...and we're back. Sort of.
As you may know by now, the world of hospitals and healthcare recently got a lot more familiar to me when Mrs. Jarlsberg, Kathy, developed acute leukemia. She was given 2-3 weeks to live unless she got treatment, so treatment started the same day.
That was just over five weeks ago (take that, February!) and she's completed her first round of chemo and, after a month in the hospital, come home. There will be more chemo, more ups and downs, and a challenging journey that we hope to take with courage, optimism, and the support of family and friends (that's you).
So where does Johnny Optimism fit into this suddenly all-too-real picture? Well, Johnny was born as a way for me to vent about real-life pain and suffering. The things that afflict all of us from time to time that can only be addressed with tears, laughter, or both.
Johnny Optimism is an acknowledgment that bad things can happen to good people, but good people can sometimes lighten their burdens with a little humor...including dark humor.
I can't promise yet that I'll be back to publishing three times a week anytime soon. Just like real life, and just like Johnny, I'm now taking it day-to-day. -Stilton
10 comments:
My love and prayers go out to you both. My wife and I are both 'hospital survivors' and can appreciate both roles of, well, you know.
Her road to wellness will be rough, but keep up the humor. You're right, it does help lighten the load.
Blessings,
Dana 'Madman' Hansen
So Johnny's "four weeks" or "February" is much like Groundhog day's "six more weeks of winter" or "spring is almost here", meaning spring will show up on March 21 either way, right?
God Bless you both! We will appreciate whatever you are able to post, but know that we think of you and your family fondly, even if there is no new comics!
So Johnny has 4 weeks to flatten his EKG curve?
I send you both my best wishes for better health. You've brought me a lot of laughs over the years and I appreciate it.
Three (03) members of my immediate family died from cancer, i.e., my biological brother, my adoptive mother, and one (01) adoptive sister.
So, I remember the shock and continue to feel the loss.
God bless you, Sir, and I pray the treatments will be successful.
Lots of prayer, and lots of dark humor, are the best for getting us through dark times. Thanks for the laughs Johnny brings us. Love and blessings on you and your dear wife.
Molly Ivins once wrote (of watching the Texas state legislature) that her only options were to laugh, cry, or throw up. Since two are unhealthy, she chose to laugh.
Wishing strength and wellness for both of you. BTDT. My wife is now three years cancer free, with only some residual neuropathy for long term effects, though the saddest part for me is how much it has aged her. Chemo (and radiation) are POISONS. The goal is simply to make the cancer turn up toes and die before it kills the patient. A close acquaintance was ready to give up when his oncologist told him that a stem cell transplant could give him ten years (or more) that he would not otherwise have. It did almost exactly that. He retired from the rat race, and proceeded to write, and accomplish, a "bucket list".
@Dana "Madman" Hansen- Thank you so much!
@JustaJeepGuy- Pretty much, yeah.
@M- I'd love to find time to do more comics as it's a nice catharsis for me. I'll see what I can do!
@TrickyRicky- If a government official made that prediction, Johnny might outlive us all.
@Anonymous- I'm glad you've enjoyed the laughs, and I hope to keep bringing them your way.
@John Robert Mallernee- I'm so sorry for your multiple losses, John. We're doing all we can to beat this thing.
@Texas2Step- Rather than an angel or devil on my shoulder, I think I've got a little court jester. Although they looked like clowns, their comments to the king were frequently barbed and laced with harsh truths that others couldn't speak, thinly disguised as humor.
@Greg- Congratulations on your wife's recovery and thanks for the success story about the transplant! And you're right, of course, about chemo just being poison. Kathy was spared nausea, but her body took a beating in myriad other ways. And this coming Tuesday, it begins again.
God bless you, sir.
Thanks for what you do.
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