Chimps and More Bad Press

Reuters has a story today about a Russian chimp with an interesting life. First, the chimp was thrown out of circus for his aggressive behavior. From there, he was sent to a zoo where he picked up some more bad habits. He learned to draw with markers, drink and smoke. Now he has been transferred again for rehab treatment to overcome his cigarette and beer habits. I don't know what they've planned to do about his drawings.

A Blonde Joke

My sister, who was a blonde until recent years, has had to bear her share of blonde jokes. In self-defence, she tries to find the best blonde jokes before anyone else can locate them. Here's one she shared when I was in the hospital.

A company decided to conduct a password audit. They discovered that a blonde receptionist had an unusually long one. It was MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofy. So someone went to her and asked her why she had such a long password.

She indignantly replied, "Well, you were the ones who told me I had to have a password that was eight characters long!"

Good News, Bad News

Now that I'm getting stronger, I am recalling some of the more interesting incidents that occurred when I was in the hospital.

The night before my surgery, my room suddenly was filled with six doctors. Five of them were the surgical team to discuss the operation and what to expect following it. Then they left and the remaining doctor, the hospitalist, who coordinated all my treatment, pulled up a chair by my bed.

My first thought was "Oh, oh! This doesn't look good." It wasn't. He told me that he had to inform me of my options and that my decisions should take into account that the end result would most likely remain the same. I remember asking how long and how he danced around the question while I pressed for an honest answer.

Then I had what I call my Rodney Dangerfield moment. I kept thinking "Today I had good news and bad news. The good news is I won't get dementia. The bad news is I won't live long enough." I think you would call that sick humor.

In looking back, I wonder if the hospitalist had another motive; one that would make me mad enough to say "Oh, yeah? I'll prove you wrong, Mister!" Because that is the attitude I've had since his visit that night. Thanks, Dr. Kovachev.

Correction: Duodenal Cancer

While I was writing about my cancer, I made a big error in the name of the type. It is duodenal cancer.

Duodural Cancer

Even though I admit to being a learning junkie, there are occasions when I learn more about a subject than I wanted to know. Duodural cancer is one of those subjects. I can tell you more about it than you'll want to know and I've learned all this because I have duodural cancer.

Duodural cancer is located in the duodenum, just below the stomach in the upper intestines. It is in a very difficult place to operate on because there are so many blood vessels there. I was a lucky one. The surgeon was able to remove the cancer. I still have chemo/radiation ahead when I am stronger.