Doing Days

One of those days when I don’t know where to start. What should I write about? What is uppermost in my mind and feelings? Not sure, really. Let’s take an inventory.

This morning we return to downtown Chicago to Northwestern Medical complex for a post-op conference with Rocky’s surgeon. He will no doubt examine the excision and surrounding tissue and declare it healthy and healing on schedule. He may even remove the stitches but most likely will allow them to melt away on their own as they are now doing. [Yes, this is how it went.]

No, the real purpose of this visit for us is to learn definitively what next steps lay before us. He will no doubt repeat his order that Rocky’s endocrinologist (diabetes specialist) will manage the next step which is a radioactive iodine treatment. That step will be performed in our local hospital 5 minutes from our home. And it will be done among people we know.  [Yes this is what happened yesterday.]

The treatment will kill any cancer cells which may be lurking in tissue surrounding where the thyroid once was. In nearly every case like this we will be told that only one treatment is necessary. Success rates are that high. The treatment will compromise Rocky’s immune system severely so he will be placed in isolation for three days and then he will be done with the thyroid-tumor-cancer episode of his life. And then back to normal routines. [Yes, the treatment will kill any cancer cells still lurking around, but the immune system remains intact; Rocky will need to be isolated from others so the radioactivity doesn't harm others, including the dog! We will work out the logistics.]

That’s what we expect to learn this morning.  Tomorrow we meet with the endocrinologist to learn the specific arrangements of the treatment – when, how long, where, etc. Hopefully all of this will be over in another month!  [And yes this all happened as expected.]

Later in the day I spend an evening in a public library in the south suburbs of Chicago sharing SCORE information with people who are considering building their own business or wishing to improve an existing small business. We do this sort of thing a few times each year to spread the word. An army of volunteers reaching out to the public to let them know good things do exist in this world and for free! [This went very well; a small turnout because people were home watching the debate between presidential candidates.]

Then home to prepare for a busy Tuesday. My own routine clinic visit at the hospital, then Rocky’s endocrinology appointment, then a conference call with the board of an international service agency in need of a better business plan. Finally, the evening will be spent at church working on a transition team preparing the congregation to determine what kind of minister we wish to call to fill our vacant pastor position. This will be an interesting experience – but still in my realm of volunteer organizations, mission driven organizations, passions and purpose.

Wednesday will start early at 7 am at a coffee shot meeting with a SCORE client. Then a day to pull myself together just in time to meet with my teen addict group in the evening. That group is morphing new challenges. Always fresh faces; some are resolute that no one will help them or deter them from their interests! Still other faces are resolved to take their lives back and build purposefully better futures than their derailed pasts have led them. And yet others have no resolve, just open lives wondering what this rehab business is all about and what relevance it has for them, if any.

All these kids are pleasant when you scratch the surface. They want to be liked. They are likable. But they are often impish and challenging. ‘Catch me if you can’ is a theme we note many times. But their shadows and masks come off eventually and then we can deal with the real person.

These chemistries of personalities and interactions are never dull and never the same. Always cascading from one level of reality to another and we are left gasping for air as we attempt to make sense of its all. And attempt, too, to make a difference somehow in their lives. This is not for us. It is for them.

We make the most progress when the kids realize that; and they almost always do. Some failures, but mostly some successes, too. Rarely a slam dunk excellent result, but we have those as well.

Just like life. How busy we all are. How entangled with experiences we are. And preparing for yet more.

Our lives are full. But is the filling worthwhile? Are we doing something of value?

We will know tomorrow morning when we awake from a night of sleep: a night of true rest or one of thrashing? That will tell us something.

September 28, 2016