Ground Hog Day/Hurry Up and Wait

I feel like Bill Murray in the film Ground Hog Day. While I vary my daily routine with walks, working in the yard, going to movies, and harrassing the poor guys who are remodeling our kitchen (what I call Nagasaki East), there are certain similarities every day. I get up with my ears ringing and hurting, take a couple of Tylenol, eat my banana, take my vitamins, drink some juice and, of course, start all this with the ever present Diet Coke. I then begin my day. At lunch the downward slide begins. It gets harder to swallow as the day progresses, but I force myself to eat something and that seldom includes beef which has been my staple my entire life. Hey, I was raised by Connie and Doc Taylor and they believed the road to good health was paved with a good steak, baked potato, salad, and a healthy mix of martinis. The latter went by the wayside for me the day I buried my dad, 1988. I still have one but on rare occasions.

My next meal is comprised of a can of Ensure, followed by either a Dairy Queen soda, or a malt from the soda fountain/counter at Ford Hopkins Pharmacy on the square. Dinner is a bit tougher as I tend to "run out of gas" by 6ish and am pretty much place bound at night. That is by choice as my days remain active. My two new restaurants are "carry out" from County Market and the Jackson Street Pub. I am sure this will expand to include Vitale's and the Red Ox. I am indeed fortunate that I like soup and always have.

By 9 p.m., it's 5 minutes of WGN, a couple of Tylenol PMs, and then off to bed. I wake up with a headache at about 2 a.m., take a couple of regular Tylenol, and then manage to fall back asleep. I am not complaining as this is just the way it is for now. The redundancy/repetition is a bit maddening for someone who loves to eat and now eats to live. Another candid admission: wine consumption is waaaay down.

April 9th seems like a year away. Every appointment with a doctor seems to result in another appointment with another doctor but that should end Friday when we meet with the radiologist and oncologist and outline a plan of action. Hooray!!

Many thanks for your cards, calls, emails, and personal visits. They have given me another sort of wake-up call I never expected. All the communications have similar theme: "hey big guy, you've been giving that motivational speech for 40 years, and now it's time to walk the talk, and live it!" I guess I never thought about it much but that is simple, to the point, and helpful. I seem to have spent my entire life encouraging others to view the glass as half full and now it's my turn. My most explicit reality with this are my trips to MidAmerica National Bank--it's sort of my tonic. I walk in and feel like Norm on Cheers--a hello here or a hi there, everyone has been very friendly to the Taylors over the years and the employees always kid me about how happy I seem to be and I am. Time for the NCAA. My heart is with Butler but Gordon and Ryan say the smart money is with Duke. We shall know soon.