Proud to be a Virginian, Not so Proud to be Pro Life

Proud for Bob McDonnell’s double digit victory on Tuesday. McDonnell is sort of a friend-of-a-friend you could say.

Proud for Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), House Republican Whip, who criticized some Tea Partiers who were holding signs comparing health care reform with Dachau at a protest on Friday. In an interview with Bloomberg, he also took issue with Rush Limbaugh for comparing the health care reform logo with a swastika and comparing Hitler with Obama, saying they both “ruled by dictate.” “Do I condone the mention of Hitler in any discussion about politics?” Cantor said. “No, I don’t, because obviously that is something that conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful.” The only Jewish Republican in the House gets that a massive government reform bill isn’t the same thing as gassing 6 million people and ruling by fear and intimidation. I hope other Republicans get the message and tone down the rhetoric.

On a related note, I was on the Hill on Thursday. I didn’t see the Tea Partiers, but I did run into a small “pro-life” protest by the RNC headquarters and Congressional office buildings. I put “pro life” in quotes because what I saw was appalling, macabre, and completely inappropriate. As I and a gaggle of tourists came up from the subway, we were greeted by a half dozen people dressed up as Death, some of whom held giant posters of chopped up baby fetuses. That’s right, chopped up babies right there on the street. I can’t imagine how the same people would feel if anti-war activists walked around with pictures of half blown-up soldiers. I felt sorry for the tourists and their children for being exposed to such a display. Two of the Deaths held chains connected to “Harry Reid” and “Nancy Pelosi,” covered in blood, and hurled insults at them while they wailed and gnashed their teeth, so to speak. I’m pro life, but I couldn’t get out of there and to the office fast enough.

Maybe I’m just sensitive. Sure, the last thing a cancer patient needs to see is a half dozen Deaths waiting at the top of the Metro escalator. But still, this struck me as complete wrong and inappropriate. We’re the pro-life movement for Pete’s sake–we have cute, innocent, premature BABIES on our side. Our protests should be Hallmark cards, not some macabre preview of Saw 12.

My Cancer Story (so far)

Friends, family, the last 2 people who read this blog, as some of you know, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in October. This cancer diagnosis came as a complete shock, as I have no family history of the disease, and at 32, I feel like I’m half the age of a typical patient.

The Background
Sometime in mid-September I came down with some mild stomach issues–frequent indigestion, loss of appetite, occasional bloody stool. Thinking I’d picked up a bug on one of my September vacations, I went to my primary care physician on September 30th. The doctor found no fever or sign of infection, but noticed my liver was swollen, indicating something more serious, like hepatitis, mono, or cancer. He ordered a CT scan the same day, which showed a mass at the very end of the stigmoid colon and spots in the local lymph nodes and on my liver, strongly suggesting colon cancer. I had a consult with a gastroenterologist on October 2nd and he came to the same conclusion, so we scheduled a colonoscopy* for the next week. The colonoscopy on October 7 confirmed a 4cm moderately differentiated cancerous tumor in my colon. The next week, I got the blood test results from my primary care physician showing elevated liver enzymes and a low Vitamin D number, both also indicative of cancer in the body.

Where We Go From Here
My oncologist has recommended 6 months of a chemotherapy regimen (FOLFOX+Avastin) to arrest the spread of the disease before having surgery to remove the primary tumor. She feels the primary tumor is in such a location that it is not an immediate threat to bowel function. The metastatic disease is a greater threat to my health at this point. I’m visiting Georgetown University’s Lombardi Cancer Center–the place to go in the D.C. area–this week for a second opinion and to discuss clinical trial opportunities. However I proceed, the start of treatment is imminent.

Fighting cancer is not where I thought I’d be in my life at 32. I don’t know why God has added this to my story; I would have much preferred a wife. But asking why or assigning blame are pointless. They do nothing to get me where I want to be, which is back to health. And since my symptoms at the moment amount to nothing more than a mild case of the flu, I intend to fight this thing and be around for a while.

