Status Update
July was not a good month for us, but things will get better.
I had to euthanize my faithful studio cat after 19 years. I’ve never had to do it myself before, and I’m relieved that I was able to do it quickly and humanely. But she still makes me bawl like a toddler.
Three days later, I had to tell the hospital to take my brother off of life support. He lived in Idaho, but we’d brought him over to stay with us so he could visit the big oncology center in Seattle- though we all knew we were just going through the motions. He had a horrific bloody sarcoma in his gluteus the size of a cantaloupe that had already spread to his lungs before he got his first CT scan. He was 58, ten and a half years older than me. He had no other family, so I’ve been running back and forth from Seattle to Idaho, 660 miles round trip, to clean up his affairs. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take, but I’m hoping that I can keep it to a couple days a week or less, and have it wrapped up by the end of the year.
My wife and I are still all right. She’s still working on the steps to get the surgery she needs (her seventh), which is still a process of tests and more tests. We had a calendar on the fridge for a while to make sure her and my brother didn’t have appointments on the same days while I ran them up and down Seattle’s infamous I5 freeway to different hospitals. We’re hoping the surgery will improve her quality of life significantly. We’re also hoping that the lump she found in her shoulder really is “just a cyst.” It had better be.
I deliberated for days on whether to make this post, as I know we all go through these things, and it’s my job to entertain, not to complain. But again, I wanted to let you know why my output has been so slow, offer my sincere apology, and express my gratitude for your patience. The show must go on!