Friday, November 4, 2011

It's Been Awhile, Thank You's and Updates


I would like to apologize to the readers of my blog for not posting in awhile. It's been a crazy couple of months and things for the most part are going good in my life. Let's start with the Thank You's...FF'SGIRL, thanks for the guest post. I was having a hard time expressing the emotions my friends and I were feeling leading up to and on 9/11. I have the honor of being friends with Firefighters from all over the world and am eternally grateful to each and every one of them. Along with the friendship comes the "oneness" that we all feel, whether active, retired, paid or volly. In a past post I made it clear that when a Brother cries, we all cry with him. On 9/11, there were way too many tears shed and way too many of my friends shed them.

I did participate in a Memorial Stair Climb and was able to complete half. This was very important to me and in no way was I going to let my cancer or treatments get in my way. Just putting on my old lid brought back a lot of memories, both good and bad. The other thing I noticed how heavy that old beat-up thing weighed..maybe it's me just getting old. I am not sure if it was the helmet or my shirt that read, "Bin Laden can kiss my royal Irish ass", but I made some new friends that day.

There were many people that participated that day, along with FF were many from the public sector. I was given a bit of hope that the message "Never Forget" was being delivered.The one thing I did do was to inform some of the "climbers" about the names they were carrying. To me the FDNY is the elite of the elite in the battle against fire and those that were lost were some of the best of the best. Each step was a time for reflection and thought and I was honored to participate. I must also thank my kids and their families for coming out and supporting the old man; they know how important this is to me. Next year I plan on giving it another go and completing the whole climb.

As far as the battle against cancer, I am still winning the war with only a few minor setbacks. My white counts have been a little low and I have had to postpone a few treatments to later dates, but now we seem to be back on track again. The draw-back of low white cell counts is the inability to fight off diseases and the possibility of ending up back in the hospital with pnuemonia again. I have had to alter some plans as far as seeing the grandkids and the kiddos and I am grateful they are so understanding during this time. I have gotten the flu shot this year and ouch, that was a pain in the arm, I also am taking mega doses of vitamins c and b12 along with a daily multi-vitamin to try and ward off any sneaky bugs out there. The anniversary of my diagnoses is quickly approaching and my life has changed so much in the last year. I have met and talked to some great people who have helped me in many ways...

As always, Take Care, Be Safe and Never Forget





 
style='visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;' width='0'/>