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."
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."
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