Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

I really should read my own blog.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

I was promised a recession.

“woke” is the new caravan.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

In my day, never was longer.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

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39Comments

  2. 2.

    WereBear

    I haz been gifted with a ten month old iMac; extra-marvy ’cause the 8 year old version has been losing its mojo all summer. I was all “It is okay because I just need the Internet” until browsers STOPPED WORKING.

    No going back from that one.

  4. 4.

    geg6

    Well,went yesterday with my John to meet with his urologist to discuss the treatment options for his prostate cancer. Essentially, there were four: surgery, external radiation with hormone therapy, internal radiation with hormone therapy, or do nothing. The least worst option is the internal radiation, we think. Anybody ever deal with this stuff and have an opinion or guidance they can provide us?

  5. 5.

    nancydarling

    @geg6: Sorry to hear that. Best wishes from Arkansas whatever option you choose. Can you get a second or even a third opinion?

  6. 6.

    PurpleGirl

    @geg6: Sorry that your John has cancer.

    Twenty-odd years ago I was involved with a man who’d had surgery for prostate cancer. At that point it was 5 years after his surgery. (To my knowledge, he is still alive; we broke up some time later and I’ve lost track of him.) I didn’t know him when he learned of the cancer or was treated for it. Treatment has improved since then. Just think, Rudy Guiliani was treated for it (circa 1999/2000?) and he’s still around.

    I’ll keep you and John in mind for good thoughts and I hope it works out well for you both.

  7. 7.

    Suffern ace

    Waiting for the diagnosis from the mechanic as to why the check engine light went on. hoping it’s $ not $$$. Fortunately I get to watch all about 9/11 coverage. Apparently we commemorate somber events by complaining.

  8. 8.

    henqiguai

    @geg6 (#4): Definitely what nancydarling at #5 is saying &$150; get second (and even third) opinions. From what is published in the lay media, prostate cancers are among the slowest growing and one of the options, depending on the cancer itself as well as the age of the patient, is to monitor but otherwise leave them alone. Quality of life issues are apparently the main issue.

    Yeah, I got reasons to read articles on prostate health, beyond the simple fact of having one myself.

  9. 9.

    Gin & Tonic

    @geg6: Get at least a second, maybe even a third opinion. Since this is a very slow-moving disease, typically, you have time, and from a lot I’ve read, many doctors now recommend doing nothing, at least for an extended period.

  10. 10.

    Sam Houston

    Coffee with chicory and chocolate. Dogs have been playing “I bite you; you bite me” for two and a half years and this morning is no exception.

  13. 13.

    Dave C

    I am considering getting a dog. I do a lot of running, and I would want to be able to run pretty frequently with my dog. Anybody have any suggestions for breeds that would be good for this?

  15. 15.

    geg6

    Thanks for all the good thoughts. We have already gotten a second opinion, done our own research, and consulted various friends in healthcare and feel pretty confident in the urologist. They all mentioned the do-nothing approach as a good one if the circumstances are right. However, the doctors agree that the biopsies showed too much cancer (though probably not spread further than the prostate itself) to avail ourselves of that option. The surgery sounds too much of a toll on your life with a very long recovery time. One of the radiation/hormone options sound best to us. Just not sure which.

  17. 17.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    Been out with the pups at the farmers market getting ready for a day of football. The main event here is whether or not this is the beginning of the end for the Dawgs coach. He may become a full time missionary if his team doesn’t beat the cocks!

  18. 18.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @geg6: No idea what to suggest, but you both have my best wishes and hopes for a good result whatever option you choose.

    @Suffern ace: I had a check engine light come on recently. I called the service people at my dealer and they suggested that, if the car’s performance was not affected, I keep driving it for a while as the computers in modern cars more or less retune the engine constantly and could end up make whatever adjustment fixed the problem. It turns out they were correct. OTOH my battery died Friday morning and had to be replaced. Also too, apparently there was an issue with the front springs in Saab 9-3s. Mine went bad and and also needed to be replaced. Luckily, this bit was covered by Saab.

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Max and Duncan and Duncan and Max! PUPPEHS!!

    @geg6: My dad had prostate cancer but his was apparently well advanced by the time it was diagnosed. He had the surgery and some radiation but the cancer by then had spread to the bones. He was also a good bit older than your John (I’m guessing). I agree with everyone who is advising you to get second and third opinions. You guys caught it early and it is slow-growing, so you have the luxury of some time to make whatever decision you ultimately choose.

    On the personal front, my brother (who was diagnosed with bladder cancer last December) had surgery yesterday to remove several small tumours that had suddenly appeared between his three-month and six-month checkups. Preliminary reports indicate that all went well yesterday, but I’ve had no details yet.

