Posted on 09/05/2008 8:11:15 AM PDT by IrishMike
The main reason I am writing this column is that many people have asked me how I first realized I was suffering from a brain tumor and what I have done about it. But I also want to relate the reaction to my disease, mostly compassionate, that belies Washington's reputation.
The first sign that I was in trouble came on Wednesday, July 23, when my 2004 black Corvette struck a pedestrian on 18th Street in downtown Washington while I was on my way to my office.
I did not realize I had hit anyone until a shirt-sleeved young man on a bicycle, whom I incorrectly thought to be a bicycle messenger, jumped in front of my car to block the way. In fact, he was David A. Bono, a partner in the high-end law firm Harkins Cunningham. The bicyclist was shouting at me that I could not just hit people and then drive away. That was the first I knew about the accident. Mr. Bono called the police, and a patrolman soon arrived.
After I said I had no idea I had hit anyone until they flagged me down and informed me, Mr. Bono told The Washington Post, "I would not believe that." Fortunately, the investigating officer, P. Garcia, was a policeman who listened and apparently believed me. While Mr. Bono and other bystanders were taking on aspects of a mob, shouting "hit-and-run," Officer Garcia issued a right-of-way infraction against me, costing me $50, instead of a hit-and-run violation that would have been a felony. Following Officer Garcia's instructions, I promptly paid the $50 fine at Third District Police Headquarters in Northwest Washington, in cash and in person.
Officer Garcia's justification in believing me was soon confirmed by the diagnosis of my brain cancer, in which I have lost not only left peripheral vision but nearly all my left vision, probably permanently. Several people have asked me whether the person I hit was crossing in front of me on my left. I answer, "I never saw him."
Thanks for posting, interesting.
‘Strewth! That’s frightening. I wish Mr Novak well. Anyone know if he has a prognosis?
Wow, an unfriendly lawyer and all.....I wish Novak well in his recovery and hope the docs can fix him up soon.
Thanks for posting this. It’s wonderful to hear Mr. Novak is still alive and kicking. What a great service he did for America by writing his book, “The Prince of Darkness.” Anyone who hasn’t read that book is well advised to do so if they’re interested in how Washington works.
I particularly liked this:
“Support for me and promises of prayers sent for me poured in from all sides, including political figures who had not been happy with my columns. I’m told that President George W. Bush has not liked my criticism, particularly of his Iraq war policy. But the president is a compassionate man, and he telephoned me at 7:24 a.m. on August 15, six minutes before I went into surgery. The conversation lasted only a minute, but his prayerful concern was touching and much appreciated.”
“he was David A. Bono, a partner in the high-end law firm Harkins Cunningham.”
When I started reading I was like oh this Bono guy must have helped out Novak that day so Bob was giving him a shout out in the article. Then as I read, Bob did give him a shout out...to show that Bono was an a-hole. Not to mention the Joe & Valarie quote at the end.
It was nice to hear that others in Washington were very kind and helpful.
...’I am now at home in Washington, awaiting further therapy. Dr. Friedman recommended that I try to get back to at least parts of my normal life. He suggested reading, but also that I try to write columns, which is the reason I’ve composed this piece.
Support for me and promises of prayers sent for me poured in from all sides, including political figures who had not been happy with my columns. I’m told that President George W. Bush has not liked my criticism, particularly of his Iraq war policy. But the president is a compassionate man, and he telephoned me at 7:24 a.m. on August 15, six minutes before I went into surgery. The conversation lasted only a minute, but his prayerful concern was touching and much appreciated’.....
W, I do like that man.
My mother had a brain abscess that caused the same kind of peripheral vision damage. It wasn’t brain cancer, but she expereinced the same devastating effects in her vision as well as cognitive difficulties.
As an aside, I like how he says it was his Corvette that hit the guy...
more at link, he had surgery the 15th. wow.
This is freightening to say the least and it could happen to any one of us. God Bless you, Mr. Novak....we wish you well soon.
ML/NJ
I am surprised that his eye doctor or GP didn’t catch it earlier.
> W, I do like that man.
History will be kind to President GW Bush. I feel certain of that.
