One piece at a time....

[MauiRob]

Had my annual visit to the dermatologist yesterday. Gotta get two more moles chopped out of my skin. I've had 4 or 5 done to date.

I've lived with the fear of Melanoma since age 16 when I read an article about it in a Saturday Evening Post--thanks Mr. Franklin! Actually, the fear of that has helped make me what I am today, so in a way I am thankful for that article.

There is nothing like the possibility of cancer to wake you up again. It's my yearly dose of mortality reality I guess.

So they'll chop them out sometime soon. Then analyze them to see if they are cancerous. If no, no worries. If yes, then they bring you in to check your whole body to see if it has spread.

Not worth worrying about anyway---worrying won't change a darn thing anyway, it'll just make me miserable.

Death walks with us whether we like it or not. A woman I know who was just diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (the BAD, BAD kind) told me something that I really liked. That life is like a coin: on one side is light and hope and on the other death and despair. We live on the edge between the two. I'd like to think that we can make that coin spin so that it stays on hope and light--even if the worst comes to pass.

Thanks for listening.

Rob

So no smoke needed at this point. Hopefully I won't be back asking for any.

 

[munk]

There's more strange growths, spots, ridges, and bumps on me then there ever were. I have no idea if one of them is poised to take me out.


Every day is a blessing. I liked it when Bill signed, "Blessings from the Computer shack in Reno"; instead of 'not dead yet but working on it'





munk

 

[Sutcliffe]

Perhaps a hat might be in order

Some people just are prone to aquiring moles(I promise not to bring up the old Richard Gere rumors) and having them removed becomes an annual ritual. Sometimes I think it just gives dermatologists a chance to make the hefty salaries that other Dr.'s get in their special fields.

 

[Grob]

I know prostate cancer is waiting for me. When it shows up I'll deal with it, untill then there is no point worrying about it (untill I'm 40 and need to go get prostate checks, fortunatly my doc has small hands)

Gord

 

[Bill Marsh]

I know prostate cancer is waiting for me. When it shows up I'll deal with it, untill then there is no point worrying about it (untill I'm 40 and need to go get prostate checks, fortunatly my doc has small hands)

Gord

Being 62, I have friends with prostrate cancer. The general consensus is that more people die with it than from it.

Had a prostrate infection years ago and the doctore told me to do three things. Two of which I don't do, but number THREE, oh, yeah!

1. Don't ride motorcycles, or vibraty things. I love motorcycles!

2. Don't eat spicy foods. I love spicy foods.

3. Get all the sex you can. Keeps it flushed out. I asked him for a written prescription! Hopefully #3 done often will outweigh 1 and 2!

 

[Grob]

Thanks for the adivice Bill, unfortunatly my family has a history of dieing of prostate cancer, my grandfather did my father was saved by early surgery. Us Robinsons are a strange lot, my grandfather was a motorcycle stunt rider, worked in a lead smelter, hit the beach first out of his boat on D-day, drank like a fish and smoked like a chimney yet prostate cancer got him.

2-1. I also love motorcycles and spicy food. I'm 20 years old so I still am indestructable. I intend to ride motorcycle, eat spicy food and get all the sex I can. Better a day as a tiger then a thousand years as a worm. By the time I'm old enough to have to worry about it I'll get a shot in the arm and that will be that.

Gord

 

[Fiddleback]

My family is prone to the cancer too. If its not that it'll be something else. Thats why I like working with my hands. Its almost as close as I come to spirituality. I pray a lot too these days, but I think working with my hands makes an impression on the world. I have a stool my dad's father gave me. Paw Paw's stool. I can see his face and his big hands every time I see it. Anyway, Rob, good thoughts from Atlanta.

 

[Kevin the grey]

Hmm doctors ? Chopping? Paying doctors ? Chopping ? we got lotsa guyswho,d do it for a small fee ! You might even get rich ! L:O:L

You just keep thinking about some nice bluefish flopping in your boat and the rest will be a breeze !

 

[MauiRob]

You just keep thinking about some nice bluefish flopping in your boat and the rest will be a breeze !

Good advice:thumbup:

Anyway, Rob, good thoughts from Atlanta

Thanks Andy You and I should both remember that nothing is written in stone--despite what family history might suggest. There are PLENTY of exceptions to that.

Every day is a blessing.

Indeed.

I liked it when Bill signed, "Blessings from the Computer shack in Reno"; instead of 'not dead yet but working on it'

I admired that in Bill too.

Interesting thing I learned from the Doc: 80% of melanomas DO NOT arise in moles (nevi) but come from melanocytes that occur in our skin everywhere else (every 36-40th cell in a certain layer of our skin is a melanocyte--cells that produce melanin in response to UV radiation.)

 

[MauiRob]

Hmm doctors ? Chopping? Paying doctors ? Chopping ? we got lotsa guyswho,d do it for a small fee ! You might even get rich ! L:O:L

I'm not so sure! How many patients will hang around when you haul out your shiny, newly sterlized 20" Kobra, all shiny and shaving sharp, and aim it at a 6mm mole while saying "OK, now HOLD REALLY REALLY STILL. This MIGHT hurt a little bit"

 

[Kismet]

It is one helluva lot easier to say "worrying doesn't solve anything" than it is to achieve that peace of mind.

If you have spurts of fear, acknowledge them, then open a door in your mind, and shove them in, and slam the door behind them. The fear creature in our systems is right out of the lizard stage. Basic, core, and survival-based. Keep the door closed.

Then...GET ACTIVE on something...jumping rope, push-ups, playing kids.

Then...when you are alone with someone you trust, open that mental door and let the fears out. Don't expect that someone to solve or resolve the fears; let the person know they exist, and all the weird ramifications that they cause in your convoluted mind's workings. Learn to accept that another person can listen, and that it will help (not an easy thing for most men).

It appears you got a handle on them. Nice work.

Let us know if we can help.

 

[MauiRob]

It appears you got a handle on them. Nice work.
__________________

I do pretty well. Actually very well compared to years past. I used to push fear away, but now I shine the light directly on it. Looking into it's root cause. But I refuse to let it close me off to life's blessings, to the connection with the life force/creator.

Let us know if we can help.

Thanks Kis I really appreciate it. And I will.

 

[MauiRob]

It is one helluva lot easier to say "worrying doesn't solve anything" than it is to achieve that peace of mind.

Absolutely! I never used to be able to say that with a clear conscience because for me it was not true.

You can tell someone "don't worry" until you're blue in the face and it won't help. In fact it can fan the flames even higher.