Do you remember Arsenio Hall?
Don't be like that. Don't you dare. You remember. Anyone over the age of 30 probably has some recollection of the fist-crankng, roo-roo-rooing former late night talk show host. He was Eddie Murphy's sidekick when dear Eddie merited a sidekick. He was romantically linked to Paula Abdul when she was a voluptuous vixen, rather than a deposed karaoke teacher. (I remember a TV interview where Arsenio insisted that Paula's Cold Hearted Snake song was about him. Then again, my high school buddy Biff Moffat -- not to be confused with my Cancer Coach Bif Naked -- claims the same thing, so you be the judge.)
My favourite Arsenio bit was always his "Things that make you go hmmm," as in "These aren't jokes, but things that you make you go hmmm."
It's something that my T-2 tumour and I can appreciate now.
The latest episode was Friday. Prior to THE CANCER, I was without a family doctor. Since then, Carol-Ann has coaxed her family's GP, Dr. Jennifer Rogerson, to take me on.
I visited her a couple of times and liked her. She immediately struck me as intensely detail oriented -- an obvious plus when it comes to someone with such a say in your well being.
I brought all that up in a blog, and, sure enough, emails and texts started coming in from former classmates, explaining that Rogerson went to high school with us.
Who knew?
I checked that with Dr. Rogerson today, and, sure enough, it's right. She's two years younger, so she graduated with my brother, Dennis, and assorted younger siblings of friends. She played sports growing up with tons of people I graduated with; we tossed around a bunch of names we both knew on Friday.
I'm considering connecting with her as a good omen, and, with what we're dealing with here, we'll take all the good omens we can get.
We've had more than our share so far. We first realized that something was dramatically wrong on Oct. 9, when we were at my cousin Mike's wedding. Ten days later, we were admitted to the Spine Unit at VGH. Mike's wife, Lisa, is a nurse on that ward.
Seriously.
To top that off, the first physician we saw was Dr. Lise Leveille. She was part of Canada's gymnastic contingent at the Sydney 2000 Olympics; I had done a handful of stories on her. Having someone there, so early in the process, that I had a connection with, gave me a boost.
Those good bounces, those good breaks, are part of why I've believed all along that I'm going to get better. Heck, I think I'm going to be better than ever.
We did rebound Friday from an awful Thursday night. I was too ill Thursday to go to the Earls Christmas party and, even though I wanted Carol-Ann to go on her own, she refused. I can't say I was surprised by that.
We did a better job with the medication Friday. That was a major part of it. I still felt a little woozy for large chunks of the day, but we're hopeful that the adjustments that Dr. Rogerson made with our medication will counteract that.
If it works out, you can be I'll be doing a little fist-crankng and roo-roo-rooing.
I remember Arsenio. He was on during the time I lived with my Grandma. She could never remember his name but never wanted to miss his intro, so she's say from the kitchen, "Let me know when the darkie with the big eyes is on."
ReplyDeleteACK! Once a week or so I'd explain his name and that we don't use the word darkie any longer. But it would continued... She loved him. And now it's a fun memory.
Glad all your connections are adding up to a fine outlook. You seem to have a lot of incredible people around you - now and through the years.
But I'm worried about something... When you get rid of THE CANCER, what then? What will your blog be about?