Category Archives: Dancing

A Night with Opera St. Louis


Wednesday night we had the pleasure of listening to a couple of performers from Opera St. Louis. With ‘The Little One’ being a big fan of Opera, I knew we were in for quite an enjoyable evening.

As we were preparing for the festivities, I heard the ‘The Little One’ say in the distance…”well, this should be interesting”. Curious, I peaked in to the bedroom to see what he was he was talking about; his dress pants!

Once I saw him holding up the pair of pants, I knew exactly his concern. With a weight loss of over 35 lbs, we both knew these dress pants were not going to hug the hips.

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Thank goodness for suspenders!

When he put the pants on, we were both amazed at how much weight he has lost. He has easily lost four pants sizes! (I now need to do the same)

While his weight loss is good for his overall health, they way it has happen is certainly not one of those fad diets you see on TV!

The second PET scan has now been scheduled for December 12 in Fort Lauderdale; we will be heading south in just a little more than a week. We are anxious to see where we stand with the tumor and the only way for that to happen is to conduct the follow-up PET scan.

While the PET scan might give us the physical facts of the tumor; we will not be held back by the results. We are moving ahead with our heads held high.

You see, we might have cancer… But cancer does not have us! We are putting money away for a trip to Paris in Spring of 2012. I have never been, ‘The Little One’ has been three times!

Live each day like it is your last; care for those who are always by your side!

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Filed under advocacy, Advocate, Caregiving, Dancing, Health, Intergenerational, LGBT Couples, Live Love Laugh, may to december, Older man, SAGE, Senior Health, Spirituality, Unconditional Love

So…you want to go dancing?


As we move into the celebration of Thanksgiving, we have plenty of things to be thankful for.

‘The Little One’s’ marked improvement over the past four weeks is gratifying; we are cautiously optimistic as we look ahead to the follow-up PET scan the first week of December. While we understand the reality of cancer, we penetrate the disease with love and affection.

When we started this journey in late August, it has ended up being quite a learning experience for both of us. Being separated during the first four weeks of treatments was probably the most difficult part, yet these last six weeks has truly been remarkable. We have gone from a man who could barely stay awake for the entire day, to a man who is up and around on a daily basis enjoying so many of the things that he loves to do, including bossing me around. (Don’t let him know that I let him get away with it!)

For those who have been reading my blog, you know that we like to inject as much humor into our care giving experience as possible. One of the ‘funny’ lines we have been using since day one has been…’Are you ready to go dancing?’ I started asking that question to ‘The Little One’ when I arrived in Florida after ‘The Little One” was admitted to the hospital. We’ve used that question to gauge how he is feeling. It does get a little tired asking someone on a daily basis…’So, How are you feeling’…well…uh…’I feel like s__t, I’ve got cancer’ would be the typical answer. So we changed it up…’Are you ready to go dancing’…’no, not yet but getting closer.’ The funny thing about this question is that we both hate to dance! That is what makes this so much fun. (Two men dancing is weird anyway, no matter what side of the fence you’re on)

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we are thankful for the time spent together because each day is like extended play. All too often in our busy schedules, we lose focus on our own realty and human frailty. What is here today, can be gone tomorrow.

Take time to ask your loved on to dance… It’s just as meaningful as telling them that you love them!

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Filed under Advocate, Bow Tie Guy, Caregiving, Dancing, Esophagus Cancer, Senior Health, Unconditional Love