In late October 2022 something just wasn't right. I had unusual issues occurring in my lower abdomen that just weren't normal, so I went to my primary doctor, Dr. Wagstaff, who set me up for a cat scan. After reviewing this he sent me to a specialist, Dr. Flanigan, who determined that I had cancer of the liver, as well as the colon. Additionally, it was stage 4 cancer. When this was revealed, Danielle made a point of telling me there and then "I'm going to see you through this" And she told me that many times since! At this point it was just a couple of days before Thanksgiving and Dr. Flanigan thought I might as well enjoy Thanksgiving at home and the following Monday he'd operate.
I guess cancer can be like having a baby in certain respects and like a baby when it's ready to be born, it's born. In my case, it was the Saturday after Thanksgiving I found myself on my knees on the floor in the bedroom in severe pain. Off to the hospital I went.
Dr. Flanigan did the surgery on my colon and said he got it all. In doing so they had to open up my stomach in order to get to my colon. Additionally, as the prep I would have done, had things gone to plan on Monday, did not happen, I had to be set up with an ostomy. Dr. Flanigan was very sorry about this. His intensions were very good, with having me celebrate Thanksgiving at home, but nature took it's course earlier than any of us expected. So, as it stood, those were the cards we were all dealt and had to deal with.
My attitude was "Okay, this is our situation. Nothing is going to change, so lets deal with it". There was no point in wallowing in misery. That's just a waste of time and only makes things worse. Attitude is everything.
Obviously, one doesn't have major surgery, hop out of bed, skip down the isles of the hospital and go home. Having my abdomen opened up, some dicing inside, and stapled back together again, with something like 20 staples, or so, is quite an ordeal. The idea of simply getting out of bed seemed impossible. Pain? It was off the charts. However, I didn't want to become reliant on pain meds. I've seen what they did to others I knew. At this point any kind of movement wasn't a consideration. The entire staff at Lower Keys Medical center was fabulous, I must add! They made it a lot easier.
Gradually, I was able to sit up. After a couple of days I was able to get out of bed and baby step around the room.
Danielle always said from the beginning "We're in this together". She also brought me one of my guitars from home. .
The nurses showed me how to use the ostomy. What a joy! 😆
Being in such major pain and having to deal with this was adding serious insult to injury, so to speak. However, the nurses were nothing less than fabulous. Additionally, I refused to let the situation get the better of me.I maintained a good attitude and cracked jokes lightheartedly with the medical staff. It really hurt to laugh, however. However, I was convinced that the attitude of the laugh outweighed the pain that went with it, so laugh I did!
It helped too! I was able to walk the floor of the hospital. A little on day three and more on day four.
The staff seemed very impressed on my progress and on day five I was released from the hospital. Danielle picked me up and we went home.
More challenges at home. The first being the stairs. I think it took 7 minutes to get from bottom to top. It normally took about 4 seconds. However, being out of the hospital, put my ultimate goal in a more focused sight, albeit it was the light at the end of the tunnel, playing gigs again. I was now in sight of my goal! As my dear friend Kerry "Gonzo" Dwyer pointed out "... You had some really intense stuff, but sounds like you experienced it with a glass half full perspective". I had to agree with him. From my perspective, that was the only way to deal with it.
It bothered me that Dani was doing all the gigs and lugging and setting up the equipment i could barely get out of bed. As always, she kept a positive attitude. "Oh I don't mind at all!".
I think it was another two weeks that I played my first gig at Two Friends Patio Restaurant, our home gig! It wasn't easy. However, I was determined to do it. I was restricted and doctor's orders stated I couldn't lift anything over 15 Lbs., so I wasn't much help in setting it up, or tearing down. This gave me first hand insight into the meaning of the description of the word "Cad". However, Dani was nothing short of fabulous and insisted on making sure she carried all of the weighty equipment. On another note, candidly, I wasn't all that happy with my playing that day, but I was playing and that made me thrilled!! Without question, the next gig would be better!
