Rocco Versaci's Blog, page 5
October 26, 2013
Please Lie Still While I Crush Your Balls
When most people hear the word “sonogram,” they probably conjure up pleasing images of a young man and woman holding hands and expectantly watching a screen while a nurse gently slides the wand-like apparatus over a smooth round belly.
Sadly, this isn’t exactly what happens in a testicular ultrasound.
I’d been dreading this test from the moment my doctor said I needed one to find out if this was in fact a recurrence or something new. I had one ten years ago, and even though it came out negative...
Sadly, this isn’t exactly what happens in a testicular ultrasound.
I’d been dreading this test from the moment my doctor said I needed one to find out if this was in fact a recurrence or something new. I had one ten years ago, and even though it came out negative...
The News
So, the tests.
My doctor sent me for another blood test that day, on October 11th. Just to confirm the first results. Of course, they did.
Then a CT scan on the 17th. Chest, abdomen, pelvis. I hadn’t had one in a while, but it’s amazing how fresh the details stay. Choking down almost a full liter of barium in the hour before the scan. I did have my choice of flavors—mint, bubblegum, or orange—but there’s no hiding the chalky texture. For the record, I picked orange, but it really should have be...
My doctor sent me for another blood test that day, on October 11th. Just to confirm the first results. Of course, they did.
Then a CT scan on the 17th. Chest, abdomen, pelvis. I hadn’t had one in a while, but it’s amazing how fresh the details stay. Choking down almost a full liter of barium in the hour before the scan. I did have my choice of flavors—mint, bubblegum, or orange—but there’s no hiding the chalky texture. For the record, I picked orange, but it really should have be...
Guy Walks into a Doctor's Office...
…and gets told that he has cancer again after ten years.
Sorry, pretty shitty punchline. But it’s the one that I’ve been dealing with since Friday, October 11.
When I finished my chemotherapy for germ cell cancer back in September of 2003, I’ve been going back for regular tests make sure I was still cancer-free. For the first year or two, these tests were intense—blood tests and chest, abdominal, and pelvic CT scans every three months. For a year after that, they dropped to every six months, a...
Sorry, pretty shitty punchline. But it’s the one that I’ve been dealing with since Friday, October 11.
When I finished my chemotherapy for germ cell cancer back in September of 2003, I’ve been going back for regular tests make sure I was still cancer-free. For the first year or two, these tests were intense—blood tests and chest, abdominal, and pelvic CT scans every three months. For a year after that, they dropped to every six months, a...
September 1, 2013
The Evolution of a Page
Time has really gotten away from me. I can’t believe that my last entry was way back in June. Between now and then I’ve been to Chicago twice, taken a trip up the California coast to look at colleges with my high school senior son, and waded through armies of costumed fans at Comic-Con.
Oh, and I finished my book.
To recap, the book is called That Hidden Road, and it’s about my solo cross-country bicycle ride, which I made in the summer of 2010. It’s also about those parts of my life that made...
Oh, and I finished my book.
To recap, the book is called That Hidden Road, and it’s about my solo cross-country bicycle ride, which I made in the summer of 2010. It’s also about those parts of my life that made...
June 8, 2013
"Man of Steel"? I'll Take "Hulk Smash!"
In a week’s time, another comic-book-turned-movie will hit screens and create a storm of midnight showings, long lines, and box office tallies that—whether they come in above or below expectations—will still drop faster than a speeding bullet over the ensuing weekends.
I’m talking, of course, about Man of Steel, the latest reboot of the quintessential comic book character and the one that most people see as the face of the entire medium.
I have to admit that I was never much of a Superman fan....
April 13, 2013
Beaver Bites Man, or, An Eel in the Butt Is Worth Two in the...
Like a lot of people, most of my exposure to news today comes from social media. Someone will tweet a headline or post a video on Facebook, and then I can kiss the next fifteen to sixty (or more) minutes goodbye as I delve into not just the original link but any and all things even slightly related to that topic.This week, there were two stories that cost me productive morning hours. The first was a story about a Chinese man whose, ahem, “offbeat pred...
Beaver Bites Man, or, An Eel in the Butt Is Worth Two in the...oh, Never Mind
Like a lot of people, most of my exposure to news today comes from social media. Someone will tweet a headline or post a video on Facebook, and then I can kiss the next fifteen to sixty (or more) minutes goodbye as I delve into not just the original link but any and all things even slightly related to that topic.This week, there were two stories that cost me productive morning hours. The first was a story about a Chinese man whose, ahem, “offbeat pred...
March 2, 2013
Books and Junk
In southeastern Arizona there’s a little town called Quartzsite. It wasn’t much more than a blip on my map, but it looked like the only spot of civilization for miles around. Pedaling onto the main drag, I saw a big banner that proclaimed, “Home of the WORLD FAMOUS MAIN EVENT,” and that’s it. I assumed that the seemingly endless rows of stands selling a colorful assortment of crap—signs, rocks, pottery, t-shirts—were said main event. I appreciated how obvious it all was. It was only my fifth...
February 2, 2013
Why Bike?
“It’d be a lot faster by car.”
I was eating a stack of pancakes at the Coyote Flats Café, a little place that—together with the gas station a quarter of mile down Highway 60—was the only sign of civilization I’d seen in this desert for the last few hours. The pancakes were perfect. All spongy in the middle and crisp on the edges. They were so good that I didn’t even mind the imitation s...
January 4, 2013
Yet Another FAQ (Plus a Few Words about Revision)
I tell my students that writing is all about revision. All writers’ drafts are crap at the outset, and it’s only through careful, astute revision that strong writing emerges. But what is revision? One thing it’s not is proofreading; correcting spelling and grammar mistakes, changing a word here and there, maybe adding a sentence are all final steps in the writing process, and jumping directly there from drafting is to leave out the part that invo...
