Worked way too late today.
I had a lot of plans for food makin and pumpking carving for the weekend parties.

Mom and Dad are back home tonight. This just in:

Dear Friends -

It is 8:30 p.m. Thursday evening and J and I have just walked in the door from the airport.  Thank all of you for your prayers for they were surely answered when we were sent to MD Anderson Cancer Center!  It is truely another world in itself. We don't have the final word on his treatment as they are still accessing all of his tests that were done in the past and were redone there. But it is sorta definite that he will be in a clinical trial conducted by MDAnderson. We will know more probably next week.
 

He is really tired tonite but he really did pick up on that wheel chair thing at all these airports! He says that is the only way to travel. Of course I am going to have to get roller skates to keep up with the guy pushing the wheel chair. This is just to let you know that we are home and I will fill everyone in with more details, but it looks like he may be a part time Texan again!  We love all of you.

Happy Halloween

Once again this Halloween, I joined some friends I used to work with on building floats for the Little Five Points Halloween Parade. This year’s parade was last Saturday and we won The Cup this year! With the theme “Lost At Sea” we had two floats: the SS Excess pirate ship and cannibal island with the Witchdoctor’s Rib Shack. On the ground we had land sharks on motorcycles and sea serpents of different kinds circling our floats. And the weather was perfect — the rain held off until the next day and it was gloriously sunny and warm all day.

Sunday night I sat at home watching a bizarre animated film called Mad Monster Party with voices from Phyllis Diller and Boris Karloff, among others.

Now I have one more Halloween Party to look forward to this Friday and a Day of the Dead Murder Mystery party for the float krew on Saturday.

Wheeeeeeeee!

From: Chantelle
Subject: Weeeeee are the Champions, weeee are the Champions . . .
Date: Oct 27, 2003 4:18 PM

Hail to the great Grateful Gluttons!!

Ahhh, what delightful chaos, what sweet insanity this has been. I love you freaks.
Pirate and Cannibal hats off to Greg and Joel's brilliant building skills and the boatload of time they gave; the S.S. Excess is rumored to be permanently docking on top of the Yacht!!! The Grateful Gluttons add to the skyline of L5P!!! Woooo Hoooooo!
Horray for the Witchdoctor's wacked-out waitresses!! Did you touch the tongue? Naaasty.
Goooooo circling sharks! And the Little Sea Monster Who Could!!
And the dancing Sea Demons! Rock on Cannibal Island Band!! How about our cool-as-hell trophy!? Did you know the rat has an opal eyeball?
I could go on and on, but let me just say that Hunter Thompson was talking about you “When,” he mumbled, “the going gets weird, the weird go pro.”
It is so fun playing with you. Let’s do it again!

The End is near.
Dearly beloveds, our Day of the Dead Party is this Saturday after dark at Chez A.
Come in costume or mourning or Glutton T. Kindly bring beverages.
We'll raise the dead one more time.

Love,
Chantelle

It's been a week of rock and roll dreaming. Of dead rockers.

Monday night I dreamed of Johnny Thunders. We were talking about his favorite subject, himself, and hanging out in a house with late 70's or 80's decor. Real decor of the time - icky olive green carpet and curtains and sky blue walls.

Last night I dreamed of being in Athens, Georgia with a group of people that included Brian Jones. Seems that Jones was my best male friend in the group and I was hanging out with him. There was another dark haired man who was a complete creep that kept approaching me. My former best male friend Barry was in the dream but dressed more goth style than he ever would have been with dyed black hair. Barry was handing old records to me and saying how he liked to drink grapefruit juice now. I told him how much I missed him.

Will any more ghosts visit me in my dreaming this week?

Dad's going to Texas

This came from my mother today:

Oct 18, 2003 9:32 AM

Dear friends - We have received word that we are to report to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston next Sunday Oct. 26. As far as we know we will be there for a week. Everything is still not confirmed but we are working to get everything done and confirmed. Pray for the doctors there and for his treatments. We will report to the center on Monday morning. Our Oncologist in Atlanta is Dr. Seay (pronounced See) our Thorasic Oncologist in Houston is Dr. Oh. J says he hopes he isn't going to have to go through the entire alphabet to get treated!

    We love all of you,

    L and J

What I learned today about Mesothelioma:


Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is one of only a handful of hospitals equipped to treat mesothelioma.


Most patients that get the disease, 75 percent are blue collar people that were exposed to asbestos during the course of those sorts of jobs earlier in life. About 4,000 Americans get mesothelioma each year and it can take decades to show up. It's also difficult to diagnose, because symptoms mimic pneumonia and other conditions.


Insurance companies say that there's no good treatment for this disease, and they basically don't want treatment to be given. So they put patients through lengthy review procedures and try to delay treating the patient.


There is a drug, Alimta, now undergoing clinical trials that's shown some promise. But even with the best treatment, most mesothelioma patients die within a year.

So far, it's been a pretty good birthday. Today I share a common birthdate with the husband of one of my employers. We had a lovely chocolate and strawberry cake that was almost too pretty to eat. Now I'm at my desk sipping Starbucks coffee.

More Questions, Some Hope


This is the latest on my family and my father's health.


