Paul's Heart

Life As A Dad, And A Survivor

Archive for the category “Recreation”

19 May 2020

Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery


So, like so many, I have been challenged to list my top 10 albums that have inspired me.  That is a tall task by itself given my love and knowledge of music, and very difficult to narrow down to just 10.  Having “Paul’s Heart” at my finger tips, I am going to meet this challenge a little differently.  Personally, while I do not mind being tagged in some of these challenges, I cannot do the same to others.  Also, I am very confident I am not revealing anything pertinent in my choices.

Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the Discovery Album was the first album that I had ever purchased.  I had just discovered FM radio after years of AM radio.  The first radio station I listened to on the FM band was WZZO which played album oriented rock, not the bubble gum pop or oldies that I had been listening to for years, not that there was anything wrong with it.

The main hit off of the album, “Don’t Bring Me Down,” was a catchy song with a hard edge, but uniquely done with harmonies.  Having been interested in music through most of my early childhood, including harmony singing in various musical groups, I bought this album just on that one song alone.  I soon found myself playing this album over and over and over and over again.

“Shine A Little Love” was the other big hit off the album, but “Last Train To London” was also another great song.  “Diary Of Horace Wimp” was a quirky song that got stuck in my head.  “Confusion” was one of those ballads like “Telephone Line.”

ELO was a band with a unique style and approach to music.  Jeff Lynne, the lead singer and composer often found himself collaborating with many other artists over the years in other groups such as the Travelling Willburys and working with artists individually like the late Tom Petty and George Harrison.

I was thrilled to see ELO touring again, and even to see concert footage via streaming.  They sound just as good as they did back in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Posted in Family and Friends, Inspired By..., Recreation | Leave a comment
19 May 2020

Underestimating Your Children


By the time I had become a father, I had not seen my own childhood in nearly twenty-five years.  Growing up in a divorced environment, other than while visiting my friends homes, I never really got to see how a mom and dad worked together as a team to deal with the many things “try” to get away with.  I put “try” in quotes, because later in life, we would find out, we got away with nothing.

Prior to becoming a dad, I spent many years as a youth group leader.  It was a program that enveloped all ages of children from kindergarten to high school at our church.  This is one of the more proud things that I have done in my life, filled with so many rewards and so many memories.  It was also a quick reminder, that becoming a parent, I would personally have to deal with many of the issues that these kids were facing.

I am not going to get all sentimental here and go through all of the things that we did.  My point is, while I learned a lot, I also learned there is a huge difference not only between someone else’s kids and your own, but a huge difference between you as a child, and your own children.

This group of photos is from a video GIF that I had been personally sent.  A little girl, playing on her phone in bed, hears her parent come in, springs from the bed, turns off her light, and jumps back in to bed.  Her father walks in, tucks her in, and seems to walk out of the room, closing the door behind him.  The little girl jumps from the bed to turn her light back on, and is surprised to see her father standing in the corner of the door, and pretends to sleep walk, realizing she has been busted not going to sleep.

We parents have all experienced this one time or another.  Our children do not realize we can hear the noise, or better, see the glow of light under the door.  But the quick improvisation this child used just automatically shot me back to the many talents that both of my daughters possessed to get out of “gotcha” moments.

The first warning I had, involved a non-slip door knob cover similar to pictured above.  My older daughter’s hands were too small at the time to be able to grip the squeeze tabs on the side, which meant that in theory, this product would be successful in accomplishing what was desired, her staying in her room once she was out of her bed.  In just two years my daughter well established how determined she could be when she wanted something badly enough.  And so, she learned that by sliding her tiny thumb and finger inside of the hole, she could get enough of a grip on the actual door handle, and make her great escape.  Very much like Harry Houdini.

While funny, and at the same time, proud of her ingenuity, a problem did come up from this lesson.  The door lock was on her side of the door, and if she would accidentally turn that lock instead of the door knob, in an emergency, we would not be able to get into the room.  Problem solved, I flipped the door knob around so the lock was on the outside of the door.

There are plenty of incidents like this, from both of my daughters.  But now, as teenagers, they are more like chess players with their thoughts.  They have learned for every action there is a reaction, and therefore, not only will they trap every word that is said to them by me, but will make sure they are at least two steps ahead of any discussion, completely prepared for any push back.

At one time, we all laughed when we watched children feeding dogs from the table on television or movies, and how they were not caught.  In our youth, many of us had done things as extreme as sneaking out of the house from second story windows.

I am thankful to my friend for sending this video.  It was a much needed distraction that led me down so many paths of fun memories with both of my daughters and their many shenanigans.

Posted in Adoption, Education, Family and Friends, Inspired By..., Recreation | Leave a comment
18 May 2020

Why Is Covid19 Different To Me?


Why is Covid19, also only known as the Corona Virus, diff  erent to me than all of the other viruses and outbreaks I have seen over my survivorship?

First, let’s start from the beginning.  I lost my spleen in 1988, went through chemo and radiation therapies in 1989 and 1990.  Now, while I am jumping ahead of the discussion, it is these two factors that lead me to the status of being considered “vulnerable” because of the damage caused from those events in my life over thirty years ago.

Now, to be fair, I was unaware that I was “vulnerable” for over half of my survivorship.  It was not until 2008, that I learned the many health complications that I have, that leave me “vulnerable.”  So, let’s look at the time period up until 2008.  The following were viruses or outbreaks as documented by the WHO that were dealt with in the US.  I will call this “period A”.

