Where the Heck Have I Been???

Well, well.  Where the heck am I?

First off, I need to apologize for not offering an explanation before this.  I never realized just how important I was to so many of you here on Gather, but the evidence are the inquiries regarding my whereabouts, as well as those of you who have stuck with me steadfastly, and faithfully, through this very difficult ordeal.  The evidence has proven me to be wrong.

I've been away battling cancer, or maybe several cancers; the doctors cannot tell me at this time.

The manifestation that there might be a problem occurred back on December 1, 2008, but I ignored it.  I did so for a number of reasons -- amongst them were the facts that I am not a cream puff, and wasn't going to be brought down by pain; also, -- the doctors were just as stumped as I -- it was too soon for a recurrence of the April, 2008 cancer; impossible!  Well, well: the only problem was that it turned out to not be so impossible.

I need to emphasize that the doctors do NOT believe my condition is life-threatening, at least not at this time.  At one time, there were not certain, but now, they are a bit more confident about this.  Put another way:  I have NO FEAR of losing my life, and they are more confident that by keeping a close eye on my condition, there is a good chance of keeping me alive.  I want to make sure that people understand there is no cause for alarm.

Although I have much more to say, there it is in a nutshell -- where I have been.  Now, for the most important information I want to share . . .

Out of ever trial, negative occurrence, or tribulation in my life, there has always been at least one positive outcome, or lesson learned.  The same is true with this situation.  In this situation, the positive outcome has been/is the evidence of the gems I have in the persons of family and friends, and this DEFINITELY includes my Gather family and friends. 

I've been telling my non-Gather family and friends about a number of you, about your personalities, eccentricities, those things that make you special, unique, make you "you", and so important to ME, and why I am honoured to have you as a part of my life, but they were not getting it, or accepting it.   Let me express it in a different way, there are those of my Gather friends, with whom I've simply fallen in love; you are in me, and it was important to me that my non-Gather family and friends understood why, understood why I devoting the time and effort here on Gather to you, rather than to them.  Gather.com began as a campaign effort for then, Senator, and now President Barack Obama.  But it came to mean much more than that, because YOU caused it to become more meaningful than just that.

Since I've fallen ill, and I'm no longer contributing to Gather, it was my belief that -- excepting a select group of people -- I would be forgotten, deleted, disconnected, ignored -- you get the picture, oftentimes human nature, and nothing to feel bitter or angry about, especially since I never saw myself as one of the more visible people on Gather anyway.  You might imagine my shock when the very opposite occurred.

Additionally, most of you who knew about the illness and had my off-Gather emailbox address have remained incredibly faithful, and supportive.  Your email, every single email have been saved in a file, that I shall always keep, because I cherish your thoughts, supports, and all that you have done for me.  In those times when I was/am too ill to read them for myself, someone reads them to me.  If appropriate, I also have dictated responses back to you at times I wasn't able to do it myself.  If you thought enough to do what you did, and a response was appropriate, I HAD to get a response back to you!

I do SO wonder if you have any idea just what very precious gems your constant words of support, love, advice, and encouragement have meant to -- not only my mental, and emotional well-being, but also my physical well-being.   YOU have played/are playing a role in my healing process, and how could I not help but to love you all the more for it.

Gather.com: one of the best things to have happened to me in the 21st century, because of YOU!  I hope that when I am in a healthiest physical state, I may share the your names with everyone else, please!?

Again, I apologize to those of you, like Aunt Boni H., who care, and who have been wondering,

"Where the heck are you?"

If you are one of my friends, and you have had that concern, the Doc,

http://www.bookman.gather.com/

shall always know how to reach me, or one of my family or friends; he'll know what to do, and you should contact him.    Sharon also has my contact information, but she has a great deal on her plate right now.  I prefer, and ask that you contact the Doc, if ever you need to reach me, and I'm seemingly not available.

Thank you!

Just a few more things . . .