Dear friends - J and I have just returned from the Cancer Center. We don't have a lot to tell other than they are sending us to the Cancer Institute in Houston, Texas where the most work is being done on Mesothelioma. All of his tests will be done again there with more CT scans and a positive diagnosis made and the most agressive method of treatment. We may have to go back there for treatments or they may be done in Atlanta, but they say it is treatable and that gives me some hope. It appears to be only l lung affected as far as they can see so this is good also.

We should be leaving for Houston sometime in the next 2 weeks. They will be contacting us tonight or tomorrow as to when they want us there. I feel some relief tonight just knowing there may be some way to treat this. The doctor said he had one patient that was diagnosed a year and a half ago and he is doing fine right now. I will try to keep you more informed as we know more.

L and J

Started Saturday by working half a day. We'll be closed Monday for Yom Kippur, so it seemed the least I could do was show up for a little while and help clear a few jobs out.

Then went to visit my parents for a few hours after that.

This morning I'm trying to coordinate what's left of my weekend. Too late already to make it to yoga at the gym. This afternoon the nice boy said he'd help me move my Birthday Rug from my parents house into my place before he goes off to eat with his own parents. Later tonight I'm supposed to be catching a film with Monster, who'll be in town from Alabama.

I'm starting to think of Alabama as the job mecca. So many of my friends and neighbors have found work there when there's still none in Atlanta. Some are commuting 3 to 4 hours daily to work out of state while still hoping to find a job close to home, friends, and family. Others have already re-located to the neighboring state. The general consensus is there is nothing of any interest whatsoever there other than making a living. Everyone still comes here as often as possible for art, socializing, music, good food & coffee, and cultural events. But making a living is important. Maybe some of these transplants will stir things up and make better things happen there. Or at least something worth writing home about.

No new information on my father's condition. He has an appointment with a pulmonary specialist on Tuesday and another appointment with a cancer specialist next week.


This week has cool autumn nights and chilly mornings that require socks and slippers.

Mesothelioma


This is what my father's diagnosis is: mesothelioma. It's a type of lung cancer caused very specifically from exposure to asbestos. This was from exposure during a job he had over 40 years ago - cutting ceiling tiles. Maybe it's been sitting, encapsulated, in his lungs for years. I've no idea what his prognosis is - whether they've caught it early or late, what the treatment options for him are or if there are any at this stage in his life. Of course, everyone in my family, including my brother, has known since Wednesday. I'm not surprised.


And this is all I know for now... until more information is rationed out to me.

Shorter day at work today. Everyone got out before 7p.m. and I went to the hospital to visit my father. Finally met Sonny tonight. He was visiting when I arrived. As soon as he left, my brother and sister in law came up. Said they say Sonny on the way in. Dad seems to be better tonight. Definitely in better spirits. Still has tubes and wires all over. Mom showed me a potted, blooming gardenia bush that someone had sent to the room. They don't expect him to come home until Monday or Tuesday. As far as I know, there is still no news on what's going on with his lungs. Now it's my mother's turn to start getting tired and irritable. Oh well. Generally, things look better today.

Frustrating week


My father went into the hospital on Wednesday for exploratory surgery. I found out he was scheduled for it on Sunday. Seems very extreme since I've been told they haven't found anything on x-rays or blood tests that was unusual but they still haven't figured out why he stays congested and why his lungs keep filling with fluid. So his doctor scheduled him for surgery this week.

I am still in the dark about what's going on and no one, including my mother, will say anything. But they've brought my brother into this. No one brings my brother into any family crisis, as his life is too busy for that. Great. Not a good sign at all for him to be there.


My brother doesn't talk to me either. Not about anything.


Anyway, Dad was supposed to go in Wednesday morning, maybe stay over night and be home the next day. Instead he has been in ICU for two days. My mother has been there by his side all day, going home at night to sleep. My brother has been there both days, as has my sister-in-law and my uncle and his wife, according to my mother.


Tonight, they were going to move him into a private room but there was no answer on the phone there. My mother phoned from home and said she'd turned off the phone in the room so he could sleep.


I ended up working tonight until just after 9 p.m. By the time I got home tonight, my mind was fried. I remembered Chaz's show at the Star Bar tonight around 11 ish p.m. and decided it was probably too late to attempt to make it out. I'm sorry I missed it - would have been a welcome change. My camera and I had been looking forward to it.


Also, I had a message that Aud's grandfather had passed away yesterday.
She and husband will be very busy this week with all that that involves.

Cross your fingers

Wednesday morning my father goes in to the hospital for even more tests to find out just what's going on in his lungs. My mother will be there with him all day. They can't seem to figure out why his otherwise healthy body is behaving as if he has pneumonia. I hope they can identify what's going on this time.


Meanwhile, I still have my own sorry, persistent cough which is nothing more than just annoying both to myself and co-workers. I keep thinking there's something environmental going on with so many people here have breathing problems.

Chaz Lounge Birthday Celebration


Chaz is playing at his old Stomping grounds this Thursday. This performance is part of the "Night With Duwayne" series that features some of the best singing and songwriting talents in the Southeast and occasionally performers like Chaz. Go figure.

Other performers on this Thursday's bill include Rick Richards (The Georgia
Satellites), Ben Friedman (Cigar Store Indians), and of course, Duwayne.

This show also kicks off the official Chaz Lounge Birthday Celebration. Should be fun