1996  Dengue

1998  Influenza

1999  Encephalitis

2000  Acute febrile, meningitis

2001  Anthrax

2002  West Nile

2003  Influenza, SARS

2004  SARS, Avian Flu

2005  Avian Flu

2006  Botulism, Avian Flu

2007  Avian Flu

Along with the annual flu, these were the things that we here in the US had to deal with.  As mentioned, this is per the World Health Organization (WHO), and I need to stress the importance of the WHO.  Because if you saw the list of diseases and viruses each year that were listed for all of the other countries around the world, had they reached over here, it is likely we would have an entirely different world, if any getting around the turn of the century.

My point with calling this grouping of years, “period A,” because at this point, I was still unaware of how “vulnerable” I was.  I got no vaccines, even for flu.  I never came down with any of these viruses and on at least two occasions, went right into the firestorm of two of those virus, SARS in 2004, and bird flu in 2006 to adopt my daughters.  I was given some antibiotics to take if I felt ill, but that was it.  Those meds were not used.  In all honesty, I never gave any of these viruses any thought.

But in 2008, things changed in a big way.  I had discovered, that side effects from my treatments had progressed over the years, and without me being followed up, had gotten very bad.  So much so, I had to have open heart surgery to save my life, moments away from certain death from a fatal heart attack.  But as I learned all of the problems that now existed with my body, so did another issue, my lack of immunity, the ability to fight off infections and viruses.

Upon becoming the patient of a long term survivorship clinic, one of the things researched about my body, was my immunity.  Blood titres would reveal I had no immunity against pneumonia and meningitis.  And so, along with a lecture for me not getting annual flu shots, a personal preference, and to my doctor an unfortunate risk I take every year, he did insist on me getting boosters for pneumonia and meningitis.  The issue I had with that, was I was given those vaccines prior to my having my spleen removed for my cancer diagnosis.  These vaccines were supposed to be lifetime.  Losing my spleen evidently changed that.  The problem was, that a single booster of each vaccine, did not cause my body to react.  I needed two additional boosters for pneumonia and an additional one for meningitis to finally show titres.  But besides showing titres, it should my body lacked the ability to fight infections and viruses.

So, it is only normal then, that I should be concerned about news of a potential virus outbreak.  I present to you, “period B”

2009  H1N1 (swine flu)  PANDEMIC LEVEL OF SPREAD

2010   H1N1

2012  Corona Virus, Hanta Virus

2013  MERS, Corona Virus

2014  MERS, Ebola, Entero Virus

2015  Zika, Measles, Lassa Fever

2016  Salmonella, Elizabethkingia, Guillaine-Barre Syndrome, Zika

2017  MERS

2018  Listeria

2019  Measles

Now again, we always had a flu that we were dealing with each year.  And something else I just noticed as I was going through this section, especially over the last few years, very little information mentioned on the WHO web site as far as issues in the US.  And I know, that we had other outbreaks to deal with, that were mentioned for other countries.  Out of curiosity, I did have to look up what “Elizabethkingia” was, especially since it happened here.  It is a genus of bacteria found in soil, leading to a pathogen in hospital environments.  I did not research that any further.  Trying to stay focused here.

So, unlike “period A” where I had no reason to feel concerned, “period B” was different because of my awareness.  I still declined flu vaccines, and I also had to receive several more boosters of pneumvax and one more for meningitis.  The only exception that I made was in 2010, when my doctor was finally able to convince me of the need to take the “swine flu” pandemic seriously and get the vaccine (that will be another post), as well as the annual flu vaccine.  Well, as if my body was not challenged enough with those two shots, got another pneumonia booster that week also.  And that was the last time I got any vaccines.

But just as I did with “period A”, “period B” was pretty much business as usual.  I went to work.  I went to the doctor.  I went to the emergency room many times (documented on this blog for the many incidents).  But not really any concern.  Why not?

Why is it different in 2020 with Covid19?  At least for me.

Declared a pandemic, just as the swine flu in 2010, Covid19 has huge unknowns.  At the time, there was not even any testing available.  All we would here were symptoms from the effects of the virus, most notable, pneumonia, a condition that I have dealt with at least twice before, and combined with my other vulnerabilities, put me at high risk.  Unlike 2010, there is no vaccine, still, and no known treatment other than guessing here and there.  And the other big difference, the ease of the spread.

But there is one notable difference for me.  And that is the warning that I have gotten from my doctors.  Sure, I watch television, and for those networks that actually reveal facts such as numbers, that information aligns with my doctors concerns.  And while all of the medical experts of the CDC and NIH and FDA are recommending social distancing and stay-at-home and masks, my doctors did not mince words.  Do not travel.  Stay at home.  Stay away from as many people as you can.  You may not have a chance against this virus.  Unlike the other outbreaks, there is no cure, there is no vaccine.

I trust my doctors.  Information that I get from the news, no matter who, it does not get a priority over what I get from my doctors.  I have re-scheduled medical appointments.  I have cancelled visits with my children.  I have literally only seen less than a handful of people over the last two and a half months.  And unlike 2010, or any of the years, I actually do know people who have contracted Covid19, and at least one person who has died from it.

So yes, this is one time, I must take this type of situation differently than before.  Not fearmongering.  And my hope, that at some point, we get through this, and like the other years, I have not been exposed to Covid19.  I know that I have done all that I can.

Posted in Bullying, Cancer, Education, Family and Friends, Inspired By..., Politics, Recreation, Side Effects, The Heart | Leave a comment

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