Health Status and Journal Update

If the stars align and I get the nod from God, by this time next week I’ll be resting comfortably in a hospital bed up in Mooresville (south Indy). I should be spending the 4th of July at Franciscan Health recovering from a (hopefully) double surgery as part of my treatment for colon cancer.

This post is a humble call to family, friends and fans for your prayers, best wishes, positive vibes — however you may choose to think of it. Your spiritual support is most appreciated! 👏🏻

On Tuesday through Thursday, July 1, 2 and 3, I will be under the watchful eyes and healing supervision of Drs. Nadeem Ikhlaque of Columbus Regional and Dipen Maun of Franciscan Health (among others), plus some excellent nurses and support staff. One of the procedures is to excise a tumor from my sigmoid colon, and the second procedure, if the first goes well, is a reversal of a stopgap procedure I had back in October as part of my battle. More on that later if things work out as planned. Thank you in advance for thinking of me at this important juncture.

It was fully my intention when I began my comeback journal series, What I’ve been up to on my 5-year retreat from the world, to crank out the entries in chronological order, and to do so fairly quickly.

That didn’t quite pan out — having gotten past the preface, quintuple bypass totaling the Harley, the house fire and my battle with cancer still remain on my to-do list. I might be excused taking awhile to write about my fight with cancer since it’s obviously still a work in progress.

But of all these troubles, the house fire has proved to be the entry that stumps me the most. Every time I think of March 21, 2024 I’m flooded with mental images of that horrible day, recalling the nearly immobilizing shock of it all. Anyone who’s had the misfortune of suddenly losing your entire home in a matter of minutes — while you have to stand by helplessly — knows that putting such traumatic and devastating feelings into words is well-nigh impossible. So it will likely take awhile to complete and publish the story of what I call “Conflagration Day” here in StringDancer. It’s a process that I’m doing as much for closure and my own mental health as for an exercise in creative writing. I must be patient with myself. Unfortunately, so must my dear readers.

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