Thanks for the prognosis.
Things like this remind you that people are generally good, even Democrats! Its just this stupid hyper-partisanism that gets to ALL of us sometimes, makes us monsters sometimes.
Indeed. The article reads as if it were edited by his civil defense attorney.
Best wishes Bob. I have always enjoyed your columns, and I’m happy to see you are still writing. GOOD LUCK!
Godspeed to you Mr Novak.......
..Now that you proved to you your thinkin / writin skills are still in tact, talk to us about Sarah Barracuda Palin.
Thanks to my tumor, the Wilsons have achieved half of their desires. I probably never will be able to drive again, and I have sold the Corvette, which I dearly loved. Taking away my typewriter, however, may require modification of the First Amendment.
_______________________________________________________
Let me tweak this a little: “Taking away my typewriter, however, may require modification of the SECOND Amendment.”
Prayers to Bob Novak.
Follow your dreams and your passions, Mr. Novack. You can’t keep a good man down! A miracle waits just around the corner.
Very enlightening....
I have had trouble with my periperal eyesight on left side for months. I attributed it to medicine I am taking for back pain. Now I get a little worried. (sitting here crying). I’ve lost 5 people close to me in the last 9 months and I have been chalking everything wrong with me up to stress. even docs are saying that. They did the same with my mom saying stress made her lose weight worrying about my son in Iraq. Then a blood test revealed the road to pancreatic cancer and she was gone in 2 months. Make sure you tell your family you love them everyday as you never know. I told my mom right up til the end and all she worried about was me.
Sorry for carrying on like this. It just hit me hard.
> History will be kind to President GW Bush. <
Yes, and it will also be kind to Bob Novak — in spite of his obvious imperfections.
On the other hand, it certainly won’t be kind to Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. Forms of reptilian life lower than these two are hard to imagine.
The “high profile” law firm supports Obama and the bike-riding lawyer has the kind of compassion that I would expect from a Washington liberal.
Just Google Harkins Cunningham and Barack Obama and see the kind of “people” who want run our Country.
May God bless you with a kinder prognosis!
Good luck to Bob Novak. He says that he is a 3 time cancer survivor. Maybe he can make it 4.
Prayers up. My brother died of brain cancer. It’s scary.
No doubt old slip n' fall Bob saw a payday coming.
What had been reported last was that the prognosis was dire.
He had brain surgery about 2 weeks ago and no one reported it other than a post by Michael Novak, NRO’s relgious reporter, who had very nice things to say about Bob and about the Prince of Darkness (I can agree— it is a terrific read!)
Talk about irony ..
“After studying my CT scan and MRI, Dr. Friedman said a resection — that is, a removal of the tumor — was possible by surgery. Dr. Friedman had performed a similar operation this summer on Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.”
God works in mysterious ways indeed. May He be with Robert Novak and his family.
Friendly, no. Objective, yes.
What isn't reasonable is to expect a lawyer to pass on a potential client.
But Joe and Valerie Wilson, attempting to breathe life into the Valerie Plame "scandal," issued this statement: "We have long argued that responsible adults should take Novak's typewriter away. The time has arrived for them to also take away the keys to his Corvette."
Just wow.
Saying prayers for you...sounds like you’ve had a very tough time. Have been going through one myself, and it is so easy to allow fear to paralyze us. Hang tight, and immerse yourself in positive, uplifting words...
God bless you and yours.
I’ve loved ‘Vettes since I was 5, and though I have yet to own one, I think that one day I shall. And, once I own it, I wouldn’t let even a brain tumor force me to abandon it. Even if I can’t drive it on the road, there are still SCCA events to do, and you can always tinker with the thing in the garage and wax it now and then (and maybe let the wife take you for drives with the roof open now and then).
The complete loss of left-side vision happened since this incident. It was peripheral vision that he had lost, and the onset was gradual enough that he didn't notice.
The vision system is more than just a pair of eyeball cameras. The brain does a considerable amount of image processing as well. When it merges the images from the two eyes, small blind spots (dead pixels?) in one can be filled in with information from the other. That works well enough for things that both eyballs can see, but that was not the situation here.