My parents have been wonderful during this ordeal so far. They’ve driven the 5 hours from northern New Jersey for each of the important doctor meet-and-greets. And I feel I have a good group of friends and acquaintances whom I can count on to cover the little things once chemo starts to take its toll.

My mom has the prayer chain thing under control (14+ at last count), but if you’re religiously inclined, feel free to send something up on my behalf. I’d of course appreciate it. And if the rest of you just think happy thoughts, we’ll have all the bases covered.

Best regards and thanks for reading,
DMD

*The American Cancer Society recommends colonoscopies for everyone over the age of 50. Colon cancer is generally a slow growing cancer–removing a precancerous polyp in one’s 50s prevents cancer in one’s 60s or 70s. Obviously, that would not have helped me in my situation–nobody does colonoscopies for college kids–but the procedure is nothing to be scared of. Preparation is kind of annoying but the procedure itself is painless and over in less than an hour. If you’re a candidate for one, you need to get over the embarrassment of the procedure and just get it done. It could save your life.

RIP Mary Travers

This for mom mostly…

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Business as Usual

What have we learned in the year since the collapse of Lehman Brothers? Not much, say two articles from the New York Times this past weekend.

The New American Dream: Renting?

Noted urban historian Thomas J. Sugrue of UPenn wrote in the Wall Street Journal a couple weeks ago a brief history of the various ways the federal government has subsidized middle class home ownership since the Great Depression. The government has been getting its hands in the housing market long before Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Community Reinvestment Act. Sugrue writes, “[T]he story of how the dream [of home ownership] became a reality is not one of independence, self-sufficiency, and entrepreneurial pluck. It’s not the story of the inexorable march of the free market. It’s a different kind of American story, of government, financial regulation, and taxation. We are a nation of homeowners and home-speculators because of Uncle Sam.”

Home ownership is regarded as important because it creates stable rather than transitory communities and encourages owner involvement in civic life. It tends to have a “conservatizing” effect as well — “No man who owns his own house and lot can be a Communist,” said William Levitt. But the government’s involvement in home ownership is as omnipresent as it is invisible. Has this been for good or ill? I’m not sure anymore.

The Cosmopolitan Provincial, or Why You Can’t Go Home Again

Essays like this one on historian Paul Conkin and his ruminations on “home” are why I read Front Porch Republic.

Dark Stores

Brian Ulrich’s photographs of deceased retail outlets are pretty cool. (hat tip to Primer)

We’ll be Around Later to Collect the Check

This real time U.S. Debt Clock, as seen on Patrick Deneen’s blog, begs to be made into a widget.

The Nuts We Will Always Have With Us

Historian Rick Perlstein, whose books are fascinating but way too long, writes in the Washington Post how the craziness we’re seeing at health care townhalls is nothing new. One quibble I’d have with this piece is that the paranoid style, as Richard Hofstadter called it, is not just a right wing phenomenon.

Road Trip Report Part 2

The skies over Detroit on Thursday, July 23, were ominous. Weather Channel was predicting rain most of the day, with heavy thunderstorms in the evening. It seemed unlikely to me that we’d get our 1 p.m. game in. But my brother and I decided to venture into the city anyway. Our dinner companion from the previous night recommended a sports bar downtown, HockeyTown Cafe. Since it was right next door to Fox Theater and Comerica Park, it made sense to have breakfast/lunch at Hockeytown then decide from there whether or not a game was going to be played.

And to our good fortune, the skies cleared up for a couple hours and we got the whole game in. In fact, the sun came out and it even got a bit hot. I was glad; we had our best seats at Comerica park, right on the third base line, and it was Christmas in July. Santa threw out the first pitch and led us in singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” The game itself featured the Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers. It was a real pitchers duel. Jarrod Washburn gave up only 2 hits in 7 innings as the Mariners shut down Detroit, 2-1. Detroit made it interesting in the 8th when Curtis Granderson tripled in a run with two outs, but other than that Detroit didn’t do much offensively. After the game, we headed back to Chicagoland, stopping at Steak ‘n Shake along the way (yes, we were on a health food kick). This time, rather than staying in the city, we stayed in the western suburb of Lombard.

