Danny Arrives for PET Scan[/caption].
Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. The end of the week has come and it is time for ‘A Week in Review’ here at The Other Shoe. With the publication of this article, I have managed to publish NINE articles in the past seven days. I consider this to be quite an accomplishment, considering what was going on in my life outside this blog. I started the re-publication of a very (initially) popular series of articles; ‘The Story of Daniel’. First published in the late summer to fall of 2012, this series of articles was (originally) written to help you, My Dear Readers, gain an understanding of who I am… where I grew up… and how important it was/is to reach out and help me in a time of great need.
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My motivation for re-publication was the same as when it was first published. The reasoning is the similar, only the circumstances are different. Similar in that when it was originally published I was fighting for my mobility, and now I am fighting for my life. Below are excerpts and comments on the eight articles I have published in the past seven days.
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Now, without further Adieu, I give you ‘A Week in Review’
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The Mars Report – September 1st 2014 : “I would ‘blame myself’, but I strongly feel that; writing and publishing nearly a dozen articles, spending 12, 14, and 16 hours A DAY (promoting, linking, sharing, and writing) on my blog(s) and Facebook, spending money (that I really shouldn’t) to promote even MORE, and generally… lowering myself to daily asking for HELP! I, generally, feel that I have ‘done my part’. There is little more that I can do. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I will be: visiting my Oncologist, having a P.E.T. scan done, and have BONE MARROW removed from my pelvic girdle. I will try to write. However, I do not know how much I can get done… considering I will be out every day for the tests for ‘Staging My Cancer’!” This was the ONLY ‘regular’ articles that I manage to publish, this week, aside fro this “A Week in Review’. To say that the pain was terrible would be redundant. To write about how I really wanted to share, would be futile. To try and explain my frame of mind, my concern for my health and my fear of my cancer. Appears to be honesty of a kind and type that people just do not want to read. I guess.
- The Story of Daniel – Redux – All About Danny : “The reality of my life… is why I wrote ‘The Story of Daniel’ back in September of 2012. I use this story now to maybe help people remember who I am. Remember that I used to stand at their side, remember that I used to work to make them laugh, remember how hard I worked for the plays, remember how important Pearland was-and-is to me. To remember is to relive in our hearts, our minds, our souls. I used to occupy that space in many people’s lives in Pearland.” The whole ‘thought process’ (originally pitched to me by one Jim Thornton) was that if the good people of Pearland could remember; who I was, how I used to entertain them, why they enjoyed my company and my performances that they just might reach out and help me in my time of need. That was the thought process. I just thought that I might try it, again. I have, yet, to decide if next week will se the continuation of this publication. Or, like my efforts to document my trials and battle with cancer, it will be throw to the wayside for something more commercially viable.
- Daniel’s Disability and HOW it ALL Began! – Redux : “See, there is no one to blame, in this matter it is just a matter of ‘bad luck’ or something like that. I don’t hate anyone, or blame anything for the plight I live with… boy, that would be futile, to seek and assign blame. Because it really doesn’t matter, in the large scheme of things, who did what or who didn’t won’t make my pain go away.” Twenty-seven years ago someone, working the electrtonics stockroom at Target in Manhattan Beach, placed a Smith Corona typewriter at the very top of a pile of loosely stacked boxes. The next day that typewriter fell and struck me in the spine and back of the head. That incident set in motion the events of the next twenty-five years of my life. If my assumptions are correct, and the bone graft is/was the source of the Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma… that fateful day is also responsible for my cancer.
- The Story of Daniel – Redux – Episode One – The Beginning : “The Cub Scouts taught me the importance of; self reliance, respect of elders and community, and that knowledge is power. At the same time that I was learning these lessons in Scouts, I was learning even more in my Father’s garage. My father was an X-Ray technician for three orthopedic surgeons in the Herman Professional Building in Houston. They were the ‘Herman Associates’ group. Dr.(s); Hutcherson, Moore and Baker. When my father came home from work, he had dinner with the family only to then go to work in our garage. My father ran a small business out of our garage. We were the owners and operators of ‘K. & M. Electronics’ (Ken and Margie). My father repaired; radios, televisions, clocks and record players, HAM radios and transmitters, teletype machines and pretty much everything if he could get the schematics.” This is the beginning of my story. The formative years of my life, and how my father’s work and profession had a lasting impact on my life and career choices. I have included this part of the story… for one reason. I wanted people to know, to understand, that I was/am a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout. That lots of people have trusted me all my life, and that they too could trust me. Turst! I was trying to instill trust for me in my readers. Trust that if they donated money. That I would USE that money as I explained and as it was intended!
- PRE-CHEMO Appointment, DONE! : “My Dear Readers I have just spent two hours in ‘Orientation’ for Chemotherapy. Unfortunately, due to my lack of financial means, I will be poorly prepared for… and After treatment.” Here, I am trying to relay the events of my life. To tell a tale and to explain the source of my needs and their urgency. To be truthful, and trustworthy.
