THE LONELY GOOSE
We have a lot of geese from our friends in Canada. But the white goose in our immediate neighborhood is a bit unique. Rebecca has penned a short story about it. The editor has more comments about health below.
Goosey Goosey Gander
Whither shall I wander
Upstairs downstairs
Or in my lady's chamber
There met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers
So I took him by the left leg
And threw him down the stairs
They say that geese mate for life. So I was not much surprised when we saw a pair wandering around together in a field near us inspecting mud puddles. I supposed that they were looking for a likely nesting site. But after a few days one of them disappeared. Oh dear! The other goose wandered about disconsolately for several days. But then she found a friend - sort of. This goose found a cement goose that has been hanging around decorating a pond for years. In a strange case of unrequited love the goose hangs hopefully around its lifeless friend, honking at it and even cuddling with it. Heaven only knows what it might be thinking. The cement goose could be having odd thoughts too for that matter! A couple of times I saw the goose waddling slowly up the road, looking, I suppose for a life mate. But the next day she is back again hoping for the best! (We don't know if it is the female or male. -dt)
When we have not been watching geese we have been entertaining doctors. Dan especially has been providing various symptoms that the medical staff here abouts seem unwilling or unable to figure out. After talking funny for quite a while, the final diagnosis seems to be thyroid cancer. (Actually a paralyzed vocal cord. -dt) Did I say final, I should have said semifinal. We are still waiting for a stress test, And some kind of scan. I think he has had every part of his anatomy either scanned or scoped or tested. All the tests seem to wait on other tests. If all goes as planned this may result in surgery in August. So keep your fingers crossed and pray. I wish Dan would stop showing off and just have an ordinary gallbladder operation.(I apparently have a gallstone. -dt) I had a few medical issues myself but compared to Dan I am a piker. After the thyroid we still have the two arthritic knees, the sciatica, and the anemic blood. Not to mention myasthenia gravis. Not to mention chronic grumpiness. I guess when you see all this the grumpiness is understandable but so is my depression.
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This is the editor; I am going to amplify and fill in the remarks by Mrs.T. This is all rather personal and we do not know if you care. But we know many of you are interested in what is going on with us. April started a bad summer of health issues. Not only for the Editor but also for the Muse. She has had some mobility issues of her own. She has been going to rehab and that is slowly helping. She has been a major help around the house with the daily chores.
One or two of the health items that Mrs.T mentioned would have been sufficient to derail normal activities for the Editor. Having so many things at the same time has been the challenge: severely arthritic knees, anemia, paralyzed vocal cord, sciatica, general weakness, and finally thyroid cancer. This newsletter has been slightly delayed in order to bring you the latest news as of the beginning of August. So here goes.
The myasthenia gravis is stable and has not advanced beyond ocular. The cause of the anemia has not been determined but a couple of infusions of iron improved my blood enough to allow a stress test which is necessary for any operation. The paralyzed vocal cord - which may or may not be the result of the thyroid condition - quite probably will stay that way. Hence, my new voice. I was scheduled for a knee replacement but that has been put on hold pending resolution of the thyroid problem. I did receive a shot in each knee that helped a bit. But walking is painful and difficult. Still working on the sciatica. Resolution of the thyroid cancer is pending more tests and another biopsy. Thyroid cancer is generally not as deadly as most and is usually cured by surgery. However, the location of mine precludes surgery and another method will be used. I am working with the JAMES at OSU, one of the best places in the country for cancer treatment. That is about it as of the start of August.
Only one photo this month. Can you tell which is real?
Many thanks to our neighbor HLM who has been a big help. And her girls are cute.
Hope all of you are staying cool and hydrated.
Dan and Rebecca
Sent from Outlook
