Shameless Plug

Sorry readers, but I just gotta' do it. Repetition is the key to successful advertising (I did radio sales for thirteen years).

Click here:

http://www.braintumorsociety.org/site/TR?px=1048263&pg=personal&fr_id=1031&s_tafId=4301

Thank you so much for looking,
Ernie

Ernie, King of Gamma-lot

Gamma Knife Procedure: Monday, May 8th at 6:00AM

A tale of chivalry and honor shall be told very soon.

Glasses Are For The Masses

Trivia Question: Name a considerably attractive actor or actress that wears eyeglasses regularly.

Stumped? Why is it difficult to find in all of beautiful Hollywood someone who wears glasses? They only seem to wear specs to help personify the character they play.

I've worn glasses since high school. I've tried contacts several times, and the last run lasted three weeks. They just never did it for me.

I accept I wear glasses. I now own six pairs, and a seventh is on the way. Why the extravagance? Because I wear a pair of glasses like how you wear a pair of shoes: each one has a different style, a unique look, and each one goes better with different outfits.

Does Hollywood consider me unattractive? Will the "Four Eyes" of regular American society never be discovered by a talent scout? Do we sometimes look at those of us with glasses and think "Awww, such a shame. If they weren't wearing glasses, they'd be better looking- and maybe be in bed with me!"

To those of you in contacts, that's great. But if you wear glasses, raise a glass, and toast to "Beautiful art needs beautiful frames."

"Smoking": Cool Menthol Taste

Over the weekend, I saw "Thank You For Smoking". I'm surprised how much I enjoyed it. I was first interested when I heard the reviews, but then when Paul told me what it was about (politics and blah blah), I changed my mind.

But Friday night, it seemed like the only decent film showing, so I gave it a try. I was very mesmerized, because the pro-smoking arguments sounded quite believable.

Call it peer pressure, but I tried "Smoking" and enjoyed it.

If you decide to try it, I hope it'll blow smoke rings around you too.

(By the way, I've always had a thing for Aaron Eckhart. He's got such a smouldering smile.)

Yes, Please

I don't work, yet I seem to not have any free time for myself. If you saw me at any point during day, despite the plastic smile on my face, you would hear sighs behind it.

I finally figured out why: I please people way too much! There's that e-mail I need to reply to, that phone call to return, that lunch with someone followed by a coffee with another afterwards and dinner later with a third. If you're wanting to please everyone and everything around you, it's never done. You'll never finally "check them all off", because another person will always come to you with a need. If not, you're people-pleasing personality will find one.

It's a full-time job pleasing people. And the paycheck of a possible "thank you" from somebody is subtracted from time for yourself.

Crappy Meal?!

Pinch me because I think I'm dreaming. McDonald's is all over the news for launching a "Happy Meal for Adults". What's going to be the toy? Although CNN reports that it comes with a salad, water, and pedometer, other sources say it has 15 minute workouts on DVD.

Ronald, you're a fry short of a Happy Meal- adult toys are found in a smutty bookstore.

"An Apple A Day..."

Is my plan. I finally got that second opinion from the doctor in Baltimore, and now I plan on never going to him again. He took his own sweet time to give me an answer, which put me through such torment and anxiety. I never communicated to him how cruel he was because I knew I'd dump him by the curbside as soon as I got what I wanted. "Find'em, Fool'em, and forget'em" is my motto with him.

His bottom line: he agrees with pretty much everything, except 1) he thinks my doctor should extract fluid from my spine periodically to make sure the tumor hasn't started to spread (Woohoo! Another needle!) 2) he questions one of the chemo medicines my doctor recommended.

Patience, Young Jedi.

If you only knew how upset and angry I was about four hours ago...

Well, the doctor who was supposed to give me a second opinion "claimed" that he never got the specimen slides he needed, so there was no progress made. While I was on the phone with him, he looked it up on his computer, and LO AND FREAKIN' BEHOLD, the slides were in and already analyzed.

He proceeded to tell me that he will talk to his peers tomorrow morning and then give me a call.

You know, this stuff has been so freakin' ridiculous. This afternoon, I didn't know what to say. I felt completely numb and contemplated quitting the quest for another opinion. I called my doctor back in Charlottesville and he calmed me down.

If this tumor thrives on stress, it should be as big as a tennis ball by now. More tomorrow, over and out.

Happy Resurrection Day!

It's Easter Sunday, and Paul and I celebrated by going to church at early-early service at 7:15AM. We proceeded afterwards to our fabulous "Easter Brunch" at IHOP, which I must say, has the best tasting non-homemade pancakes. I think that's partly true because they have four choices of syrups to choose from: Old Fashioned Maple Syrup, Blueberry, Strawberry, and my favorite, Butter Pecan.

