Word has it that Peter and Katie arrived safely yesterday for their well deserved and welcome retreat to Cape Cod. The picture of Peter on the website says it all. Well, I guess it doesn't really express the anxieties that doubtless lie just below the surface, but if you look at the picture carefully, you'll detect an abiding sense of relief in that smiling face. Warms the heart, doesn't it?

It was two years ago in November that my brother and I made plans to meet in Salt Lake City for one of our periodic brothers' road trips. We share an abiding enjoyment of rooting for our favorite teams and are fortunate enough from time to time to get away to various places to cheer them on. In this case, we agreed to meet in Salt Lake to root for our home town college team, the University of New Mexico Lobos, scheduled to be the victims on the gridiron to Brigham Young University in Provo. The good news was that the Lobos pulled off a major upset and won the game. The bad news was that my brother was in serious pain all weekend. At unexpected moments, he mumbled an excuse and disappeared for long period of time to the men's room. At the end of the weekend, he confessed to me that he had serious intestinal problems. I urged him to see a doctor as soon as he got back to Albuquerque. He agreed to do so. Within a couple of weeks, he called to share the news that the doctor told him that he had colon cancer.

The news surely woke me up. Quick research on line indicated that, if diagnosed and treated early enough, the colon cancer was no longer as threatening to life as it was years ago. I automatically assumed that my brother "qualified" under that description, and so I refused to think "worst case". I knew he had some tough challenges ahead of him, but I was confident that with the help of today's medical technology and expertise, he would "beat this thing." The "normal" chemotherapy treatments followed during the winter and spring months. Barry didn't complain much about those procedures; indeed, he made them sound somewhat "routine"......more of an inconvenience than anything else. His lack of alarm and low level of anxiety lowered my own, and so time passed while I waited to hear the eventual good news.

Indeed, that news came in late June last summer. Barry called and indicated that his doctor told him, "You're all clear". We were exhilarated by the news! My brother had been a good patient during those months. He had changed his diet considerably-----shifting from years of self imposed nutritional abuse to a modern, conscientious diet. He began to exercise more regularly, including daily walks of longer and longer duration. Barry had never really taken care of his body. Exercise occurred only episodically, and almost never included aerobic types of activities. Experts may disagree on the actual causes of different types of cancer---but most agree that a poor diet and no exercise is a recipe that makes one vulnerable to the big "C". Unfortunately, my brother was smack in the middle of that category. I couldn't help but feel that his bout with colon cancer reflected decades of personal health neglect. Indeed, eventhough he was 64 at the time, I don't believe he had ever had a colonoscopy. When I turned 60 later that summer, a colonoscopy was at the top of my health care "to do" list. My brother's experience ensured that I did not overlook it.

When we had received the news that "all was clear", that called for a celebration. I hopped on a plane and flew to Albuquerque to spend a little time, catch an Albuquerque Isotopes baseball game, and give him a big brotherly, congratulatory hug. Mission accomplished. We laughed and smiled all weekend as we indulged in our trademark nonsensical brotherly banter. All was once again right with the world. Except..............just as I was leaving to go to the airport to return to Los Angeles, Barry took me aside and said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news." Barbara Ann (his wife of 35 years) had just that day been diagnosed with leukemia! Shortly after he told me that, she came in to the room with her list of things that needed to be done before going to the hospital. She said, "I had to wait to look into my situation until Barry had gotten better." Unfortunately, that wait was too long. There was nothing the doctors could do. Barbara Ann died about 6 weeks later.

I'll leave the story at this point and will return next week to describe further events and my thoughts and reactions. In the meantime, even from this brief description, I began to understand the "roller coaster" effect.....and began to ask some serious questions about the "cancer experience". More about that next week. I wish all you blue skies, fresh air, the beauty of the earth, and the nearness of loved ones. Nihil obstat. wayne g

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