Congrats! Glad that all went well! Everything, barring some colic, will be buttery smooth until the age of approximately 12-13, when this formerly adorable child will 1.) know everything that he or she needs to know to succeed in life and 2.) hates you. The good news, if you can call it that, is that if you can keep him or her alive long enough, the brain kicks in again in the early to mid 20s, and he or she realizes just how smart you are/were and will marvel at just how much shit you endured on his or her behalf.

Or...or...you get lucky and the child behaves like my brother did in his teen years: he rarely leaves the house because he's playing the capture the flag mode for Quake 24/7; if he leaves, he tells you where he is going, what time he is leaving that location, and actually goes/stays there as planned; at most, backs into a friend's car occasionally because, well, he just fuckin' sucks at teh reverse. In that case, you just count your lucky stars and remind yourself that if or when you have another, there is no way in hell you'll luck out twice in a row and have 2 that behave that way.

Finally, I just want to remind you that I once read that if you stand really close to a microwave oven every time it's running, you can become sterile. I read it on the Internets. Or maybe an IRC channel back in the day. Every time I pass one at work, and someone is nuking lunch, I hug that mofo and explain why.

First oncology consultation was today. Based on initial pathology reports, it appears to be the second most common HL type - multiple cellularity HL. However, there is reason to believe it may have jumped to at least one adrenal gland, but further tests/scans will be needed to confirm. Four appointments next week - surgery for a chemo port, bone marrow biopsy, and additional tests/scans to stage. I don't know whether to cry or cry.

Have you considered crying?

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Originally posted by Silky Johnson Have you considered crying?

Only all day, every day. Truth told, however, I suspect my first real, good breakdown will come the first time I see her sick from chemo. I am overly empathetic by nature, and this causes me to "feel" others' pain when I see them hurting. It's why I could never do what you and the wife do for a living. I know, in my mind, that you're both truly helping people. But were I in that role, in person, every time sometime I did to help resulted in visible, physical pain to the person, my mind makes it "real" to me, physically, and I feel sick. Crazy, eh?

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Most def. I am not overly empathetic by nature (I know, shocking), which is exactly what makes it pretty "easy" to do my job. My desire to take care of people doesn't come from that place of deep empathy, but rather a sense of duty to others, not being in a vulnerable or less fortunate position myself. The kind of empathy I have is definitely a consciously learned kind. Compassion would be a better label, although not the first one that comes to mind when describing myself, lol.

You sound like Will Graham (Thomas Harris character from Red Dragon)!

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Originally posted by Silky Johnson Most def. I am not overly empathetic by nature (I know, shocking), which is exactly what makes it pretty "easy" to do my job. My desire to take care of people doesn't come from that place of deep empathy, but rather a sense of duty to others, not being in a vulnerable or less fortunate position myself. The kind of empathy I have is definitely a consciously learned kind. Compassion would be a better label, although not the first one that comes to mind when describing myself, lol. You sound like Will Graham (Thomas Harris character from Red Dragon)!

Sounds like you and the wife are very much cut from the same cloth. Must be a crazy blonde nurse thing. You blonde, JP?

Yes, but come on and learn to stats. Correlation does not imply causation! My crazy has persisted through every hair colour I've had over the years (although blonde is my natural colour).

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Originally posted by Silky Johnson Yes, but come on and learn to stats. Correlation does not imply causation! My crazy has persisted through every hair colour I've had over the years (although blonde is my natural colour).

I've had 6 semester hours of undergrad-level statistics, thank you very much! Just enough to always conflate correlation and causation!

I aim to please, yo.

quote:

Originally posted by Zoso First oncology consultation was today. Based on initial pathology reports, it appears to be the second most common HL type - multiple cellularity HL. However, there is reason to believe it may have jumped to at least one adrenal gland, but further tests/scans will be needed to confirm. Four appointments next week - surgery for a chemo port, bone marrow biopsy, and additional tests/scans to stage. I don't know whether to cry or cry.

That's tough, all I can say is be strong
Let's hope that the other tests at least will be a little better.

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