…and then, in the spirit of the season, please send them along to pw regulars, BJTex, Sgt York, and donald — and to James Joyner of OTB.
As some of you already know, BJTex has had a bit of a setback in his battle with a brain tumor. But as always, he’s maintained his good spirits. To contact him, email me for his info, or email Danger Dave, who can fill you in more fully.
Sgt York, who at one time commented her regularly, disappeared for a spell quite suddenly. After suffering from seizures, he, too, was diagnosed with a tumor, this one a Focal Stem Giloma. According to Sgt York, chemo began immediately in July, followed by surgery in October. His doctor is cautiously optimistic. Chemo continues, and as of now, 89% of the tumor has been removed or destroyed.
Donald, we all know, recently lost his wife. The same thing happened just a week or so ago to James Joyner. I cannot imagine the pain of such a loss, and so I send my sincerest thoughts and prayers to donald and James and their families — as I do to BJTex and Sgt York and all their loved ones.
At times like these, it’s comforting to know you all are here — a constant, a bulwark against the pain the world can dish out, a circle of online friends, corny as that sounds.
And sometimes it works to remind ourselves we’re all in this together.
— Except for the hard left ideologues. Who want us all to suffer. Them, I can do without, frankly.
****
update: Just learned from Charles Austin that one of my great early blogging buddies, Scott Chaffin of The Fat Guy, has lung cancer. Please extend to him and his family your thoughts and prayers as well.
Best wishes, good luck, and God’s strength to them all.
What Patrick said.
A long time ago, when the world wide web was still a new thing, there was a web site devoted to the local major league baseball club that developed quite a community. One of the regulars was this old blowhard lawyerly guy who was famously an old crank, and one time I called him out on this based on something he said, making what I thought was fair characterization of the guy. He took offense, told me I didn’t know him, etc. and I backed down.
Thing is, it was bullshit, though, and I should have said so. We know people from their words, their language. A big part of relationships is conversation, and online words count as well. Now, I won’t pretend to know any of you as well as I know my friends and coworkers, but I think it’s fair to say that legitimate relationships happen in these (online) places and it’s fair to say we know something of each of other, and it’s not entirely artificial.
Which is all just a way of saying I’ll be praying for all of you, and when I do I’ll mean it.
And Get Well soon.
Brain tumors suck, as does losing people you love. Peace be upon all concerned.
In related news, effective cancer treatment with no discernible side effects would be the coolest thing ever, except for the fact that if it comes to pass we’ll have some untrained schlub who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer to thank.
Who knew it could be this hard to make the first sentence of the day snark-free? I was on a tour this past year, and the guide was completely and absolutely certain that every pearl that dropped from his lips was factually un-challengeable, ethically superior, and nicely phrased. I really wanted to beat him with a baseball bat, but instead my wife and I sat in the back of the jeep and snarked. And I soon realized that besides becoming even more gut-bustingly hilarious, I had been changed by these internet years. We were all are from Cicero, where good humor is a put-down followed by a back of the hand to the nuts as a laugh-track, and it turns out that my new standard level of joke was considered vicious, personal, and nasty.
Which is a really long way of getting around to me saying that I wish the best for you all; please keep in mind that if that was written by a normal person it would be much longer, more positive, and you could feel the warmth.
Wow- God bless us, every one.
God bless each of those people you mention, Jeff.
Also, as someone who has benefited from “PW prayers” in the past, I can attest to their efficacy.
Thanks.
It’s hard to hear about such terrible pain, but I’d rather know than be indifferent to the suffering of friends and acquaintances.
May they all find peace and solace, eventually.
O Christ, Who alone art our Defender: Visit and heal Thy suffering servants, delivering them from sickness and grievous pains. Raise them up that they may sing to Thee and praise Thee without ceasing, through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Thou Who alone lovest mankind.
Prayers and positive thoughts for all. That’s quite a bit of tragedy and hardship to have unfolded so recently.
God bless them all and my prayers and thoughts go out to all of them, also.
Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
What Cowboy said. I have had many pray for me, I can only do the same for BJTex, Sgt York, donald and James Joyner.
Whatever brain mechanism is responsible for empathy, I believe it functions analogously to the eye. At the focal point, detail is clear but acuity diminishes at the peripheries. In a like manner, we are all somewhat apathetic regarding human suffering beyond our area of attention yet we are emotionally moved by the trials of those we feel some personal connection to. It is good then to see clearly that the people behind the words we read here are real and that our concern for each other is genuine.
May the Lord bless them, and keep them; may He make His countenance to shine upon them, and grant them His Peace.
Healing wishes to all those afflicted of body or spirit.
My friend Scott Chaffin, also known as The Fat Guy, has lung cancer right now. I only mention that because some here may also know him.
Jesus, Charles, I had no idea.
I’ll add him to my thoughts.
This calls for an appropriate song.
I haven’t been here in ages, but I’m so sorry to learn of this news. They will all be in my thoughts and prayers. I also wanted to pass on a little information about a different cancer therapy that is actually available. This might be particularly useful to BJTexas if he has had a setback. The doctor who developed this therapy was persecuted (and I don’t mean prosecuted) for decades by the FDA even while they admitted that his therapies were curing cancer.
http://www.burzynskiclinic.com/
http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/cancer1/antineoplastons.htm
This therapy can be used in conjunction with traditional therapies and doesn’t have any toxic effect. Please don’t think I’m butting in with whacky alternative medicine. Cancer runs in my family and it’s a habit of mine to research different therapies.
Thanks Jeff. I appreciate it.
I feel for everybody who’s going through this stuff.
Sometimes it’s never too soon for superior Christmas music.