2 days at Northwestern for surgery.....not much rope left

I will probably be off the forum for about a week as I have one more surgery on the liver. Normally, when they could use radiation with the mini beads on the liver tumors, the surgery was very early, and they would let me go about four pm. This time because my liver is about done, they will keep me in the hospital for a day doing labs and getting liver readings for a day. I am hoping I will be able to make thanksgiving but the use of chemo in this embolization will restrict me from being around people with colds for about ten days and I hope I can make thanksgiving, so just in case, I spent last night with the granddaughters talking about everything important in their lives.....they sense the changes, but I am so thankful to have the opportunity to talk to them about the operation.

I will never understand why I have gotten this much time when all the mortality tables with endocrine should have had me dead three years ago. I just do not try to understand it anymore. I feel blessed with the extra time.

2seaoat wrote:I will probably be off the forum for about a week as I have one more surgery on the liver.  Normally, when they could use radiation with the mini beads on the liver tumors, the surgery was very early, and they would let me go about four pm.   This time because my liver is about done, they will keep me in the hospital for a day doing labs and getting liver readings for a day.  I am hoping I will be able to make thanksgiving but the use of chemo in this embolization will restrict me from being around people with colds for about ten days and I hope I can make thanksgiving, so just in case, I spent last night with the granddaughters talking about everything important in their lives.....they sense the changes, but I am so thankful to have the opportunity to talk to them about the operation.

I will never understand why I have gotten this much time when all the mortality tables with endocrine should have had me dead three years ago.   I just do not try to understand it anymore.   I feel blessed with the extra time.

My thoughts and prayers for you. Pls. keep us posted.

Pulling for you here, too, Sea. Will be waiting for word, preferably of the successful variety.

Best of luck. Congrats on the AU win yesterday.

They have to win the Iron bowl, but with two loss total they are out of the Championship series. If Mississippi State beat Alabama, and Auburn beat Alabama, the question would be whether a two loss SEC team would make the Championship. At this point it should be Wisconsin, OK, Alabama......and probably Clemson. I was really upset how Nick Saban out coached the Mississippi coach in the fourth quarter. Auburn could have been playing in the National championship series.

Seaoat, you've got to stay around awhile so I can gloat when my team doesn't make it to the playoffs this year with Cutler at the helm.
I've got nobody else to gloat to, and with them blowing the season, it seems you could at least offer that much comfort to me.
It is all about me, you know.

Seriously, I wish you all the best. You are obviously a tough old bird . it's the tough ones that survive Thanksgiving- nobody wants a tough Turkey on the table.
Rest up and come back soon. It wouldn't be the same place without you.

Miami will play Monday Night, and I will be out of it. I still think Miami will surprise.

Hope everything goes well and gets good results, with as little discomfort as possible. You'll be in my thoughts.

I am in a very good place following liver surgery Monday. I did take the time to write my own obituary with a little humor. After I pass I will have my wife post the same on the forum. However, right now I am very optimistic that I might be able to repeat this surgery one more time in the spring, and that their attack of this tumor may reduce the pain I have been experiencing. More time is good. Sometimes we take time for granted. I have been blessed with the wisdom that each minute counts. I will know next Monday if I can make a dinner with about twenty people with our friends from Biloxi who they and their friends lost everything and are coming up next Monday to spend time with people who had helped them. A great group of people and only hope the chemo part of this does not knock me on my asz.....but I am going.

Very happy you got good results! More time is always a good thing... I'm hoping you won't get to use that obituary for a good long while. And hope the dinner will be fun.

Zsomething said it all -- as usual!

Good news.

One week after surgery and the chemo spillage in the lung has been unpleasant, but this was really not that asz kicking surgery I was led to believe. This is pretty much like all the other embolizations surgeries where the liver takes a hit and I am tired. I am encouraged that I may be strong enough to do this one more time. The group from Biloxi came up and thanked about twenty of us who had helped them after Katrina. It is funny because I was having my diseased gall bladder taken out when I had to deal with that crisis and finding money to take care of 25 refugees who stayed at my place. These were all golf buddies who I simply going into surgery said we had to raise money for these folks. Each person at that table came through big time and by the time I was released from the hospital we had raised enough to get air mattress and sleeping bags for 20 people plus plenty of cash for food and personal necessities, and they stayed at my new residence for four months before getting back to Biloxi. Some of the kids who were infants at the time were there, and it was very heart warming to see what great kids they had become. The one son wanted to meet the lady who had made that painting in his room since Katrina, and my wife sat and talked with him for a half hour. He is being recruited for football now in the SEC and is 6 4 and two hundred and fifty pounds center and defensive end. He is a straight A student. I saw the looks on the kids faces as their mother gave me a big hug and started crying because of how much I have declined. I had people holding my hands and praying for me. After we got in the car, I said to my wife.....ahhh.....do I look that bad? She replied yes. damn it was hard to keep my composure with the sadness I created last night. Nine years of fighting this battle, and I could hide the damage for the most part, but a week after liver surgery with chemo spillage in the lungs....I probably should have stayed at home, but I probably never will see most of these people again, so despite the emotions, it was a good night.

I'm really glad that you made it thru that gathering... not for you... but the people that care for you. The gatherings I host each summer are getting tougher. There were two particularly... 14 and 15 people. I just did what I can. I bbq and help keep things tidy... drove the speedboat to pull the kids on tubes once each visit. I've been training my kids and their cousins for a few years now... so they take over after that. I hurt for a few days after... but it's just so damn fun. Anyway... I'm very aware of the impressions we can make on the younger generation. In the long run that's all we really leave behind. A person is rare that people talk about 20 years later... 50 is even more rare.

