Two Steps Away From Death's Door . . .

25 DOWN - 0 TO GO​

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"Feel the Force!"​

I'm on a bit of an emotional high right now, and in quite a reflective state of mind given everything I've gone through over the past year. Only a few knew what I was experiencing until I ended up in the hospital for the first time on Dec 7th literally knocking on death's door and started writing about it here on Dec 12th.

I guess what I want to reflect on most, and make a hardcore statement about, is that each day is not ours to possess until it gets here and we have the opportunity to embrace it, but ... even then, we aren't very good at doing that because we're so caught up in our lives to the degree that we become consumed and oblivious, and take things for granted without giving them their place of importance.

I'll spare you the sermon, because sometimes I don't listen to myself either and need a reality check. That's ok though, because eventually I think we get it. However, for some (myself included), we need that 2 x 4 upside the head to wake us up, and with a hope that it's not too late.

For me, it almost was, so ... I have a greater appreciation for setting priorities, the freedom of breath, and certainly for how precious life really is, but ... I also realize that I'm not finished and have much more to do, so wasting time isn't an option.

My treatment today was a celebration for sure. The tech staff was all cheery and smiling and waiting for me to arrive. We went through the normal routine, and I enjoyed the John Mayer CD for the last time, but I will be uploading the tracks to the MSR jukebox this week, and every time I hear one of them it will fire an anchor as a remembrance of the great care I received during the radiation treatments.

After the treatment was done and there were hugs all around, Tony was standing outside the treatment room with my certificate in his left hand facing me so I could see it, and the right hand up ready for the customary high-five. He was the ONE person who had the best attitude, best sense of humor, best witty come-backs, and best overall demeanor and care during the treatments, so he's quite special, and ... take note that he signed his name in the upper left in purple.

Here's a photo of my certificate - however, I altered it a bit:

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More hugs and celebratory comments and I was off to change back into my clothes again and go meet up with Mom in the waiting area where I was SO ready to ring the bell to announce the end of my treatments. I warned everyone in advance that I was going to ring it, because some people sit in high-back chairs facing away from the door and wouldn't know it was coming, and it could have startled them ...

I rang it pretty loud.

It was quite special that a gentleman who was going through treatments at the same time of day that I was, and someone I exchanged greetings with each day with a chat here and there, actually hung around in the waiting area with his wife until I came out to ring the bell. He will finish his treatments on Wednesday, and if I didn't have an appointment with my primary doctor at 11am, then I was going to suggest that Mom and I go back to the treatment center and surprise him in the waiting room for when HE comes out to ring the bell.

When we left the facility, Mom treated me to a nice steak lunch, and then we went home to relax and appreciate that we didn't need to get up so early the next day. I spent some time with Syer on the new MSR website, and then I was properly ready to take a nap. I'll be glad when I get back to normal again.

However, it will be at least a couple of weeks before that happens, but I have plenty on my plate to keep me occupied and less focused on the recovery. There's a brand new planet entering our universe.

I am SO ready to explore it.

This is a soft launch, so much of the big fanfare will be reserved for the hardcore launch later, but there are still some things planned by the developer. Also, Syer and I will be broadcasting live (together) on MSR and reporting what is going on. We'll be posting photos, and Syer will be capturing video footage to make a proper video representative of launch day, soft or not. He and I have some special things planned as well, and we are looking to launch the all-new MSR website this Friday.

Here's to appreciating life ... both real and virtual.

 

Awwww ... thanks Narf, that was a great comment about posting twice. And yes, I'm glad it's over too. I'm ready for us to hit Cyrene as well.

Oh, is THAT how it is? Bring it on Hot Shot ... but after having a voice chat with me the other day on Skype, I think you know you better be prepared to get it right back.

Thanks Peter ... I am now looking forward to not being so tired and doing some things I really enjoy doing.

 

Thanks Hon, I'm happy to be done with it too.

I'm also looking forward as C-Team partners to welcoming people to our new planet, and being able to explore the planet myself for the first time.

Thanks Softy, that means a lot, and ... even with all the crazy-ass bantering that we do back and forth (total fun of course), you have to know that you are one of my absolute favorite people in this universe because of your spirit.

You really help to add a lot to our experiences when we all get together, and I am SO looking forward to reviving the good old days on Cyrene, but in a much grander way. I'm glad you'll be there when you can to continue the fun with the old gang.

Oh, and ... don't worry about Ace ... we can handle him!

 

Hey ... I never do anything on a small scale!

 

Thank you my dear friend ... looking forward to the many great times we will all have together on Cyrene.

What she said.

 

No green lasers today, because that's all behind me, but ... had a follow-up with my primary doc today because I haven't seen her for a while, even though my other docs have been keeping her updated on my progress.

She's so cute ... next time I see her (next week Wednesday), I'm going to get a pic of her and post it, because if it wasn't for her quick action on Dec 7th last year, I'm not sure I would be here right now. She calls me her miracle, so we've become like family. She said that in her 33 years of treating patients in dire straits, that she's been able to take care of them herself, but ...

She said that in my case, it was definitely divine intervention, which absolutely puts everything into perspective for me, and don't think for one moment that I'm not incredibly grateful ... I owe her a lot ... literally my life I would say.

However, she is now hell bent to make sure that I stay healthy, so starting next Wednesday, I'm going in for a blood draw, and she's going to have a full panel screening done of everything to see where all my levels are ... especially my hemoglobin level. I haven't had to deal with needles since the surgery the end of January, so I'm not really looking forward to it.

I'm sure she's going to remind me of all the other tests she wants to have done as well ... but I need a bit of a break for a couple of weeks to recover from my affair with the green lasers.

At any rate ... today was just ok, but progress has been made on the new MSR website, and we are still on target to launch it on Friday. Had a chat with Ed this morning as well, and everything is clear for our soft launch on May 1st, so I'm getting more excited about it.

Hope everyone's week is going well.

 

Thanks my friend ... and thanks also for updating me on Skype about how your soc is growing, that's awesome. I think it's rather cool to have the very first society on Cyrene, but ... what's even more special about it is, the purpose of your society.

Cyrene Recon & Rescue will be a very welcome society on Cyrene for sure, and we both know that Ed thinks it's cool as well.

Oh, and ... I'll see if I can catch your new member on the MSM TS server and change his status, but I'll also pop in to say hello and welcome him. I'm glad the soc channel for CR&R is working out for you.