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Pandiculation
Every morning when he wakes up, Gordon goes through the same routine. First, he has to find his way out from under the covers on my bed. As a little guy, he doesn’t have a lot of insulation, so the first thing he does when he goes to sleep at night is burrow deep under…
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Golden Years
In a few months, I will turn 60. 60 !! It is already weighing on me. I breezed through the other life milestones without giving their significance much thought because my mind was elsewhere. At 40 I was too busy having the mid-life crisis that landed me in a wheelchair to have a proper mid-life…
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I did it!
I completed radiation treatment (radiotherapy) for lung cancer (adenocarcinoma) last Monday. This is treatment room A (above) in the radiation oncology department (called Bighorn) at the Lucy Curci Cancer Center in Rancho Mirage, California. I underwent a two-week course of Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy, or SBRT, delivered daily with one day off to rest between doses. …
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Let’s just skip this month in the future
I am not one given over to superstition. I do not believe in karma – there is no mechanism beyond mere wishful thinking to mete out the rewards and punishments based on the rights and wrongs; moreover, whether something is “right” and deserving of a reward or “wrong” and deserving of a punishment is a…
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We have a plan
Yesterday marked one month since my cancer diagnosis. In that time, I have had multiple consultations with doctors, quite a few tests, and I have been reading everything I can find on cancer and its treatment. When I was diagnosed with PML, I took quite a different approach; PML is a rare disease, so there…
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How I spent my summer, so far
When I was diagnosed with PML my first question was “what is PML?” And by that I mean beyond what the initialism stands for (Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy). I’d never heard of it; most people haven’t, although I do hear it more and more these days in those laundry lists of potential side effects that get…
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Today is my annHIVersary
To tell you this story, I first must introduce you to Paul and Martin. For much of the 90s, Paul was my wingman. Along with Martin, we were the “three amigos” of the LA gay scene. The three of us met in the seminary as undergraduates when we were all Conventual Franciscans studying philosophy. Paul…
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A journey of a thousand miles
Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu taught that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” in his work the Tao Te Ching. Today, I am taking the first step on my new journey. I have my first appointment with an oncologist. I have a lot to learn. But this is not unfamiliar territory.…
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Act II, Scene III
I have called everything in my life since AIDS tried to kill me in 2006 my “second act.” And now, I’m beginning to see how Act II has passed through several “scenes.” Scene I was retiring from Technicolor and moving to my house in the Mountain Gate neighborhood of Palm Springs. Scene II was realizing…
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The PEPFAR Crisis
Nine days after the new President of the United States took office and unleashed an unelected billionaire to wreak havoc in American institutions and programs with little or no thought to the real-life consequences for millions of people both in this country and worldwide, I wrote about the impact this clown car of an administration…
Your mileage may vary.