Not so bad, this life thing

I had cancer a few years ago.  Took a while to sort it out - two episodes and about 18 months, actually. And then, when things seemed to be running off track again last Fall, the first question was whether it was a recurrence of the old neck cancer.

Then, as we went through surgery and the information it revealed, it became as clear as things get in this world (which isn't 100 percent clear) that I was dealing with a new cancer, brain version, that really didn't have much to do with the old one.  Number two (or three?), and about four years later.  Bad luck Mikey!

Ah well.  You know, you go through these things two or three times and really, at least in my case, it just gets to... here's the deal, play your best hand.  Not a terrible hand - hey, I didn't just get hit by a truck and pulverized - if not a great one.  The consensus at this point seems to be that I'm not looking at clearing things up 100 perfect and living for decades.  More like holding things off and living well for some time.

Since I'm now 63 and a half, well, it's not terrible.  The final number isn't what most folks seem to be looking at these day  - it could be kind of cheezy on post-age-65 retirement benefits  - but it sure could have been worse.  There was a time in my 20's when I really doubted if I'd make it to 30; the parties were pretty dangerous.  Then, law school, marriage (one), foreign work, marriage (two and still pumping), children, Europe in the 80's, Asia in the 90's, kids graduating from colleges, getting married, having babies, and me, more or less throughout, practicing law... really, not sure how much more than that I deserve.  Many people much finer than me have had much less.

So, here I now go into more treatments, some well established and maybe some experimental -  and after that, maybe lots more time and law practice and maybe not.  Either way, lucky me, as ever, lucky and blessed.