Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Insomnia

Round 8 is being distinguished as the Insomnia round.  Tomorrow I approach the completion of the first week.  I'm drowning myself in room temp lemonade and powerade, managing the hourly output discharge And trying to alter my sleep pattern.  No such luck. It is 3:30am.

I was talking to a friend recently about our heart conditions, he had stents, I had bypass.  Someone we know our age recently had a heart attack.  Both of us were tempted to send a "welcome to the club" message, but thought better of it.  A little on the morbid side and the many that have not the privilege of the experience may object.  But I learned today that someone else I know will be undergoing heart surgery.   We are at the age where this is no longer an anomaly.  It is a trend.  So how is your health status?

I can only offer support and answer any questions about the recovery.  My aunt is sad in that many of her friends have passed on and with each funeral, you can see the effect deepening.  I'm beginning to get a glimpse in understanding her feelings. I can list on one hand friends that were dear to me who passed on, but as we age, our list grows.  I'm not sure what this implies to my life currently, but food for thought.

Of course, the opposite of all this is grandchildren.  They provide joy, and optimism for the future.

1 comment:

Hifumi said...

Hi George. It's me, Bes. Just in case you don't remember me my full name is Bessie Kawaguchi Yuen. I heard through FaceBook from Gayle a couple of months ago about your Blog and about your cancer treatment journey. My heart literally hurt for you and I have prayed for you often. I hope this last round of chemo will knock the hell out of your cancer and bring you closer to complete health. I met your son Jeff in Allen, Texas at the Zoe Community Church when my son Taylor and I went to visit. We were invited to visit through Stan Terasaki who I grew up with at Clearwater Baptist. Perhaps Gayle may have already told you, but my son Taylor has been living in Plano and working for Raytheon for the past 2.5 years. He's a member of the Asian American Baptist Church in Richardson and up until recently he served on the leadership team for the Young Adults Group.

I spent over a month and a half in Plano from January 2 till Feb. 13th. I went to help Taylor move from his apartment into his new house which was completed back in December. It's a 4 bedroom, 3 bath place which is plenty of room for a single guy. And yes, he is still single with no girlfriend! I keep asking him "Aren't there any girls at your church you like?" He has some good friends who are girls but he says they are mostly "Bossy Chinese Women." I told Dexter who just said "As opposed to what, Bossy Japanese Women." I wonder what he was trying to say??? Oh well, God only know when one finds the right partner.

Taylor's house with my help of course is now a very nice home. I even have picked out my own bedroom! I know, I know... He's gotten some hints from some of his friends asking him if he's going to get roommates, but he said "No". One guy even tried to guilt him into it by saying "well, don't you want community?" to which Taylor replied "I had 7 years of community with all kinds of roommates at UCSD and going to Tohoku University and then back to UCSD. He had pretty great roommates for the most part, but Taylor wants his own space now. Raytheon has been good to him. He's got a great boss and a great group of co-workers and now he can even walk to work if he wanted. I told him not everyone can say that and that he should feel blessed.

The last two weeks while I was in Plano Dexter can into town (he just retired in December)and we had Pastor Ben Wong come over and he did a "House Blessing" for Taylor's place - a dedication really. One realizes they're getting old when a 47 year old pastor calls you Auntie Bessie and Uncle Dexter! Dexter told him he didn't have to be so formal which is Dexter's way of saying "don't make us feel so old."

Take care George, will write again. Had to delete some because it was too long. Bes