| Many Thanks |
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| Written by Dr. Mel | ||||||
| Sunday, 02 April 2006 | ||||||
Page 1 of 4 Sometimes, when I read an acknowledgment, its comprehensiveness can almost be as voluminous as the paper it presents. My doctor, Dennis Cooper, would write papers and often acknowledge an extensive list, including "G. Lee." Many would ask him who is G.Lee. Is he a graduate student? Is he a new fellow? G. Lee's identity seemed to be a deep secret, but Cooper did tell me that G. Lee was really Gerry Lee, his beloved German shepherd with whom he did consult almost daily on their morning walks. Well, I don't have a pet to thank, but my list of thank you's for helping me stay alive during the past 10 years will challenge the best of them.
A person who faces a potentially life-ending experience can't possibly survive alone. Many people are part of that person's recovery and life. In this thank you, I mainly worry about leaving somebody out, or putting less emphasis on one rather than another. So, I have done this in chronological order, starting in October 1996 when my myeloma began to rage. The kindness, care, concern, thoughtfulness, generosity and compassion on the part of others convinced me that there truly is a God side to human nature. Throughout the past 10 years, I have been the luckiest person alive. Sure, I have had this , painful, incurable disease, but I have had a support system that seems to get better and stronger with age. I would never trade these 10 years for any other during my life. These have been the best - thanks to those who have given of themselves to see that I live another day, and beyond. It might not have seemed that way in October 1996 when my back pain was reaching is peak. I would always be collapsing in pain. Nobody understood the reason for the pain, until one chiropractor, Richard Carpenos of West Haven, figured it out. He was the first person to suspect multiple myeloma, bone marrow cancer. He personally, left his office, and shuttled me from one test to another, inlcuding some detailed blood work which cinched the diagnosis. During that October, my oldest daughter, Laura was married. Rich sat next to me at the wedding, just to make sure that I would hold together, but I did fall apart two weeks later, and that brought me to my first oncologist. The experience was not the best. Something was missing, especially when I was completely bedridden,and there seemed to be no concern that I should be hospitalized. I spoke with a colleague who is a very familiar news anchor in Conneticut, Ann Nyberg. Her husband, Mark, worked as a research scientist at Yale and did studies on blood. I thought that he might know of a doctor at Yale who specialized in myeloma. He gave me a couple of names, and randomly, I chose Dennis Cooper. That was a lucky pick. |
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