December 2006 Archives
- December 28, 2006: Christmas Tree Cakes || No. of Comments: 5
Every year around this time my grandmother would stock up on boxes of Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes. With 200 calories and 25% of a day’s fat allowance, they were hardly healthy. But they were sure tasty, and I ate them by the boxful. Tonight I bought a box in remembrance of my grandmother. I just unwrapped the first cake, and it was as good as I recall. I say “in remembrance of my grandmother,” but the strange thing is that she’s still alive. In many ways, though, it’s as if she’s already passed on, carried away by a disease…
- December 21, 2006: Homonyms || No. of Comments: 1
3 a.m. this morning Half awake and half asleep, a moment of adjusting pillows and arm positions. “Sorry. I need you,” he said. I sit up, awake and concerned. “What do you need?” “What?” He’s sleepy. “You said you needed me.” “No, I KNEED you…. With my knee. Sorry.” “Oh. Okay.” Back to sleep….
- December 16, 2006: The Best Xmas Cookies Ever || No. of Comments: 0
- December 15, 2006: For the nerdy kids || No. of Comments: 1
Tomorrow I’m going to a Toys for Tots party, which simply means that guests show up with a toy to contribute to the charity and try not to spill any drinks on them throughout the evening. I’m bringing a book. After a brief internal debate on whether that counts as a toy, and a quick look at the Toys for Tots web site – which offered no guidance on the matter – I decided to give something for the nerdy boys and girls out there who would rather read a good piece of literature than play with a plastic…
- December 15, 2006: A genetics lesson || No. of Comments: 0
Yesterday we paid a visit to the genetic counselor. I didn’t know there was such a thing. She was small and nerdy, with a bronchitis-impaired voice and big binder full of diagrams of chromosomes and cells. “The P53 gene puts the brakes on cell growth,” she said. “We think it’s possible you may be missing that gene.” She did her best to explain what that meant, but her tangents confused the key messages. (There’s a reason medical people aren’t in marketing and vice versa.) I did enjoy one particular tangent, though. She pointed at Casey and me. “Now if you…
- December 7, 2006: Time for pics || No. of Comments: 4
First, thank you all for the kind words. They mean a lot. The latest: It’s either low-grade glioma, which is a form of slow-growing cancer, or DNET, which is benign. More information will come Monday when the brain tumor specialist has a chance to look at the tests. Either way, the worst-case scenarios have been eliminated and there is time to breathe. We celebrated the news with Modelo and Martha Stewart’s recipe for meatloaf. It was tasty. We took a break from cooking to take a photo in front of the tree we decorated with Casey’s family. I won’t share…
- December 2, 2006: Warm || No. of Comments: 5
At 7:57 the nurse opened the door to the ICU ward. The first room on the left was Casey’s. The curtain was closed around the bed. A nurse stood outside. Hold on. Let me see if you can go in, she said. What’s your name? Aaron. It stuck in my throat. What was that? Aaron. Louder. From around the curtain another nurse emerged. Yes, come on in! she said And then he was there. Looking at me with a Styrofoam cup of cranberry juice in his hand, his forehead still a little bloody from the clamps that held his head…
- December 1, 2006: For One Another || No. of Comments: 1
Right now Casey is having a biopsy to determine what kind of tumor is sitting on his brain. He will be at the hospital overnight to ensure the tests didn’t cause internal bleeding. Besides concern over the results, I think he’s also upset that they will shave part of his head. He said his hair is the only good feature he has left. I told him, no, I think his eyes are my favorite and those aren’t going anywhere. I hope that made him feel better. I haven’t seen him since Wednesday, which feels like months ago. His parents, who…
