheon yesterday. I only wish people could know attorneys as I know them---for the most part you will find people who believe in this system and value the rule of law discussing ideas of liberty and justice and who work every day in the trenches to see that these values are infused in to everyday living. I am talking about the everyday average practioner that is helping people.
I often wish I had the skill and will to have become a doctor. A friend of mine says he became a lawyer because he wanted to help people but he didn’t have the talent to be a Doctor.
I have been blessed by the good care of doctors---some with good bed side manners and talent some not so much bedside manner but talented. I read horror stories every so often of those who have lost their way and perform unnecessary procedures to line their pockets, and pharmacists who dilute their medication to increase their profit or lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits---but I know that these are the exceptions and not the rule. It is easy to read the paper and think all is murder and mayhem, but the truth is the reason that it is news is that it is the exception not the rule.
Be safe and hug your family and your friends, and know that you are living in the grandest country in the world, that can always use criticism and improvement, but is nonetheless the land of opportunity.
Will
I woke up early this morning and I feel great but it is a little ridiculous to wake up at 1:30 am toss around until 2:30 am and then get up. Oh, well! I feel very good this morning. Some stomach pain, but really it is so great to feel good after the last few days.
Well, the election is over and I know your guy didn’t win---but don’t you feel a certain amount of pride in the fact that in this country anything is possible and there is little excuse for not trying to reach the stars.
I have always had an idealized concept of this country and the justice system. That is what attracted me to the law and I devoutly believe that everyone—everyone is equal before the law. It has been interesting to watch the various interviews of people on the street and their obvious pride in this country and it’ promise of equal opportunity and that we can all start from where we are at with what we have and seek whatever goal our God given talents allow us to seek.
I just finished the book on Warren Buffett “Snowball”. I urge you to buy it or check it out at the library. Buffett talks about having won the “ovary” and “geographical lottery” born of good parents in country of opportunity. In his comment on taxes he states “if you have two twin brothers born in Bangladesh and you tell them one of you must stay here and the other must go to the U.S. and pay at least 25-30% of your income in taxes, what would you choose.?
I know, I know---the U.S. and no taxes, but Buffett does make an emphatic point. I can see why he and Bill Gates hit it off so well. They are both nerdy guys who, by accident of birth and talent have created wealth beyond belief. The book even talks about why Buffett decided to leave the bulk of his estate to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
There was an article the other day about the Hughes Medical Foundation that was created by Howard Hughes to avoid taxes and it has now become the largest medical charitable foundation in the world and has been responsible for some of the most dramatic changes in medicine. I think that is called serendipity .
As you may suspect I am wired tonight and I have had nothing---I take that back, I went to the Bar luncheon yesterday. I only wish people could know attorneys as I know them---for the most part you will find people who believe in this system and value the rule of law discussing ideas of liberty and justice and who work every day in the trenches to see that these values are infused in to everyday living. I am talking about the everyday average practioner that is helping people.
I often wish I had the skill and will to have become a doctor. A friend of mine says he became a lawyer because he wanted to help people but he didn’t have the talent to be a Doctor.
I have been blessed by the good care of doctors---some with good bed side manners and talent some not so much bedside manner but talented. I read horror stories every so often of those who have lost their way and perform unnecessary procedures to line their pockets, and pharmacists who dilute their medication to increase their profit or lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits---but I know that these are the exceptions and not the rule. It is easy to read the paper and think all is murder and mayhem, but the truth is the reason that it is news is that it is the exception not the rule.
Be safe and hug your family and your friends, and know that you are living in the grandest country in the world, that can always use criticism and improvement, but is nonetheless the land of opportunity.
Will
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
November 4th 2008
Last night I went from exhaustion to hyper. By the time I tried to go to bed I was wired and finally got up read, then went back to bed and still couldnt sleep. After tossing and turning all night I finally dozed for awhile then gave up and got up. I feel much better this morning. I am tired but not exhausted.
I have mentioned that I am trying to think of things to do rather than dwell on the surgery. I began to fixate on the idea of going back to flying. I started making some phone calls and discussed it with a flight school in Gardner. They suggested I talked to a Doctor that gave FAA physicals before I spent a lot of money. They gave me a name and I talked to him yesterday. He was not encouraging. He said that last year he had tried to get someone who had esophageal cancer through but that they were turned down by the FAA.
I think I am going out and taking a few lessons just to have something else to focus on and to see if this is just another crazy pipe dream or something I want to pursue. Who knows, can't quit before I start.
My daughter Christy said that my 14 year old grandson was following my blog so I better not tell any risque jokes---oh I dont know I was telling quite a few dirty jokes when I was that age. Someone asked how many kids and grandkids. I have a son 6'3' and 250 lbs and a daughter 5' and 1/2 inchs (if you leave off the 1/2 inch you get told about it) that my son calls his "big" sister. Christy and Kevin have Jackson, 14 and Bennett 12. Will and Kristy have Zack 11, Kaylee, 6, Kennedy 5 and Maddy 3. Of course we are all like Lake Woebegone people where all the woman are beautiful, all the Men are handsome and all the children are hansome, beautiful and intelligent.
It is always so much fun to hear people talk about their grandchildred. The faces light up as they share some precious moment. Felix and Mary Anne talked about their little 3 year old who walked out on stage at some function and immediately began to dance to everyone's delight. Aw the exhuberance of youth.
I promise not to share any stories, unless of course, it becomes apparent that you need to hear the special qualities displayed by one of my grandchildren that must be shared---none come to mind but just give me a few minutes.
KU Basketball exhitition game tonight---tune in
I have mentioned that I am trying to think of things to do rather than dwell on the surgery. I began to fixate on the idea of going back to flying. I started making some phone calls and discussed it with a flight school in Gardner. They suggested I talked to a Doctor that gave FAA physicals before I spent a lot of money. They gave me a name and I talked to him yesterday. He was not encouraging. He said that last year he had tried to get someone who had esophageal cancer through but that they were turned down by the FAA.
I think I am going out and taking a few lessons just to have something else to focus on and to see if this is just another crazy pipe dream or something I want to pursue. Who knows, can't quit before I start.
My daughter Christy said that my 14 year old grandson was following my blog so I better not tell any risque jokes---oh I dont know I was telling quite a few dirty jokes when I was that age. Someone asked how many kids and grandkids. I have a son 6'3' and 250 lbs and a daughter 5' and 1/2 inchs (if you leave off the 1/2 inch you get told about it) that my son calls his "big" sister. Christy and Kevin have Jackson, 14 and Bennett 12. Will and Kristy have Zack 11, Kaylee, 6, Kennedy 5 and Maddy 3. Of course we are all like Lake Woebegone people where all the woman are beautiful, all the Men are handsome and all the children are hansome, beautiful and intelligent.
It is always so much fun to hear people talk about their grandchildred. The faces light up as they share some precious moment. Felix and Mary Anne talked about their little 3 year old who walked out on stage at some function and immediately began to dance to everyone's delight. Aw the exhuberance of youth.
I promise not to share any stories, unless of course, it becomes apparent that you need to hear the special qualities displayed by one of my grandchildren that must be shared---none come to mind but just give me a few minutes.
KU Basketball exhitition game tonight---tune in
Sunday, November 2, 2008
November 2 2008
This has been a bit of a lost weekend. The steroids went off Friday and I went down for the most difficult weekend so far. It is better this afternoon and I am hopeful that as the chemo wears off I will perk up. Pretty much a waiting game now so there wont be much to report---at least I hope that will be the case. If something comes up I will let you all know.
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