Reply #218: Thank you.

[H2O Man]

March 10, 2010

Hello, D.U.ers:

One of my very best friends sent me an e-mail this morning, informing me of the OP by Mr. T (rumad) and the wonderful thread that followed. Thank you, each and every one, and I surely do mean that.

My surgery will be on Friday morning. It's been a strange couple of months. I'm not a huge fan of seeking medical attention, but late one January night, I woke up and felt as if I was channeling John Lennon's song, “She Said, She Said.” It began a series of medical appointments that have resulted in about 14 doctors from a couple hospitals working together to find out what the heck is going on. (None of these doctors, incidentally, agreed with my diagnoses that the growths on and in my humble body serve as proof of alien contact, or that I have a paleo-era tribe of stone babies inhabiting various regions of my insides. Won't they be surprised, when they start cutting me open?)

As I've noted numerous times here previously, all of life imitates the sport of boxing. And while I never experienced being flat-on-my-back, unconscious, in the ring, my mental preparation for that position on Friday is similar to my mental preparation for hundreds of boxing matches. I'm ready to rumble. I refuse to lose. And I'll be back here soon enough.

Well, I've gotta go for one last afternoon of tests before the fight. Reminds me of the pre-fight physicals and weigh-in.

Again, thank you.
Pat