12:57 – someone just sent me another headline that I revealed “DEVASTATING NEWS” – it is not devastating. We are lucky! It was caught early and with radiation there is only a 10% chance it will return. Radiation is horrible but you live. Others are not that lucky and get great a great prognosis – we are — and I don’t want to take away from those who have a much more serious medical situation.
12:50 pm I have neglected to thank of you for your very kind comments..so thank you!
Feb 28 I just saw a headline that said my husband is battling cancer (see below.) Battling? Yes, that is true but it seems a bit extreme to call it battling when you compare to others and when you consider the surgeries are over and the prognosis is a good one. As noted he already had the surgeries….and if he did not have radiation that he is doing now, it would have a 35% chance to return. With radiation, the chances are 10%. That is low. That is an extremely good prognosis. We are lucky. Many families are not. I post this addendum because I don’t want to make it seem worse than it is. Yes, radiation is rough and turns our lives upside down but he will get through it – many Americans do every day….and many Americans have much worse cancers. A good friend of mine referred to it as the “new normal” and she is right. It is very difficult for us now but we know what the prognosis is (a great one) and we just soldier on like others.
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My blogging will be a bit sporadic in the days and weeks to come because I am dealing with a family issue. I have not told you here or told many people that my husband has cancer and is now getting radiation treatment. More and more people have learned and are starting to ask so I decided to lay it out here right now for all of you and then all the questions are answered and we can all move on to other topics.
The cancer was detected in December and we have been dealing with it aggressively. Needless to say these weeks have been tough for us and many of you know how tough it is because you have gone through it, too. It is just plain rotten, isn’t it? He had 4 or 5 surgeries in January and February and, like in many families, I stayed at night in the hospital with him sleeping in a chair in his room. I worked during all those surgeries (did our show) because I did not want to draw attention to us and have to answer a million questions (I didn’t even know the answers to the questions!) I would do OTR, then after the show drive an hour to the hospital in Baltimore…spend the night in his room….and the next morning…drive home …get dressed…and go to Fox and repeat the cycle after the show. I felt lucky to be able to do that since many families can not.
With the radiation, it will continue to be tough for the next several weeks but we will get through it.
The radiation is a challenge – it is tough on anyone getting it. I drive him there (an hour each way) and frankly, one thing I do like is that it is nice to spend the time with him in the car. It makes us slow down in our lives. This is a good thing.
Many of you have also gone through cancer and radiation yourselves or a family member has and you know exactly what it is like.
I have kept it quiet because for much of the time we were just learning about cancer etc. and just busy dealing with it. When you are in the public eye as I am, it is hard to avoid the publicity when you want privacy.
The good news - his cancer is completely curable. We are lucky. He just has to go through the radiation hell. So let me repeat (and this is the good part!): we are lucky, his cancer is completely curable but these days (the treatment) are pretty rotten.
So now you know…and now let’s move to other things…
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PS and 12:21am / after reading your comments just one added thought: you all are really really really really really nice people. I much appreciate your comments.