I should note that Thursday was also Mark Buehrle’s perfect game versus Tampa Bay. Missed it by that much.

Friday was our first game at Wrigley Field! We weren’t crazy about driving to Wrigley Field, so we hopped on the Pace’s Wrigley Field Express, which departs right from Yorktown Center mall in Lombard. It’s not a short trip (probably 45 minutes in and 1:15 or more out), but it’s better than driving. Our seats for the first game were far up in right field, giving us just as good a look at the houses across the street (and the perpetual drummers out there) as the game. The Cubs’ opponents on the day were the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs took the game 8-5 with a 4-HR attack. Highlights from the game included my amusement that Wrigley Field serves Milwaukee’s Old Style as its official beer (doesn’t Chicago have its own?) and an appearance by director Robert Zemeckis. After the game, we had dinner at Harry Caray’s in Lombard.

Saturday July 25 was going to be a big day. We had our second game at Wrigley Field (12:05 start) then a quick drive to Milwaukee for an evening (6:05) game. The speed of our return bus the day before gave me doubts we were going to pull it off.

The second game at Wrigley Field also featured the Cubs and the Reds. This game was notable for the appearance of 24’s own Carlos Bernard… Tony Almeida! Bernard, a notable Cubs fan (look for his Cubs mug in every season of 24) threw out the first pitch and lead the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Our seats for this game were a bit closer, but the seat on the right had an obstructed view thanks to one of Wrigley’s infamous poles. My brother and I switched seats halfway through. This game was also notable for the appearance of Kevin Hart, making an emergency start for Ted Lily. Hart (who had a good game according to my scorecard) would be traded to the Pirates less than a week later. Cubs won 5-3, but the game wasn’t that close, as Aaron Heilman, as he did so many times with the Mets, made it closer than it needed to be.

As it had the day before, the bus took its sweet time back to Lombard, so we knew we were going to be late to the Brewers-Braves game at in Milwaukee. But, we both wanted to get there for as much as possible because it was Negro League night. After a stop at Burger King, we drove up to Milwaukee, dodging construction all the way, and made it in the 3rd or 4th inning. Fortunately, we didn’t miss any scoring as Yovani Gallardo held the Braves in check. We caught all the scoring, Milwaukee’s infamous Sausage Race, and even got to see the roof closing, as the home team won 4-0.

Before I left on the trip, I had written to my friend Bryan, a Marquette graduate, for ideas about things to do in Milwaukee. One of the things he recommended–Jimmy John’s subs–we actually did in Chicago, but some of the other suggestions came in handy. As recommended, my brother and I spent our Sunday morning walking the campus of that fine Jesuit institution (and saw the Pabst Mansion) before going to Miller Park for our final game. Once again it was Brewers-Braves, only it was Racing Sausage bobble head day too! We had our most luxurious seats of the trip on our last day–boxes behind home plate complete with wait staff. I got some great pictures of former Buccos Nate McLouth and Jason Kendall, and of Prince Fielder, but unfortunately the Brewers’ bullpen didn’t show up as the Braves took it 10-2. At least we had sausages.

After the game, we drove back to the city (I was amazed at how easy it was to get around in Milwaukee–maybe because it was Sunday) and took in another one of Bryan’s recommendations: Mader’s Restaurant. It only seemed fitting to get some German food in Milwaukee. I’m glad for Bryan’s recommendation, because I couldn’t find a Mader’s advertisement anywhere. Maybe the place is so famous it doesn’t need to advertise. Anyway, the German food was delicious, but I was denied the opportunity to bring back home some Usinger brats because the official store–right across the street from Mader’s–was closed on Sunday.

After eating, we took the long way back to the hotel by driving through downtown Milwaukee. Again, I was surprised at how empty Milwaukee was on a Sunday.

Not much to report on Monday, as it was get up and speed back to O’Hare to catch our planes. And that’s about it. I may or may not have another post on the trip in me to cover some random stuff. I’ve gone almost 1,800 words on the matter already.