Paine and Nurses

Good Morning Chemo 13:

Well it’s a great day to be alive. It’s 0514 and I’m feeling pretty good. My legs feel achy, but that’s okay. I walked the dogs to the park again yesterday and that seemed to go well. I did try to jog for about ten feet and man my legs felt weird. It was as if they had never run anywhere before.

I suspect the running thing is going to be a bit more challenging than I thought. Bring it on baby!! I can’t wait to win this challenge. I am reminded of what Thomas Paine said in 1776, “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”

I was reading Paine’s the Crisis for gazillionth time and it really resonated with me. Remember that time your heart got broken and every song on the radio seemed like it was being played just for you. Well that’s kind of how I felt yesterday reading The Crisis. One section really stuck out. The excerpt in question:

·      THESE are the times that try men's souls … Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.

The complete pamphlet is at http://www.ushistory.org/Paine/crisis/singlehtml.htm

I am so thankful to the nurses and staff on 6B/6C and Medical Oncology and Hematology Consultants that it is hard to put into words. Since getting cancer I’ve been to a lot of medical appointments and hospital departments dealing with nurses of different stripes, and while all of them were good competent professionals, the cancer nurses are a breed apart. If Christiana is going to stick the nurses in uniforms, the cancer nurses and staff should have a color all their own signifying their unique dedication and abilities – these guys are the best of the best. I vote for camouflage – I always do.

I guess that’s it for now.

Still have a lot thoughts rolling around in my I can’t quite give voice to yet, but that’s coming.

See ya soon,

Bill