Seaoat and Pkrbum. ..you two are amazing.

You know I wish it was that simple, but I am just playing the cards I have been dealt, and so far those cards are winning. I realize my chip count is low, but heck in poker and in life it is playing the game. We are leaving for thanksgiving on Wed. My wife and granddaughter will cook the turkey. The granddaughters are really excited. I was worried about making it, but you can bet I will be there.

2seaoat wrote:You know I wish it was that simple, but I am just playing the cards I have been dealt, and so far those cards are winning.  I realize my chip count is low, but heck in poker and in life it is playing the game.  We are leaving for thanksgiving on Wed.  My wife and granddaughter will cook the turkey.  The granddaughters are really excited.  I was worried about making it, but you can bet I will be there.

Enjoy... it is all about family.

My granddaughters will be coming over today. We will make all the casseroles and side dishes today. It is very special for us.

Joanimaroni wrote:

2seaoat wrote:You know I wish it was that simple, but I am just playing the cards I have been dealt, and so far those cards are winning.  I realize my chip count is low, but heck in poker and in life it is playing the game.  We are leaving for thanksgiving on Wed.  My wife and granddaughter will cook the turkey.  The granddaughters are really excited.  I was worried about making it, but you can bet I will be there.

Enjoy... it is all about family.

My granddaughters will be coming over today. We will make all the casseroles and side dishes today. It is very special for us.

That sounds awesome. I bet those kids make those dishes and credit you the rest of their lives.

What a wonderful gift.

2seaoat wrote:You know I wish it was that simple, but I am just playing the cards I have been dealt, and so far those cards are winning.  I realize my chip count is low, but heck in poker and in life it is playing the game.  We are leaving for thanksgiving on Wed.  My wife and granddaughter will cook the turkey.  The granddaughters are really excited.  I was worried about making it, but you can bet I will be there.

I never was a big Blood Sweat & Tears fan, but I do love this song. The riff is badass and the message is right on:



"Go down gambling
Say it when you're running low
Go down gambling
You may never have to go."

So, keep at it. And have a great Thanksgiving with the granddaughters! Hope everything will be fun.

PkrBum wrote:

Joanimaroni wrote:

2seaoat wrote:You know I wish it was that simple, but I am just playing the cards I have been dealt, and so far those cards are winning.  I realize my chip count is low, but heck in poker and in life it is playing the game.  We are leaving for thanksgiving on Wed.  My wife and granddaughter will cook the turkey.  The granddaughters are really excited.  I was worried about making it, but you can bet I will be there.

Enjoy... it is all about family.

My granddaughters will be coming over today. We will make all the casseroles and side dishes today. It is very special for us.

That sounds awesome. I bet those kids make those dishes and credit you the rest of their lives.

What a wonderful gift.

I love tradition! They come cook with me all the time but the marathon cooking is the best.

zsomething wrote:

2seaoat wrote:You know I wish it was that simple, but I am just playing the cards I have been dealt, and so far those cards are winning.  I realize my chip count is low, but heck in poker and in life it is playing the game.  We are leaving for thanksgiving on Wed.  My wife and granddaughter will cook the turkey.  The granddaughters are really excited.  I was worried about making it, but you can bet I will be there.

I never was a big Blood Sweat & Tears fan, but I do love this song.  The riff is badass and the message is right on:



"Go down gambling
Say it when you're running low
Go down gambling
You may never have to go."

So, keep at it.  And have a great Thanksgiving with the granddaughters!  Hope everything will be fun.

Saw them in concert 3 times. The first 2 were great. In the second concert David Clayton Thomas sang the first set and when the second set started Chuck Negron replaced Thomas and did all of 3 Dog Nights hits. Bo Bice was the lead singer at the third concert so it was kind of like watching a good tribute band.

PkrBum wrote:

Joanimaroni wrote:

2seaoat wrote:You know I wish it was that simple, but I am just playing the cards I have been dealt, and so far those cards are winning.  I realize my chip count is low, but heck in poker and in life it is playing the game.  We are leaving for thanksgiving on Wed.  My wife and granddaughter will cook the turkey.  The granddaughters are really excited.  I was worried about making it, but you can bet I will be there.

Enjoy... it is all about family.

My granddaughters will be coming over today. We will make all the casseroles and side dishes today. It is very special for us.

That sounds awesome. I bet those kids make those dishes and credit you the rest of their lives.

What a wonderful gift.

I ended up with 6 edited 7 grandkids....2yr old and 5 yr old were there to have fun.

They chopped celery and onions for the Dressing. Helped make the sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn souffle, squash, lima beans with ham,  peeled and boiled potatoes for the mashed potatoes . Made the cranberry fluff and broccoli casserole.

Cookies out of the oven and pies going in.....


I could not have done it without them. The ham and turkey are prepped and ready for tomorrow.

Wow... what a spread..!! I'm cooking two turkeys tomorrow. One smothered and stuffed w bacon in the oven... and one fried. I hope the rest of the pilgrims come up with half of the variety you have.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone..!!

PS: Please let the lions win.

PkrBum wrote:Wow... what a spread..!! I'm cooking two turkeys tomorrow. One smothered and stuffed w bacon in the oven... and one fried. I hope the rest of the pilgrims come up with half of the variety you have.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone..!!

PS: Please let the lions win.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours....

I make enough so everyone leaves with to go meals.