Gramps

There's a song called 'Good Life' by New Republic. It's one of those catchy songs that you hear on the radio. When you hear it, you can't help but smile, turn up the volume, open the windows of your car and let the air blow through your hair. It's even on a commercial- although I can't remember for what product. Last summer, when we had sold our old house and moved into our new house, that song captured the time we were in. Jeff even joked that it was our theme song. We did have a good life. 

Then we smacked into 2012 and things changed. We said 'goodbye' to Brutus and Grandpa Kaiser said 'hello' to stage IV bladder cancer. Well, WE said 'hello' to bladder cancer as Gramps isn't alone. 

I know I alluded to Grandpa being in the hospital in my last post. He was actually there for 11 days-- 4 of them in ICU after having his bladder removed. We knew that the cancer was aggressive (as he previously had several bladder resections) but we hadn't realized it's aggressiveness until the final pathology had returned. It had gone from what we had thought was a Stage I to a cancer that had a positive lymph node. 

But, if there is a silver lining, the surgery may have been a cure... and only 1 out of 14 nodes was positive. However, because we can't be sure that Grandpa is 100% cancer-free, he will undergo four months of chemotherapy... a rough road but one that he (and we) feels is worth traveling. So, we batten down the hatches and forge on.

Grandpa is now home and out of the hospital. He's getting stronger everyday after his surgery and he's getting his energy back. He's a strong and tough man-- those crazy Kaisers! And he's not alone, he has his family and friends alongside him. 

It's been tough to talk to Elise about all of this. She's a smart girl and asks a lot of questions. One day while visiting Grandpa in the hospital, she asked him 'Do you have cancer?'. Wow. How did she even know that word? I wished she didn't know that word. We had never talked to her about that. To this day, I'm not sure if she overheard a conversation or possibly was thinking of Brutus (when again she must have overheard the 'C' word). Up until then, we just told her Grandpa was sick with a tummy ache and his doctor had fixed him-- but he would have to stay in the hospital until he felt better. When she asked that question, the room got quiet. I quickly tried to think of an answer but Grandpa just said 'Yes'. 

Elise doesn't ask that question now. Elise just asks Grandpa if he's feeling better. 'You feelin' better Gramps?' is usually what she asks. Grandpa always answers 'Yes'. 

So, that song 'Good Life' isn't our song anymore... well, at least for a bit. However, I'm optimist and positive that we'll be singing it again down the road. Maybe Elise will make us dance to it at her next birthday and we'll once again be singing along.  Love you Gramps!