So the days of what we used to call "slow news days" are behind for the moment as are the days of setting this blog in a comfortable archive mode. Between Twitter and here, I'll do my best to keep you all abreast of Bad Dog's current situation as time allows. Your patience is greatly appreciated.
Patience being the key as all of a sudden your life goes from "just another day" to "Oh my God, now what?" If you are just tuning in, here's the deal. Bad Dog has been diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Or AML as it is known in these circles.
Like you, I freaked out on the news of this. Then I settled down and began to absorb all that I could about the condition and the specific situation we are looking at.
The nuts and bolts of this disease are quite simply stated as "cancer". Scary, ain't it? At first it certainly seems that way, but in reality, the scary part is getting passed the the third word of the disease, leukemia.
In the past 20 years or so, there have been astounding advances in treating and beating this thing. So that is on our side. So is the simple fact that it has been determined Bad Dog has not had this for very long. A few weeks, to be as precise as possible. So that is on our side too. Add to that his amazingly upbeat state of mind and continued sense of humor and it looks now that we have a very positive situation on our hands.
Just today, the doctors put him into isolation. This is simply a way of preventing the outside world with all of it's illnesses from catching him with his immune system down. This is good, this means that so far, the chemo protocol he is on is working in the right direction. This coming Friday should be the last of the initial chemo and the hardest part of fighting this thing will be behind him. A few weeks of recovery and the next thing you know, he's back on the air with yours truly.
No doubt there will be some minor changes to this routine as we go along and understandably these changes are expected. Everyone being different in the eyes of a cancer patient.
Long story short, Bad Dog is expected to be back in true form, on the air and ready to come back full time around the 2nd week of December. What a great holiday gift that will be for all of us. In the meantime, it will be business as usual (as best as I can pull it off) around the radio station, on and off the air and I will give short bursts of updates as they come in from my Twitter. The link is on the right of your screen. When I can elaborate, I will do it here and on the air.
Rock 103 (link also on the right) has a place to post good will messages and the likes to him since he has access to a laptop and he can read your messages. Otherwise, should anyone have any questions you can contact me directly through this blog or my email through the station.
He's counting on your support and he knows you all are there and I for one, am most confident that he will be back sooner than you know and in full form ready to get back into the game.
Thanks for all your continued support, your thoughts and prayers and we'll be around. Until then...
Stay Tuned....
When one works in a hospital like I do, you become desensitized to situations very quickly. You can emphasize but keep your distance at the same time. However, when it's a friend or relative experiencing a serious illness, your attitude takes a 360. That's what happened when I heard about Bad Dog. I felt like someone had hit me in the stomach. But if anybody can beat this, it will be Bad Dog. God wants to keep him around for many more years to keep people laughing and giving them hell like only he can. Bad Dog may be down, kids, but he is definitely not out!
ReplyDeleteI am going to the hospital chapel tonight and every night I work to pray for Bad Dog and his family. He probably doesn't realize how many people love him not only in Memphis, but all over the world.
Something we all need to remember that was brought to my attention recently was that God does not give us more than we can handle (although I sometimes wonder about that). This is just a temporary bump in the road. I look forward to Bad Dog's return to the airwaves with great anticipation. He is an inspiration to us all.
Ric,
ReplyDeleteThanks for keeping us updated with everything. I know it has been tough for you and everyone that works with Baddog. Keep your head up.
Vicki H.
Ric, it's Marsha from MSGAO (Chris's wife). You, Jo and Bad Dog are in my thoughts and prayers. God will keep you strong in this fight, and victorious in the end. Please let me know if I can do anything for you or Jo.
ReplyDelete