No, not just TGIF, I want to give a follow up post to my announcement of a few weeks ago for my loyal readers because many of you had invested yourselves in my personal challenges.
As many of you know, my family had a huge medical challenge recently. It was all about this familiar symbol.
Back on the week of October 18th, my lovely wife went through a double mastectomy, which seemed to be the best option given the situation. The surgery was succesfull, with no complications, but we had to wait for final lab results and follow up scans. It’s been a rough couple of weeks, and to top it off we lost a beloved family pet of 15 years Monday. Minners is finally drinking clean water somewhere.
So dear readers, please forgive me if I’ve been dour and a little snippy here. I know I have been a bit rough around the edges. I’ve been so frazzled I forgot to do our weekly Sea Ice News last Sunday. I forgot to take out the garbage Wednesday, and at coffee yesterday morning I couldn’t remember the name of a person I’d known for years. Stress is a weird thing.
Late last night, after two days of follow up at Stanford Medical Center. We got the news. No metastasis, they got it all. Now it’s just the long but certain road physical therapy.
I gotta tell you it was like somebody cutting the guy lines to the giant lead balloon I’ve been tied to for the last three months. It took off into the stratosphere, never to be seen again.
I want to thank you all for the kind words, prayers, and most especially for the support of WUWT with ideas and guest articles. I want to give a special thanks to Willis Eschenbach, Tom Fuller, and Steve Mosher for guest posts. Special thanks go to Evan Jones and D.B. Stealey for their support and the kind letters they sent me, and to Charles the Moderator for keeping the chaos managed.
If I’ve missed anyone, please don’t feel left out, I’m just a bit scrambled mentally. Everybody gets gold stars.
In a day or two, I’ll be back to chasing errant weather stations and missing “M”‘s in METAR reports.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Oh boy, some good news for once! It really is much better than we feared – and I had a bit of a senior moment there, distinct wetness around the eyes. Well done medics, too!
So pleased to hear to good news. God Bless.
Fantastic news, Anthony! So glad to hear the worst part is past, and continued best wishes to you and your family. Thanks also for being mature/humble enough to acknowledge that you’ve been a bit snippy the past while. As one of the commenters who was getting a little snippy back atcha’ I apologize for not remembering that you were going through this trial and not cutting you more slack.
I look forward to more station updates and METAR analyses!
Keep up the great work!
Anthony — please hang in there and wishes for a fast and complete recovery to your wife. I too am a breast cancer survivor, so is my older sister, my oncologist (she had the same surgery your wife had), my many friends in our local Komen chapter, and on and on… I personally know how hard this is to deal with and that this personal struggle is no different in others; however, it is true, “the best is yet to be”.
I know the time is not right for you now but any pet’s last wish is that you replace them….. : )) Take care of yourselves and please keep us all posted on your news. rkh
Congratulations Anthony and my best wishes. I can very much understand what you are going through as I went through the same thing 8 years ago with my first wife (of 20 years). Unfortunately the outcome was not as good.
But it looks that you and your wife got it licked.
Here’s a little joke to cheer you up:
A congressman was in the hospital. He got a get-well card from his fellow comittee members that read:
” With 22 votes for and 9 against we wish you to get well soon!!”
Best wishes for you and your family.
My wife had breast cancer that had metastasized into 3 lymph nodes. She had a radical mastectomy and one year of chemo when the science was still primitive compared to now. She is healthy and active 32 years later. She survuved because she is resolute and positive in life.
The best medicine is still strength and optimism. I am confident that your wife is the latest addition to the long list of cancer survivors.
Lots of people have already said it, but I feel I must add another voice to the chorus of good wishes to you both. Welcome back from one of your many fans this side of the pond.
Best wishes for you und family
Great news.
Great news. All the best for a swift recovery and a long and happy future together.
Great news! Wish you, your wife, and family, all the best!
Ecotretas
Anthony, congratulations to you and your wife with this wonderful news and all best wishes for the future.
😀
Very pleased for you and your wife.Prognosis should be excellent.
Warm regards to you both and I wish you a happy and healthy future.
FANTASTIC NEWS!!!
All the best to Mrs. Watts and of course the rest of the family.
Sincerely,
Mike Hodges
Good news has been flowing out of your blog for years. Glad to hear some of this commodity has flowed back to you and your family.
Splendid news, Mr. Watts! I come to your site to learn and understand the science. It’s easy to forget how “big” science is. Medicine can be absolutely terrifying to those who don’t practice it for a living. Oncology is not my thing but it is absolutely amazing how the practice of “real science” has advanced our acumen in the treatment of breast cancer in just the last 20 years. Compare the survival rate in the US with the numbers from the UK. In the UK the “science is settled”.
I am very pleased and grateful you chose to share this news with your readers. My prayers and best wishes are with you and your wife.
Dave
Anthony,
I’m sure I can’t add anything new, so I’ll just say what I feel:
I am *very* happy for your wife’s good news, very happy indeed! I can only imagine the relief :). Congratulations, and the best of health from now on to you both.
Regarding Minners, I am so sorry – having grown up with and had cats around all my life, I know all too well what a hole they leave when they decide to head off for Rainbow Bridge. But, Minners will be waiting for you.
As for being snippy – completely understandable (not that I’d noticed it), and anyway, it’s your blog… you can do what you like with it ;). It just remains for me to say “thank you” for running it in the first place.
The importance of family and good health is often subsumed by the things in life that are comparatively less important. Congrats on the great news and may your wife’s health rebound quicker than Arctic sea ice recovery 🙂
Sorry about the loss of Minners.
Truly great news – and to hear of a personel success story of the benefits of many years of the medical community’s research into cancer detection and treatment, demonstrates a true investment in a real science.
Unlike this huge crap sandwich of man-made global warming gloom and doom that is sucking up huge amounts of tax dollars, that could be put to better use elsewhere and result in successes such as this, that reach us all on a personal level at some point.
And told to me by a Jamaican nurse after one of my father’s cancer treatments, from here on, “all days are good days mon, just some days are better than others”
Dan
Thanks for sharing what you and your wife have been going through, Anthony. May God bless you and Mrs. Watts – I suspect that while mental worry is much reduced, there will be many months of recovery ahead. I want to thank Mrs. Watts for sharing you with us – you are both terrific and selfless people!
Jennifer
Great news, Anthony.
Thanks for letting us know, and best wishes to Mrs Watts.
So glad to hear. I was wondering. Thank you for letting us know.
Anthony:
Wonderful news!
Please accept the addition to those stated above of my hopes and prayers for your wife’s full recovery. And please convey to her the sincere good wishes of this world-wide community.
Your wife is more precious than this blog, so if the stress gets too great then abandon us again and look to her. We value you and we do not want you to get ‘burnt out’. We can wait for your return when – and only when – it is appropriate.
Richard