Carpe Diem -- 2/26/01
Sybil has completed her whole brain radiation treatments. She has some great horror stories about seeing flashing lights and smelling her brains cooking. She had days where she forgot what street she lived on. Full brain radiation is a very good thing to be done with and she seems to have come through it remarkably well.
This isn't to say she doesn't have problems. Every day there seems to be some new glitch. Sybil gives me wonderful descriptions of her ailments:
"It feels as if I have something the size of a hockey puck in my head, towards the base of my neck. When I move my head from side to side it seems as if this thing moves at a slightly slower speed."
"My feet feel like water balloons that are only half full. When I come to a stop the water sloshes towards my toes."
Despite her seemingly endless stream of "wentis" (our pet name for "problems", from the Chinese) she often says she's sparing me from even more details. Her energy is relatively good though. Her ambitions are boundless.
Question: "What would you do if someone told you that you only had six months to live?"
Answer: "Exactly what you were doing the day before."
Bonus point addition: "-- cause they're wrong."
Sybil would get full marks plus bonus on this pop quiz. Her attitude is amazing lately. She diligently takes her medicines and EPA fish oil. She exercises by walking up and down the hall. She researches her cancer and tries to help other cancer patients. She's reading the Bible. She makes long-term plans. She's starting to cook again. She even did the laundry yesterday!
Her doctors sometimes hiss "denial!" in my ears, but I'm all for it. There's no other way to live. Too many people prematurely embrace death. Many people give up years before they actually depart. What's the advantage to that?
Whatever the future holds Sybil is very much alive right now.
Matt Donath
Mdonath@yahoo.com