It's times like these when you don't think about having a malignant tumor in your brain and when you don't think about finding out your second opinion the next day.

The Dope On Soap

Hee! I just love that soap that comes out of the dispenser all foamy like shaving cream, or better yet, Cool Whip. The brand at the gym smells good too. Makes me want to curse and have mom wash my mouth with it.

Yay, fuzzy soap, fuzzy wuzzy soap. Me likey!

I AM SO MAD!

I'm steaming mad because I was just handed a steaming pile.

The second opinion that I hoped to get today is now pushed off to next Monday, because the doctor didn't have the proper slides sent to him, so the neurology board could not come to a conclusion.

He told me last week that he would confirm that the right slides were being sent, but I guess he didn't do it. He proceeded to tell me nothing, called my doctor, and they both agreed that all treatment, gamma-knife, and chemotherapy be put on hold until he reaches his all-knowing and all-powerful decision.

I'm so emotionally drained and frustrated. I want to be Forrest Gump, put running shoes on, and just go. I want to eat a lot of sugar. I want to fetal position until it's dark outside.

Crash: A Smash

Paul and I rented "Crash" yesterday. What a great film! For a while, I was in the "a disaster looms ahead- a tidal wave, a plane crash, or maybe even an alien invasion will happen, possibly uniting all the actors/actresses and the scenes they were in."

In the end, I guess I was sort of right, but what made me appreciate and enjoy the movie is that some of the scenes and how they wrapped up weren't as predictable as I thought they would be.

In my opinion, "Crash" winning the Oscar for "Best Motion Picture of 2006" was certainly no accident. It certainly lived up to my expectations.

To Those Of You In The D.C. Area:

Sorry I have not called you. I like you, would like to see you, but the reason why you haven't heard from me is lame: I've actually ran out of minutes on my phone- and it's not even a pre-paid phone. With T-Mobile, I get 1500 minutes a month between 6a-9p and free nights and weekends. As of today, I've used 1489 of those minutes.

I think I got to my max so fast this month because not only am I not working (free phone calls and long distance!), I've been using my phone quite a bit to organize things & appointments with doctors.

Don't be surprised if you hear from me at 9:01PM or on Saturday morning when it's a weekend call: "It's not you, it's me."

Sincerely,
Chatty Kathy (minus a phone)

May We Have The Envelope Please...

The doctor I saw today for a second opinion had one of the following statements to say:
a) "Oh sorry, the dog ate my opinion on the way to work this morning."
b) "Ernie Deo-who-a-what-what? You're not on my list to see."
c) "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning."
d) None of the above. He didn't give an opinion.

Correct answer: d) None of the above. He didn't give an opinion.

What?! You drove all the way up to Bal'mer and the doctor didn't give an answer? You got ripped, jipped, and a bunch of lip. But this is what really took place today...

My tumor is so rare that he felt his opinion solely was too narrow to bear any weight, so he's taking my case and presenting it to the entire neurology board Monday morning. At the presentation, there will be a pathologist and chemotherapist attending so they can also give feedback. Together they will reach an opinion Monday and as soon as the meeting is adjourned, he will let me know their answer.

Yeah, it seemed strange that they didn't call me to just move the appointment to Monday, but he needed to test my motor skills and get my present overall being for the presentation on Monday. I checked out fine. Now I'm just a ball of nerves, extremely frustrated, and a little depressed being Ernie.

And A Cherry On Top!

Ah, it's so great to be me. A malignant brain tumor, a year of chemo on the way, living at home with a smothering mother, and now a car accident.

I'm up in D.C. right now to see a doctor in Baltimore. I'm going to him for a second opinion about my doctor's decision to have gamma knife radiation done twice and chemotherapy to immediately start afterwards. This doctor is supposedly very good and extremely popular in the brain tumor scene.

Today, a car ahead of me decided to make a left turn from the far right lane. As he crossed my lane, I hit him with my parents' minivan I borrowed for my trip. Fortunately, the car behind me was a cop and saw the whole thing take place. Mr. Policeman-as-my-witness put the fault on the idiot, so his insurance will have to pay for the damage and car rental while my parents' van is in the shop.

I know it could have been worse. Someone could have been hurt. It could have been my fault. The car could have been undriveable, or worse, totalled. But still, I think this will only make my parents even more controlling.

"Must See Thursdays On NBC"

They call it that because you must see a lot of commercials if you want to watch the sitcoms.

The Thursday night line-up on NBC is 'Scrubs' (not true), 'My Name Is Earl', and 'The Office'. According to an article found in Entertainment Weekly, this hour and a half block of programming is actually only 66 minutes of programming time, leaving the reader to sit through 24 minutes of commercials. That's enough time for another episode!

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