  21. 21.

    PurpleGirl

    @mai naem & DaveC: I have friends who placed retired racers and kept 4 dogs themselves. Retired racers are gentle and sweet and will run. They do well with people and children in my experience. And they do fit in apartments. They can be crated when you go to work without problems because they are accustomed to being crated at the track — if you add blankets and pillows to the crate it’s heaven for them. (At the track, the crates are filled with newspaper so feeling soft pillows and blankets is heaven for them.)

  22. 22.

    Hal

    Here we go. Obama loses Anthony Weiner’s seat for Dems, news at 11!

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/10/nyregion/fearing-loss-of-a-house-seat-democrats-make-a-late-push.html?hp

    I do love the fact that these voters in this district will completely vote against their best interests because of gay marriage and Obama’s stance on Israel, which is the same as how many President’s before him?

    A new poll released on Friday showed Bob Turner, the Republican, with a six-point lead over Mr. Weprin. The election is on Tuesday, and even though lawmakers have discussed eliminating the district in redistricting next year, the race has become symbolically important as an indication of how much Mr. Obama’s unpopularity might affect other Democratic candidates.

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Hal:

    Dammit!! The first two words in that article are “Panicked Democrats . . .”

    Thanks for the meme, NYT!

  24. 24.

    PurpleGirl

    That district is a little bit up the from me. The media and Turner are representing Obama as basically being against Israel and him as having insulted Netanyahu.

  25. 25.

    Sam Houston

    @geg6: best wishes. I can’t educate but perhaps entertain you?

    My father is a great quirky guy and he’s always been mindful of his health. At 78 he announced that it was a statistical certainty that he had prostate cancer and so therefore he was going to eat a habanero pepper with every meal. He cited peer-reviewed literature showing a correlation between eating spicy food and low incidence of prostrate cancer.

    Would Dad really do it? Hell yes. In the early 90s I saw him, with my own frightened eyes, drink cabbage juice because, yes, he saw a peer reviewed article that showed a correlation between eating cabbage and low incidence of ulcers. Thank goodness modern pharma saved us from that odious cure!

    Back to the present; for four years now we’ve watched Dad eat his pepper with every meal. Of course it turns out he is cheating! His tongue is so old he’s lost much of his sense of taste. He contentedly masticates on his pepper and we rarely even see a tear out of him.

    We have no idea if the peppers are working. Nobody wants to go look.

  26. 26.

    realbtl

    @geg6:

    This is the worrisome piece. If the cancer spreads it becomes quite a bit more serious, especially since there are lymph nodes very nearby.

    Four years ago at age 58 I opted for surgery and avoided the spreading issue. The physical recovery from surgery was not bad at all. There were some, um, performance issues for about 9 months but the use of the drugs that spam filters don’t like took care of these.

    Good luck and remember that getting old sucks but it is better than the alternative.

  27. 27.

    RandyH

    Earlier this week I was shopping at the grocery store and they had full-size Beef Femurs for sale (cheap!) They looked like dinosaur bones. I used to have a big dog who would just love one of those. But I thought of Max. You should get him one from your butcher. And then take pictures of him playing with and fetching for it. Really awesome bones. He’ll love you (even more) forever.

    Beautiful dog, that Max.

  28. 28.

    Valdivia

    @geg6:

    My dad had surgery but this was 10 years ago and his was very aggressive. I would look to balance side effects of the procedures (impotence and incontinence) with aggressiveness of the tumor. And maybe look for a second opinion. Some doctors like to operate no matter what and the side-effects are always there no matter how good the surgeon is. So if he can get away without that I would do it. Also: ask the doctor specifically what he would do if it were him or a family member.

    Sorry to hear about this. Hope you guys get through it ok and he is cancer free soon.

  29. 29.

    mai naem

    I am sick and tired of 9/11 9/11 9/11 9/11 already and its not even 9/11. Could we have had a worse president than GW Bush during 9/11. I don’t think so. Even Franklin Pierce would have done a better job than this maroon.

  30. 30.

    Mark S.

    I hope this doesn’t wake up matako, but Israel is not finding the Arab Spring to its liking:

    Netanyahu now hopes that Israel might be able to get close with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States, who also seek to block the possibility of an Arab Spring in the region. In the West, Netanyahu is hoping to circumvent Turkey by strengthening ties with Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. . . Israel cannot prevent the rise of Erdogan or the fall of Mubarak, the same way that it cannot halt Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The fall of the American superpower is not Netanyahu’s fault. But he has not done a thing to mitigate the fallout from the aforementioned developments.

