Category Archives:

Gray Anatomy

By Richard | Published October 15, 2011

Sometimes a few tears can wring the sadness from a soul. The times when I’ve been able to cry for myself are rare, but I can still be touched by beauty and the pain that others must bear, so I sought out this song by a favorite artist. And as I listened and the tears [...]

Also posted in Life, Pity Party, Wall-E—The Neuroendocrine Tumor | 5 Comments

Full Circle

By Richard | Published September 26, 2011

All good things must come to an end. That title made for a killer final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it neatly encapsulates my next installment in the Levangie chronicles. The first phase of my experimental drug trial finished today and, if it began with cautious optimism, it died with a sharp [...]

Also posted in Life, Pity Party, Wall-E—The Neuroendocrine Tumor | 20 Comments

May You Live in Interesting Times

By Richard | Published August 26, 2011

I’m living in interesting times and the Chinese are right: it is both a blessing and a curse.* Over the next month, I need to determine what comes next. Do I follow a conservative line—Cripes! I cringe every time I define myself with that word, no matter what context—or do I throw caution to the [...]

Also posted in Life, Pity Party, Wall-E—The Neuroendocrine Tumor | 5 Comments

Breathing Space

By Richard | Published August 7, 2011

The hardest thing about this year hasn’t been learning that I was misdiagnosed, and that I lost a more than a decade of my life to a lazy medical mistake. It’s been the financial pressures forced on us by being chronically underemployed. As with many illnesses, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Last November, Kristina [...]

Also posted in Life, Wall-E—The Neuroendocrine Tumor, Writing | 12 Comments

Dragons, Queries, and the Shards of Narsil

By Richard | Published July 31, 2011

If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans. None of my plans for this year have come to fruition, yet I still feel as if I’ve handled a difficult illness with a modicum of grace and good humor. And that, and a double-loonie, will get you a cup of coffee at [...]

Also posted in Author, Author, Books, Life, Wall-E—The Neuroendocrine Tumor, Writing | 4 Comments

Did the Clinic, Bought the T-Shirt

By Richard | Published July 12, 2011

I’m going to design a t-shirt, just as my friend Kate Inglis suggested: I’m moderately-famous in neuro-endocrine circles. And that’s because I am. Not by name, mind you, but by condition and treatment. My rare type of neuro-endocrine tumor can only be vanquished in one way: neurosurgery. So far, nothing else has been proven to [...]

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I Would Like Some Cheese With My Whine

By Richard | Published July 10, 2011

Funny what excites some men. A few weeks ago, when Kristina noticed that I have a modest two-pack, I felt flush with potential. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to become what I might have been. I’ve always been one of the fittest people I know. I was training for my sandan (third-degree black belt) in [...]

Also posted in Life, Pity Party, Wall-E—The Neuroendocrine Tumor, Writing | 4 Comments

The Meaning of Hope

By Richard | Published June 16, 2011

Hope. I banished the word from my lexicon more than two decades ago. With an illness as long and as intractable as the one I have endured, it was just too painful and dangerous for me to throw my faith behind any one person or any new therapy. Much better to stay grounded, to live [...]

Also posted in Housekeeping, Life, Pity Party, Wall-E—The Neuroendocrine Tumor | 7 Comments

Good News and Bad News

By Richard | Published June 5, 2011

The first step in overcoming a problem is admitting that you have one. Normally, I don’t have much difficulty facing reality, but this truth is staring me in the face, and I keep looking away. I need to work on my poker face. Maybe I should ease you into it, and write a little about [...]

Also posted in Life, Pity Party, Wall-E—The Neuroendocrine Tumor, Writing | 11 Comments

Mayday, May Day

By Richard | Published May 2, 2011

If you suffer, you know the adage well. The best thing about a migraine is that it won’t kill you. Of course, the worst thing about a migraine is that it won’t kill you. If you’ve never lived through one, you can’t really know. Honestly. I can tell you about accidents that left me with [...]

Also posted in Family, Housekeeping, Life, Wall-E—The Neuroendocrine Tumor | 3 Comments