If anything, this is evidence of the need for frequent eye-tests of senior drivers.
The DMV in my state only checks you once every 10 years. What good is that? I go to my eye doctor every 2 as it is. But even that would not help with a tumor or abscess that ate up my peripheral vision over a period of, say, 6 months.
(Guess I'll just check it meself. Yup, so far, so good.)
You can't make that kind of stuff up.
No class whatever.
What ugliness from Joe and Valerie Wilson. They have no worth as human beings.
David Bono = John Edwards
Looking for an ambulance to chase.
I'm going to an ophthalmologist today - first time ever - to find out what caused (sudden) myopia in my left eye.
From the article:
Officer Garcia's justification in believing me was soon confirmed by the diagnosis of my brain cancer, in which I have lost not only left peripheral vision but nearly all my left vision, probably permanently. Several people have asked me whether the person I hit was crossing in front of me on my left. I answer, "I never saw him."
David A. Bono
Partner
Washington Office
David Bono represents business clients in complex and appellate litigation, and he advises them with respect to their federal regulatory obligations. In his trial-level work, for example, Mr. Bono successfully argued on behalf of a coalition of the nation’s thirty-six largest railroads for a nationwide injunction against a possible labor strike. His representation before the United States Supreme Court has included a case affirming the federal courts’ inherent power to impose sanctions for bad-faith conduct, and the Court appointed Mr. Bono in another case to brief the constitutional rights of property owners. His regulatory advice has included environmental and securities matters.
Mr. Bono is a former trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where he represented the interests of federal agencies, Cabinet officers and other Executive Branch officials with respect to federal regulations, statutes and policies. For example, he was lead trial counsel for the Secretary of Transportation, the Attorney General, and the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Justice in the federal lawsuit that prevented the Exxon Valdez from returning to Prince William Sound, Alaska. He also represented the Secretary of Energy in litigation seeking $120 million for his alleged wrongful termination of a contract to purchase electricity.
Mr. Bono graduated magna cum laude from Duke University in 1982, with double majors in Public Policy Studies and Economics. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1986, where he was an Editor of the Harvard Law Review and placed second in the Williston Negotiation Competition. He served as a law clerk to The Honorable Edward R. Becker, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the Bars of the United States Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Phone: (202) 973-7603
E-Mail: dbono@harkinscunningham.com
Sorry.
Prayers offered up for you MarineMom613.
You have to take care of yourself girl, it is hard losing your Mom and so many close in the last 9 months. They and your brave son would want you to take care of yourself, have it checked out better.
God Bless you, God Bless your son. Thank him for me.
((((hugs))))
From a mom of two marines.
Semper Fi
Prayers up for Novak, and prayers up for you. You have your plate full right now.
Loss of peripheral vision is often connected to glaucoma, which is easily treated, either by minor eye surgery or using daily drops.
I can really sympathize with you. I have lost three sisters to cancer in the last five years. When it runs in the family, it’s always at the back of your mind.
But don’t worry, be happy. Even Jesus says that, in different words:
“Don’t worry about tomorrow. Sufficient unto the day are the troubles therein.”
Live each day to the fullest, pray always, and treat everyone you meet with respect and kindness.
Plame and Wilson are beneath contempt.
“I’m told that President George W. Bush has not liked my criticism, particularly of his Iraq war policy. But the president is a compassionate man, and he telephoned me at 7:24 a.m. on August 15, six minutes before I went into surgery. The conversation lasted only a minute, but his prayerful concern was touching and much appreciated.”
As only that loving and kind man would.
Go see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible. Make sure you don’t have glaucoma. You have to get a diagnosis, the sooner the better.
I’m not sure but what I might have been just as belligerent with someone who had just struck a pedestrian with his car and continued on as though nothing had happened. The shock of seeing some struck by a car, then the person not stopping, having to chase them down and then jump in front of the car to stop the driver would make me pretty insistent when I finally talked to the driver. From the witnesses point of view this was a clear cut case of hit and run. Sadly, it happens all the time, people hit a pedestrian or bike rider and flee the scene on purpose.
I think I would be inclined to cut the witness a bit of slack.
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