School Daze again...

Yes, it's once again time to deal with yet another chapter of the Woodbury Follies. Being in a small school is odd sometimes...word has gotten around about Richie's hospitalization, and now word is going to start getting around about his Multiple Myeloma. People are being uber-supportive, thankfully.

Due to all the uncertainties surrounding the past two weeks, I had to use a book voucher to buy my books, at the clip joint we know and hate as the Woodbury Bookstore. I'm now down almost $350 and I still have to buy some more books, dammit. At least most of them came in used versions. My monetary situation here is squared away and we'll at least get some financial aid overage to keep us going.

I have to keep going with this. Having my bachelor's will be good but unfortunately a BA in Psych is not so helpful in the job market. Once I get my Masters' things will be moving ahead somewhat. Since it has become clear that Richie's time on this planet is limited, and that he will not be able to do as much with that time due to the illness, it is also very clear that if I have a professional degree I will have a better time of it than if I don't have one.

The weight of this past few weeks is on me like a ton of bricks. It's painful. But I have to bear the pain and get through it somehow.

It's Multiple Myeloma.

The diagnosis is in. Richie's got Multiple Myeloma, which is a cancer of the bone marrow. It sounds super-scary at first but it actually is a fairly slow-moving disease that can be managed with both a current generation of drugs and a new generation that is being rolled out. It's not great news but it isn't a death sentence either.

My family is rallying around us, and so is what's left of Richie's family. We should be OK.

Thanks to all who have been thinking good thoughts, meditating, praying, and whatever else. It is appreciated. Please keep it going.

And the doctors, nurses, orderlies, respiratory therapists, counselors, case managers and so forth at Mission Community Hospital have been wonderful. Small hospital, big heart, good people.

I'll keep everyone posted about updates, unless TMI is involved.

I feel (not so) good.

It is going to be a fucking drag to break the news to Richie that James Brown is dead.

I can't keep this news from him. Regardless of what he's feeling like right now. I have to. It's my duty as his eyes and ears. He's sworn off TV and the Radio as part of his healing strategy, but I get him the paper every day. And it's going to be in there, of course.

As far as Richie's condition, things are actually better, believe it or not. There is now a theory of why Richie's experiencing what he's experiencing, and it is a curable, and also thankfully not fatal condition. It's called Hyperparathyroidism and basically results from the Parathyroid glands going out of control and leeching calcium from the bones and putting it into the bloodstream.

Hopefully if that is the explanation things will resolve well. If not...as Borat would say, "not so much."

Update: the other possibility is Multiple Myeloma. As cancers go, it's not horrible, but it's not great. You can die of it, but you can also linger for years and years and maybe even do OK. My Great Aunt Charlotte had it, but it wasn't what killed her. What usually kills people with Multiple Myeloma is infections (it suppresses the immune system) and the consequences of thinning brittle bones.

We find out about the bone marrow biopsy tomorrow. We hope.