It is my personal request that you take care of the stress in your life.  That's a seemingly light request request, but it is much more sobering than it sounds.  My own primary physician had a very serious, and long talk with my designated . . .spokesperson.(???)  I did not designate him as such, nor did he elect himself [I am laughing now]; it seems that an unanimous vote by my family, other friends, and my doctor made him so, and he had no objections.  My doctor -- in no uncertain terms -- instructed my friend that it was now his job to keep me away from any person, place, or thing that had the potential for creating stress in my life, period.  I'm guessing that he was so intent on getting his point across that my doctor, who is usually a very mild-mannered person, used such a harsh tone, I wanted to tell him,

"Doc, the only person creating stress around here is YOU!"

Still, the point was not lost; a stress-free environment is very important when combatting sickness and disease.

Earlier, I mentioned my not wanting to be a "cream puff", and overreacting at the slightest ache or pain.  But one extreme is as bad as the other.   We all already know that the purpose of pain is to alert our bodies to the fact that something may be wrong. 

While it's true that our bodies are so wondrously constructed, more often than not, the body corrects the problem before we even realize there was a real problem, it's still better to err on the side of caution than to be reckless as was I.  From December 1 last year and continuing on, my doctor kept urging me to get to C-T scan that he had written up done, but I ignored him, because I had purposed in my heart that I was NOT going to allow anything to spoil the Obama victory until I saw it through to the Inauguration.   That was foolishness, plainly and simply.  But for the grace and mercy of God, the Obamas would be in the White House, while I was six feet underneath the ground.

Hopefully, we all see it -- the epidemic of cancer that has swept through this country (and maybe not just us, I don't know).   What's our defense?  In my case, the doctors tell me there is none.  In other words, there was absolutely nothing I could have done to prevent the type of cancer attacking me -- NOTHING.  It isn't even based on heredity.  To hear them speak, it's just bad luck.  So, what DO you do?  You simply must be ever-vigilant, and stay up/educated on the subject of cancer, in general. 

That being said, I wrote an article a while ago,

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977462073&nav=Namespace

by Dr. Richard L. Becker, a medical doctor, a holistic doctor, and his discussion, which is a transcript from his daily television program is very informative and a very good tool.  After hearing my diagnosis, I re-read the article.   I urge EVERYONE to do the same -- to either read the article, print it, and file it away for future reference.  It's going to come in handy, if not now, later as someone you love IS going to be touched by this evil killer, cancer.

I know, I know -- it is totally off the subject, but I cannot help but to mention something about President Obama -- indulge me!  A couple of weeks or so ago, Conservative/Libertarian Tucker Carlson re-emerged from . . .who knows what or where, and appeared on CNN.  Since he is Conservative, but tends to be objective, mature, and intellectual, I was not the least bit surprised whenhe said that

President Obama has done more/accomplished more in the first 2 months of his Presidency than any other President in the history of this country.

He may be in big trouble with his fellow Libertarians for making a statement like that.

Someone asked Carlson where he had been all of this time, and I don't recall his responding to that question.  I did notice that his bowtie was gone, replaced by the standard boring tie; that's too bad.  He had some very quirky bowties, and I hope this change isn't permanent.  Bowties-be-gone or not, I welcome Carlson back with the most heartfelt sincerity.   Carlson had the ability to disagree on a logical, mature level, meaning his disagreement had a logical sound foundation, other than the immature, DISAGREEABLE, reactionary, childish hatred, and bigotry fluff; that's refreshing.   I shall look forward to hearing the arguments he presents, and you know he SHALL have them.

Again, if you would like to reach me, for now, I shall not be able to read Gather email, as I shall not be on Gather again for awhile.  I did not get the opportunity to read the Gather email this time as well; there is so much Group email!  While I do seeyour pings,  but not on a daily basis, contacting Doc is the best way at http://www.bookman.gather.com/

May the Lord's blessings and grace be with you, always.

Love,

~~Nee

I look forward to the time when I am back with you as before.

______________________________________________

Purposely saved for last:

Please continue to remember, support, and keep the following people in your prayers,

Sharon, SugarMomma is a Wise Woman

Ellen B

Karl Leuba

Ron and Buddy

Cindy B.'s sister (see article

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977640362&nav=Namespace)