dmatthews
Dave's not here
The possibilities are... um... binary?Africa?
The possibilities are... um... binary?Africa?
So sad to hear we lose another brother, RIP Lew.
Another reminder of how precious this time we have on earth is.
I've been to 2 funerals over the past month and I'm at the point that I don't want to attend any more. Selfish thought I know & I still have one more to go.
Live your lives to the fullest.
I think it is worth mentioning that from my perspective, Lew really did live his life to the fullest till the very end. In the last 6 months of his life, he bought a mix board, some mics, a couple (maybe more) amps and more! He literally started building a new guitar on his 74th birthday (Oct 16, 2023) which was just over two months prior to his transition (Dec 19, 2023)! I literally was working with him on the headstock wording that was going on that newly built guitar only a week before he passed. He really did live it right till the end!!!So sad to hear we lose another brother, RIP Lew.
Another reminder of how precious this time we have on earth is.
I've been to 2 funerals over the past month and I'm at the point that I don't want to attend any more. Selfish thought I know & I still have one more to go.
Live your lives to the fullest.
Sorry to hear that Alan! Condolences to you, your wife and all those affected by that rapid transition!!Too true.
My wife's cousin found out he had prostate cancer last year. A couple weeks ago, the docs told him his prostate seemed okay, but his PSA numbers were still high and they didn't know why. They figured it out last week - it had moved to his liver. So they needed to do a biopsy to see what they were dealing with to plan treatment. It never got that far. They sent him home on Friday and said maybe a month. It wasn't a weekend - he died Sunday.
It's never enough time.
I lost my mom to cancer. I lost my dad to heart issues. They were both over weight and both had diabetes and were on insulin shots at one point. That means that I would potentially have one or more of these issues as I aged.Prostate cancer is a ***** .. when it hits stage 3 it moves to your lymphatic system , and at stage 4 it hits your bones .. I've been fighting it for over a decade , and have had 1 surgery . The doc gave me 3-5 years back in Oct '21 . Once it migrates , you just hang on until the end, there isn't any hope for stopping it. Due to all the pain killers over the years with 32 broken bones, I am not allowed to take OTC pain meds , after the acute kidney failure a few years back , it does make things challenging. So I've gone organic with my diet, and herbal with my meds been sober 5 years and lost 45lbs , and dropped my blood pressure 70 points.
I won't win ... but I ain't going down without pulling out all the stops . and enjoying every single moment.
Your statistical chance of getting it ? Wake up gents .. it's equal to your AGE! SO ..if nothing else gets you , it will. If your over 50 get a PSA test , You may get lucky and beat it if you catch it early
Keeping a positive attitude is a challenge , thankfully the Music community has been a godsend. Most of my Music friends don't know , like my sisters. So I spend 4 days recuperating so I can put all my energy into the 3 nights at the Cafe' . The illusion of a happy go lucky hippy , brings them joy ... If they knew ... they wouldn't treat me the same ....
I've been down that road
LIVE each day , SMILE as much as you can , DO what you love , CHERISH everyone and everything for as long as you can , and ENJOY !
All of this to say, let the doctors do the tests.
My wife has a cousin that has had issues with colon polyps. He has had several removed. He is in the high risk category and has to be checked annually. He told me at one time that all of the other guys he met in the hospital when he had to go in for treatments due to some they found are all gone now. The only reason he is still walking around is his annual check and treatments. He was one that really got it into my head to make sure you are getting the testing done. It definitely can save your live and keep you above dirt.My wife said last night, "This is why we do the testing."
My dad had prostate cancer, his brother had prostate cancer. (As my dad once said, "We never really had heart problems in the family, other than my dad. Cancer - well, we hit the jackpot there." After his prostate cancer, when I was at the doc's, the nurse asked how old I was and said, "Oh, you're at that age!" and made the finger motion. She said, "How do you feel about that?" I said, "Look, I'm not exactly thrilled about it, but I ain't stupid either. Prostate cancer, colon cancer - I'll take the test any day."
My wife has a cousin that has had issues with colon polyps. He has had several removed. He is in the high risk category and has to be checked annually. He told me at one time that all of the other guys he met in the hospital when he had to go in for treatments due to some they found are all gone now. The only reason he is still walking around is his annual check and treatments. He was one that really got it into my head to make sure you are getting the testing done. It definitely can save your live and keep you above dirt.
Yes, kudos to Lew for living it right up to the end.He literally started building a new guitar on his 74th birthday (Oct 16, 2023) which was just over two months prior to his transition (Dec 19, 2023)!
I got a little lecture from my wife after the surgery was over and she knew I was going to be fine. My doctor had been mentioning the test that caught my issues to me for a couple of years. I didn't want to pay the $400 out of pocket to have it done. It is not covered by insurance but is a very good test that gives enough information to plan out the next 5 years of treatment or changes in lifestyle. She made sure to let me know that I should have had it done two years sooner. Us men love to put these types of things off. That is probably one reason women live longer than we do.We are all on borrowed time in one way or another. Lost my young niece a year and a half ago to leukemia, and now her mother is terminal with a brain tumor. At a certain age, you sort of expect some things, but not on those that still have so much to experience.
My own slight brush with melanoma is so trivial by comparison, but had I not listened to my wife's berating me, it could have been far more serious. Being stubborn and refusing to give in without a fight is a far cry from being stupid like I almost was. Never take your health for granted. You only make this scene once.
Amongst my mother’s siblings, there have been 3 colon cancers and 3 prostate cancers. I let them do any test they want on me.I didn't need to be convinced, but if I did, my dad's brother's family would have been all it took. His brother and his wife both had colon cancer. She died first, and he followed about 2-3 months later. About six months or so after that, they took my cousin (the older of their two daughters) to the hospital with suspected appendicitis. Nope - stage 4 colon cancer. Despite what her parents went through, she hadn't been doing the screenings. Within about 18 months, her sister went from the youngest in a family of four to the lone survivor.
Yup... grin and "bare it"...Amongst my mother’s siblings, there have been 3 colon cancers and 3 prostate cancers. I let them do any test they want on me.