21st Century Medicine

Comments

[pyramus]

Words are pretty much beside the point, I guess.

Stay alive, stay pissed off, and keep kicking patriarchy's ass.

[Miranda]

I can't wait until there are better ways of dealing with cancer. Until then, continue to fight the cancer and monitor your medical team as vigourously as you defend against the patriarchy.

Sending some virtual vittles to aid in your recovery.

[Erin]

Battered and bruised and stitched you may be, but I'm glad you're out of surgery.

Holy shit, that rhymes! I'm mortified by the meter, but the sentiment stands. Do you think I have a future in the greeting card industry? I can rhyme "nip and tuck" with "who gives a fuck?".

My nascent poetic career aside, I am glad that you're back, and I'm still keeping you in my thoughts. My stomach hurt all morning on Monday, and the last time I had a visceral reaction like that for someone I didn't know was when I was ten and read The Diary of Anne Frank and cried my eyes out. Keep up the good fight, Twisty. We're all with you.

[Penny]

Ow. Ow ow ow. Twisty, I am terribly sorry you have to suffer through this, and I hope that all the right things happen from now on.

[The Fat Lady Sings]

Thank God. If you can take that picture, you made it through. When you feel up to it (and only if you want to) - please tell us how you are feeling - all of it.

I hope you have a chance for the wounds to heal before they start the chemo. Take the pain meds, honey. Don't skimp.

[Liz]

Well, that smashed right through my denial mechanism.

You poor thing, Twisty.

I hope you are coping.

[zz]

I'm sitting here with tears welling up in my eyes. Goddamn 21st century medicine.

[Becker]

For what it's worth, I am relieved to see you back.

[PZ Myers]

21st century medicine is brutal and pitiless, but it's a pussycat compared to what nature would do.

I'm sorry to see the pain, but I'm glad Twisty is going to be around longer.

[jennifer]

Oh my Fucking God. Twisty, I am so glad that you are out of the hospital and well enough to take this picture, but Oh my Fucking God. Please please please let us know if we can do anything for you.

[Delurker #63]

Wow, that picture is pretty raw. It's really fucked up that you have cancer and lost a breast. But that's life I guess - it's really fucked up but you keep on going because it's better than being dead.

Thank you for being open with what you are going through. I really want to do something but I can't since I'm not in Austin. If you have an Amazon wish list, maybe you could have someone post a link to it on your blog. I don't think your readers would mind sending you books or whatever.

So, um, keep hope alive, stay the course, be brave, you're stronger than you think, etc, etc. I apologize for all the trite phrases but I really suck at this and "I'm glad that you're not dead and that you probably won't die for a while" seems incredibly lame.

[bitchphd]

Holy shit, Twist. Hol-eeey shit.

[David Parsons]

The mere act of taking that picture looks so beyond simply "painful" that a 50 ft pile of burning pink ribbons doesn't do it justice. Ouch.

[MsKate]

Thanks for checking in Twisty.

Thank the universe you are alive and have a hell of a lot fewer cells around that are hell bent on killing you in an unpleasant way.

Unfortunately, 21st century medicine ain't much better than 20th century medicine - the standard protocol for cancer is surgery/radiation/chemo - otherwise known as slash/burn/poison. That part isn't necessarily patriarchy. The patriarchy part is our inabillity to remove from our environment things we know are bad and things we have no fucking clue are bad or not!

Be well, Twisty. Demand your fair share of drugs for that nasty boo-boo. And give the patriarchy some good swift kicks as you feel up to it. Being a patient doesn't make you patient!

[Kate]

Fuck. I admire your willingness to share that with us Twisty. That's some scar.

I hope the pain medication is good. Get well.

[New Kid on the Hallway]

Holy crap. That's awful. I hope they're giving you good pain drugs. I won't thank you for the bravery and so on b/c I know you're not trying to be some kind of role model or whatever, so I'll just repeat someone above: ouch. Glad you're still standing.

[ae]

Holy fucking shit, Twisty. I've been like a damn rat pushing for pellets waiting for you to sign in. I'm so glad you posted today. I didn't -- oh, hell, I don't know. Glad you're back, glad you're standing, please take your drugs, I hope your friends and family are giving you what you need.

I've been meaning to say -- if you don't want to give out your address, I volunteer mine, and I'll be happy to mail to you what your many ether pals and admirers want to send you. I'm too far away to come down and clean the toilet and grab the tacos and do the laundry and walk the dogs and make you tea (not to mention too far away re: that pesky little distance of, oh, acquaintance, ha). But I want to at least send you something to distract you and make you laugh. Can we do this?

[mcmc]

sweetie, you are so fucking brave to go through this. We miss you and want you back. Much love.

[Julia]

Twisty,

You are my hero.

I'm so glad you are well enough to photo yourself.

[Robin Reed]

Ouch. That doesn't do it justice, but ouch anyway. Sending you happy taco thoughts from Dallas and hoping that you feel up to kicking patriarchy's butt again real soon.

[CafeSiren]

Glad to see you're vertical, Twisty.

Here's something to blame the Patriarchy for: you get ucky post-op like that, while medical science concentrates on ways to make some vain Newport Beach yuppie woman's boob implants leave not a trace of surgical intervention.

Fuck that shit.

And I'm glad you're back.

[Tapetum]

Ooowww! Good glory that looks painful.

I've been obsessively checking for an update. I'm very glad you're back with us Twisty. Now go lie down and take whatever meds you need. We can kick the patriarchy's butt until you feel up to it again.

Then again you're doing a marvelous job just by posting this honest and brutal photo.

Remember - take the pain meds before you start to hurt. It's much easier to keep the pain down then to knock it back - I speak from experience.

[PurrpleGrrl]

(Finally delurking)

So glad you're back--been checking the site anxiously for your return.

Oh. My. God.
I really hope they've given you enough pain meds and that the nurses were nicer this time around.

Lots of good thoughts for you--and bad thoughts for the patriarchy, so that you can focus on healing.

[alphabitch]

Bloody fucking goddamn hell, girl.

I adore you, Twisty. I'm terrified and somehow bizarrely comforted all at once. Nothing makes any sense. It's very bad, and it's ugly, and it just fucking goddamn sucks, but it's nothing like what I have feared. This lousy little planet somehow keeps spinning, just like it always does. How can that be? I hate it that you hurt. It's not fucking fair. All the same, I'm relieved to see that your stark and formidable beauty is not diminished.

[zwichenzug]

Julia said what I wanted to say.

But let me just add, that you aren't my hero just because bad things have happened to you. I mean, at the end of the day, everybody's life is filled with loss.

The thing is, I'm absolutely entranced with the way you've handled this. Because, at some level, your posting pictures like this is a way of sharing yourself with others, and that reminds me that everyone's life is also filled with joy.

And now I'm tearing up...