El Zorro Remembered

James Robert Laidlaw, 66, died on April 18, 2012, with family by his side in Somerville, NJ, at Somerset Medical Center.

He was born on August 21, 1945, in San Antonio, TX, to J. Robert and Ofelia Onderdonk Laidlaw. A graduate of The Wardlaw School (‘63), Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Maine, Orono, in 1973. He met and married his wife, Judy, during his time in Maine. He moved his family to the Gulf Coast in Florida shortly after, but Somerset County, NJ, has been his home for the past two decades. Jim worked at the Barnes & Noble in Bridgewater for more than ten years.

He was an active member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Bridgewater. He served on the vestry and as a Eucharistic Minister. A former member of the Log Cabin Gun Club, Warren, NJ, Jim was an exceptional marksman, who enjoyed skeet shooting. He was a card shark par excellence and an avid reader, with science fiction being a particular passion. Music of all genres narrated every aspect of his life. He also loved the outdoors and spent much time with his family at their cabin in the Adirondacks. Lastly, no one will ever be able to match his cheeseburgers on the grill.

Jim, or “Jan,” as only his granddaughter, called him, is also survived by his wife, his mother, and his children. He is also loved and remembered by his sister and his brothers.

The family requests that donations be made to MGH Bladder Cancer Research Fund, Massachusetts General Hospital Development Office, 165 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114, in memory of James R. Laidlaw, in lieu of flowers.

Driving to Boston

I had to drive up to Boston this week. It was an exercise in futility at least as far as the reason for the trip. The trip itself, though, was somewhat interesting. It was interesting for a number of reasons. First, there were a huge number of semi's our on the interstates of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. This bustling evidence of commerce in action leads me to give credence to President Obama's assertion that the economy is, in fact, getting better. Another indication of a better economy was the number of cars on the roads. Even with gasoline edging over $4.00/gallon in many places. The roads on Wednesday and Thursday were being heavily used. Connecticut has started the summer ritual of road repair already (one of the benefits of a warm winter??) so I ran into a number (3 or 4) delays as traffic inched through the work areas. However, even this is evidence of returning economic health.

motherf#&$er

It wasn't enough that the bladder cancer was the worst type known to medical science. No. Now they have found cancer on the prostate. Now, the nice doctor at Mass General says that it is non-invasive and that all *hah* they have to do is "scrape" it off and I'll be good to go for the radiation and chemo treatment for the bladder cancer.

OK, my bad. It has been about a month since I wrote the above paragraph, and things have progressed. They did, in fact, have me in for another bout with the trans-urethral operating apparatus, and they did, in fact, scrap off more nasty little malignant cells. My urologist in Boston assures me that he is 99% certain that he got everything and that I should be good to go for the "treatment" except...

Way back in October, when I had my fist CT scan, they noticed something in my lungs. These were very small somethings, but I was told to have them looked at after the bladder cancer was dealt with. Well, after my two operations here in New Jersey, my doctor decided that I should have a PET CT scan of the chest just to see what was there. Well, long and short of it was that the little nodes did not light up, and the radiologist who examined the scan stated in his report that the nodes in my lungs did not react like cancer and were, therefore, not malignant and need only be watched over time. However, since the good people in Boston had not actually done the scan or been first to interpret them, they have decided that those scans were "inconclusive". So, then had me do another chest CT scan at Mass General which they also deemed "inconclusive." Now they have me scheduled for another PET CT scan the 1st of March. Hopefully, the results will be the same as they were here in New Jersey and that will be "conclusive" enough to get me going on the radiation/chemo program.

As it is explained to me, if the spots in my lungs should prove to be cancer, my treatment changes radically. The problem is that, right now, all the little bumps in my lungs are too small even to biopsy. That's why they put me on hold for a month. They want to see if anything grows large enough to do a biopsy on it. Of course, if anything does grow, that means the chances of it being cancer increase by a couple factors of 10.

So, I wait for March 1st to roll around and I try not to let it eat away at me. God, I do want this episode in my life to be over and for me to get on with things. I am so tired of waiting...