- The Story of Daniel – Part Two – REDUX! : “The holidays, for the Hanning family, were an enjoyable and busy time. Starting in October, when the air became crisp and temperatures dropped, my father added a new duty to his agenda. He took on the creation and display of festive and seasonal decorations. Though my father never talked of it openly, he loved the holiday season. Oh, not shopping and not the cooking (that was Mother’s job), he just loved decorating the house for the neighbors. It almost seemed as though he regarded it as some ‘social responsibility’ to provide eye candy for the community and neighbors. I never sensed he thought of it as; an obligation or competition it was his way of expressing himself. My father didn’t sing or dance or anything of that nature. Yes, he sang hymns at South Park Baptist Church but you would never see him bursting into song around the house of neighborhood.” My father could have spent his free time, around the holidays, relaxing and enjoying time spent with family. Not my father, he spent is free time setting about wonderful and entertaining decorations and automated displays. He really sought to bring joy and happiness to his friends and neighbors. I have a great deal of respect for him, in that regard. My father was a man of the community and he sought always to give back to those around him. A habit I picked up, and used my singing and acting abilities to follow in his footsteps.
- The Story of Daniel – Part Three – REDUX! : “As I have told you, much of elementary school at Pearland is just gone, “dust in the wind”. For what ever reason, though, my memories of the time that I spent in the (then) new ‘Middle School’ are pretty clear and there a good many of them, too. Now, I really do wish that my parents had purchased those ‘Year Books’. I was never really big on buying them, as a boy. Now that may have been merely because my mother and father both never really showed any interest in buying them, and I was just following their lead or it could be because our family just budgeted out money so frugally that it seemed a frivolous expenditure. What ever the reason, I am working without a net here, so IF I get some dates wrong, or places please be kind.” This is the third part of ‘The Story of Daniel’. I explain my time coming to Pearland, starting at the Elementary school and then on to Pearland Middle School. The best I can figure the Hannings arrived in Pearland in, like, 1965 or 1966. We lived on Francis street, there in Pearland, until my mother passed away in 1987. Twenty-plus years in Pearland… and not the “couple of years” some would have me believe.
- Radioactive Dan! : “Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. My apologies for my absence, these past two days, as I have been involved in the ‘Staging’ process with my cancer. Yesterday, the topic of this article, was full of fun and excitement with a P.E.T. (Positron Emission Tomography – Computed Tomography) scan. I know how could something like that be… entertaining? Well, I will tell you just how and give you; videos from the day, images from the day, and images of/about P.E.T. scans and the process. At the end of this article, I will share some of the actual images from my scan! Tell me that is not exciting!” This was my very FIRST P.E.T. scan. I had never been directly injected with a radioactive sugar compound, before. Looking back, I just wish I had the… resources to eat the correct foods prior to the scan. I was unable to eat a “high Protein, Low Carbohydrate” diet the way they had instructed.
- The Hardest Decision of My Life : “With less than three weeks left, to the campaign, I have made a difficult and hard decision. I will no longer write articles about; my cancer, my adventure with cancer, my visits to doctors, my chemotherapy, or anything to do with my treatment or condition. I have seen my traffic decline, and with more than 210 ‘Shares’ on Facebook I have garnered only the support of two people. I fear that I risk loosing more of you, My Dear Readers, if I continue to write about my disease and my battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.” IF I could find a hole big enough, I would crawl into it and just disappear. That is how I felt, when I wrote this article, it is how I feel as I write this review. I have, obviously, offended… upset… ‘puched away’ people by just talking about my disease and asking for assistance. Who would’ve thunk it? Facts are facts, traffic was in a downward spiral (again, that could have been because of the of new material and/or the regular article series), I will never know. I am just stopping writing about my battle with cancer. I will write, when I am able, the regular articles everyone enjoys. Maybe… somehow, someway, I will be able to afford to eat properly… and get to and from treatments and pay my rent. However, as I have stated… if the costs of treatment and everything… take out of rent.. I WILL STOP treatments to pay my rent. Roof comes first!
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Well, My Dear Readers, that brings us to the end of this week’s ‘A Week in Review’! As well, it brings to a close a very; tiring, trying and painful seven days. Next week, it will be just the regular articles. I do not believe I will continue the re-publication of ‘The Story of Daniel’. I know that nobody wants to hear about my battle with cancer. However, I will continue to make videos… and keep a journal of my journey… because that is what writers do!
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Thank you for dropping by, and thank you for your kindness and support. I look forward to writing and publishing as my health and time allows. I do hope to have more of ‘The Horror in Smithville’ ready for next Friday. I look forward to seeing you, My Dear Readers, right here.
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Adieu!
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Thank YOU!
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Danny's Cancer Treatment Fund @ Indiegogo
[caption id="attachment_3338" align="aligncenter" width="225"]
Danny in Rolling Hills Estates August 12, 2014[/caption]PLEASE GIVE!?!
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