Rick’s “Cancer Story” – Part 2: The chemo is wreaking havoc on me. Already I’m down from a very healthy 125 pounds to a borderline emaciated 105 pounds. Dr. Falk takes me off the protocol a couple weeks before surgery so I can gain a little strength back before what promises to be one hell of an operation. They wheel me into the O.R., weak, balding and a robust one hundred and ten pounds or so. I wake up in the stark white, ugly, UCLA Intensive Care Unit, cold to the bone. The anesthetic has not yet worn off and ...

Rick’s “Cancer Story” – Part 1: So I go from getting pounded on every day to winning most of my school yard fights; from being the shortest-kid-in-school pariah to making out with the hottest girl on campus in front of pretty much the whole student body.  I’m reeling still from my Mom’s sudden death, and nothing will ever change the fact that I’m the only Jew in a parochial Catholic school, but one day a welcome thought of relief comes…  “Hey, I think I’m getting popular.”  I’m still thinking that thought the next day, as I’m sitting in the Doctor’s ...