    Shit, I don’t think we’ve fallen just yet, but regardless, pissing off Turkey was most assuredly Bibi’s fault and certainly preventable. If the Israel-Egypt peace treaty is really dead, Israel is going to need some deft diplomacy and statesmanship. Unfortunately, they keep electing right wing buffoons like Bibi and Lieberman. Good luck with your new buddies in the House of Saud.

  32. 32.

    RandyH

    @mai naem:

    I can’t even watch the news the last few days because they insist on making us re-live 9/11. No thanks. I don’t want to do it and I can’t stand the f’ing Fear Parade that they present. It really pisses me off. Why can’t we just move on?

  33. 33.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Valdivia:

    Thanks. He’s one of those guys who has spent a lifetime creating a persona consisting of equal parts nonchalance and tough-guy bravado, and as you can imagine that means it’s not easy to get straight answers from him about what’s going on. My sister (his twin) is a lot closer to him than I am — geographically and emotionally — so I’m relying on her to get something close to accurate information. Your good wishes are appreciated.

  34. 34.

    RandyH

    @geg6:

    Often times, the best option with Prostate Cancer, believe it or not, is to just do nothing but monitor it closely. In many cases it will never amount to anything during a person’s normal lifespan anyway.

    You can also remove the prostate (surgery) but that’s pretty extreme. And goodbye sexual arousal forever.

    But nowadays there is really good digital tomography-based radiation therapy that can fine-tune on the cancer and kill it without killing surrounding tissue. Just avoid the old-fashioned analog radiation therapy. Find out which hospital near you has “Cyber-knife” or similar advanced radiation machines.

    But only do chemotherapy as a VERY last resort. That’s just being injected with poison, hoping it kills the cancer. It kills alot more than that. What a miserable experience.

  35. 35.

    geg6

    The good news is that none of the doctors are champing at the bit to cut. Both doctors seemed to feel it was serious enough that doing nothing was probably not an option, but any one of the other options were equally good. Based on time commitment, side effects, and success rates, we like the two radiation/hormone options. The urologist has been very clear about everything, very happy to answer every question, and very good about pointing us toward resources to understand it all. Everyone seems confident that this is serious but very treatable and that we should feel optimistic. He even went over, in detail, the options to treat the side effects, both short and long term. It’s scary, but we are both feeling better about this than we ever imagined.

  36. 36.

    RandyH

    @geg6:

    Get referred to a good Oncologist who has the very best radiation equipment. They will probably send him for a PET scan if he hasn’t gotten one already and then, if you want to treat it, go with the advanced digital tomography-based radiation treatment first, before other treatments. My dad has resolved two separate incidents of lung cancer in the last couple years this way. He has also been struggling with thyroid cancer. He had his thyroid removed but there’s still growing thyroid tissue in his body that has cancer. He will have to go for chemotherapy because he has had too much radiation in the last couple of years (too many CT scans following up on the previous cancers.)

    But I am really a fan of “Cyberknife” and I think it could also solve his Thyroid cancer issue if his body could afford to take the extra radiation.

    Ask your doctor about this. The latest modern radiation machines are really good. Even if you have to go to a far-away city to do it, it’s totally worth it. And they are simple outpatient therapy. He will feel a little tired afterward but not physically ill, like chemotherapy will do.

  37. 37.

    JCT

    @geg6: Good thoughts to you and John.

    Been through this — especially the multiple option scenario that feels like a roulette game. Husband was diagnosed with leukemia at 49 (random blood test), initially told it was the “best” kind to get (including the doc who told him that he “barely had cancer” — I fired him the next day). Within a month as the more informative tests piled up all of a sudden the “barely cancer that would not impact his mortality” was a much bigger problem that had a 5-6 year prognosis. Talk about whiplash.

    It sounds like you have done due diligence and have excellent, interactive and thoughtful docs. My brother-in-law had the internal radiation and minimal chemo 5 years ago and has done great. Again, there are so many variables and patients are so different, it can be hard to compare. Given your current comfort level and trust in your docs, is there an approach that your husband is most comfortable with, taking into account how he will feel during treatment and the side effect profiles of the two main options? That would be a reasonable way to make the choice.

  39. 39.

    WaterGirl

    @geg6: My neighbor across the street was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the last 6 months, and he opted to go with a pretty aggressive treatment, even though other options were available. When we talked he was SO happy with the option he had chosen, even as he was still recovering from surgery; for him it was worth the surgery to end the uncertainty. The right choice is probably as much about who you are as it is about the medicine, so what’s right for one person might not be right for another.

    My neighbor is a really good guy and I’ll bet he would be happy to talk to your John if he wants to talk to someone who has been there recently. Or, if you want, I could see if he would be willing to communicate in some other way.

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