CHAPTER SEVEN
ADVENTURES IN LIVING



Part 77 Michael Douglas and I


On the first day of September, 2010 Dr. Gu-, rather than Dr. Ab-, performs a surgery on me to replace my feeding tube with a peg tube. While I am under, he expands my esophagus to 12 cm. I appreciate that he unexpectedly decides to do the latter, but what distresses me is that it has shrunk so much that he has to widen it to a mere 12 cm.

For several days I am able to eat nonetheless, but by the twelfth of the month I discover that I am having serious problems swallowing again. I am now turning more to soup and yoghurt. Today I cook up one of my favorites – cheese beer soup, tasty and fattening both.

A People magazine cover grabs me the following day. Actor Michael Douglas finds himself headlining an issue after a tumor was discovered in his throat similar to the one diagnosed in mine. He will require extensive radiation and chemotherapy as I did. To make matters more ironic, he like me is married to a beautiful woman years younger, who will be by his side and struggle too through all this. And has also two young children dependent on his ability to be healthy and guide them through this life. I fantasize about being able to get in touch with him and discuss our situations and those things we have in common. That is probably where the similarities end, however, since he is a rich movie star and I am not. He also has a house in Bermuda where he can get away from all the hoopla that will be at his heels, and I do not. Of course, fame and money cannot shelter you from this disease. (It can, though, pay for the best treatment that can be bought). The villainous intruder that entered our lives is a great leveler, and cares not whether you are rich or poor or how many houses you have or whether you have none at all.