{"id":1735,"date":"2022-10-18T14:20:12","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T08:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/?p=1735"},"modified":"2022-10-18T14:28:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T08:28:34","slug":"now-that-was-a-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/?p=1735","title":{"rendered":"Now THAT was a surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Editor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Note: My recent surgery caused me to take a months-long vacation from writing this column. I believe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve recovered and am ready to resume writing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Work of Art.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I hope to add a series of new columns and even include occasional (revised and updated) columns from the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a few months ago I was feeling fine, ready to resume classes at Highlands and\/or continue as a columnist for the Optic, or to travel across America on a bicycle! Was I ever dealt a surprise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a matter of a few months, I discovered blood in my urine which led to visits to the ER, to my regular doctor, scans of my abdomen, interminable waits for pathologists\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 reports, news I had cancer that had lodged in the bladder; chemo \u00e2\u20ac\u201d no pleasure there, it required more visits to surgeons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most frightening report was the need to have my bladder removed. A piece of my small intestine was removed and connected to my kidney as a new conduit for liquid waste. The timeline was July to May; the discovery of blood in my urine came in July 2021, and the operation to remove my cancerous bladder was May 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That continued for several weeks; it entailed numerous visits to doctors and hospitals in the region, including the main facility in Denver, where doctors taught me how to deal with the new reality: a urostomy \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a term I had never heard before; it is a surgical procedure that creates a stoma for the urinary system. That enables the safe flow of urine through a piece of the small intestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a urostomy is a real pain. For the rest of my life I will have a plastic barrier attached to my side. I will never again have the urge to empty my bladder the way I once could. I will need to remind myself to empty the device stuck to my stomach. I need to change my entire way of life \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and this after 83 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today has been one of those \u00e2\u20ac\u0153up\u00e2\u20ac\u009d days. I would certainly welcome a few more of them. What has bothered me is being reassured by some who expect to see me pedaling my bike in a few days,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or some may say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing! Let me tell YOU what happened to ME a while back.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Selfish as it may seem, when faced with an illness such as this, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather not engage in a game of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153which one of us is sicker,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as a way of winning bragging rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My weight dropped some 25 pounds; I could barely hold down my food. I simply was not hungry. I was told that the restructuring of my kidney and the urine running through a piece of what once carried solid waste would change the taste of food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one who had seldom ever been ill, I wondered how and why I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been bestowed such an honor. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d felt all right before learning about the cancer and treatment, and I wondered what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d done to become an heir to such a condition. It took a while for the new information to register. Does this mean I can never become a father again? Yes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I usually felt ready to grab my laptop and become proficient again; but other days my main thought was to remain in bed to endure the condition until it went away or simply dissipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the subject of sexual prowess, I must say that my wife has clung to the conviction that I am the greatest lover, the best-looking man and the most attractive person who ever lived, so in that regard, I am not worried about my body missing a prostate. In Bonnie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s view, George Clooney by comparison appears like an enfeebled version of a gigolo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of readers have sent notes, calls and cards wishing me God-speed. I cherish the good wishes and hope someday to be back among the recovered and somehow coping with this dreaded condition that I know will always be with me!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Note: My recent surgery caused me to take a months-long vacation from writing this column. I believe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve recovered and am ready to resume writing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Work of Art.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I hope to add a series of new columns and even include occasional (revised and updated) columns from the past. Just a few months ago I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1735"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1735"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1743,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1735\/revisions\/1743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}