Seems Herbie is “enjoying” a theme of The Long and Winding Road just a bit too much. We’re counting on the road disappearing for him at some point soon, but the horizon is not yet in sight.
Kim and I separately had great conversations with our radiologist, Dr. Young. Because of the location of Herbie in my body, it’s more difficult to do surgery so that may be in our future, but ideally not. The result is that our treatment journey with Herbie somewhat resembles those car rides many of us endured as kids and/or as parents – – “are we there yet?”
Herbie’s drink of choice has changed – – he’s moved from ordering his alcohol “neat” and is now onto a fizzy drink (thankfully WITHOUT the umbrella.) Unless this fizzy drink is miraculous, we’ll be putting in a new drain on 2/21 and continuing with weekly rounds of the fizzy drinks with hopes the output drops substantially and/or Herbie becomes a MUCH smaller presence at the bar.
For those who hated the car rides described above, you may wish to unsubscribe from this blog post. Experience shows that Herbie-like cysts can require many iterations of various possible Rust & Disintegrate agents (we’re just now starting on #2 of 3.)
As for me, my intention is to enjoy this ride for what it is. It’s not the ride I’d like to be taking but it continues to be filled with some of the nicest folks and provides important perspective. Along those lines, upcoming posts will likely include writing about a person who has touched my life that day and made it special. [Today’s person is Andrew and I’ll share more about that below.**]
In closing, my wish and hope is that this moment for you can be filled with love … and that the experience will continue for every minute for all of your days!
With love and appreciation for you on this Valentine’s Day, from your friend and admirer, Steve <3
In talking about Valentine’s Day with my radiology crew while waiting for Herbie’s drink to be applied, I asked “any special activities scheduled for today?” This paraphrase of Andrew’s response captures my feelings too:
why do I need a holiday to show my special person I love her? I’ll intend to do it all year long without making a fuss on Valentine’s Day and Sweetest Day…