Then, in late January 2023, I was signed as a songwriter to Millennium Production Music in London, England! I consider this an enormous honor! Here was the principal of the firm, a music professional, who's been in the business for thirty five years and is enormously successful, said to me as we signed the contract "Chris, you're a very prolific and very creative songwriter!". This meant so much to me. Very, very few of the songwriters you'll find in any music festival, or events are published.
(for those not in the music industry, publishers chose the songwriters, not the other way around. Additionally, they are in that small group in the top echelon of the music industry.)
I am now published with not one, but two publishers! Since 2000 I've been with McClure and Trowbridge Publishing Nashville and also now in Europe with Millennium Production Music.
I'm very fortunate!
I was put on chemo therapy, also in January. What I would do is go to the clinic on Monday, where the nurses would hook me up for about 2 or 3 hours. After that, they hooked me up with a chemo pump, about 50% larger than a cell phone, which I wore under my shirt. This enabeled me to function normally and return to regular life for two days until Wednesday and I'd go back and they'd take it off. I was then again, returned to normal life, this time without the chemo pu,p and I'd return 12 days later on Monday and the process would be repeated. This went on for 8 weeks. Then they'd take me off it for eight weeks, then and restart the procedure for another eight weeks.
I asked about alcohol consumption, being a beer drinker, and they said during the time I was getting chemo (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) alcohol was not permitted. On the twelve remaining days, I could have a beer a day.
For myself, I thought "Why even bother?". Reading in between the lines, the implication seemed to be that I was better off without it. So I just stopped 100%, be it a day on chemo, or a day off chemo.
The important thing for me wasI was playing gigs again and that's what mattered.
Some funny things about chemo is that some people get "Chemo Brain". With "Chemo Brain" you sometimes are not making sense as words can escape you when you talk. Or, you might forget what you're talking about in mid sentence. I had that.
The most difficult thing for me was holding a pick while playing. I couldn't do anything about it. I'd feel it start to slip and it would gradually start to slide away. I figured how to deal with it by being a touch cleaver. When it started to slip I would take my right hand (the hand I hold it with) and tap it back into place on my left upper chest. There was a semi-minor issue the first couple of times where I fell out of time, as at first it was awkward. However, that didn't last long. I remember there were times where it kept happening continuously. It was a pain in butt in those times, with it happening so often, but at least I could manage it to an acceptable degree, all things considered.
The other thing was, I couldn't write a song. Nothing would happen. The creativity gene I was blessed with was gone.
Understand, granted, I'm a decent guitar player, and I'm okay as a vocalist. However the main thing I do is write songs! That's #1 for me. I'm a published songwriter. I've got not one, but two publishers... I'd sit down with my guitar and there was .... nothing. nada, nichts, rien,
So, with that as a backdrop, imagine someone in my position and I am incapable of writing a song! For me that was a very serious concern. Indeed, very serious. First and foremost, I'm a songwriter.
Meanwhile, on the medical front, things were progressing as time went on, at least to the next stage any way. However, that is progress! While Dr. Flanigan did the colon part of the surgery, I would be scheduled for the liver surgery up in Miami sometime during the 2023 summer.
My attitude throughout was: Do everything the doctors tell me to do, right to the letter, no "If's" , "And's", or But's".
Danielle and I travelled up to Mount Sinai on Miami Beach. We'd already been up a couple of times for cat scans and interviews with the surgeon, Dr. Hochwald. Like Dr. Flanigan, Dr. Hochwald was top notch in his field. Into the O.R. I went.
While the operation went well, I was now looking at the same type of recovery as 7 months prior as they had to open up my torso again. When the time came to get out of bed a couple of days after the surgery, I really wanted no part of it.
On the flip side, in order to get out of the hospital, which at best was a few days away, I had to get out of bed and walk around the floor I was on. If I didn't, I wasn't going anywhere. I walked and Dani helped me! She had been staying on a sofa in my recovery room! On day five we drove 160 miles back home to Key West. We stopped at The Caribbean Club in Key Largo and met with our friend Key Largo Joe Gowran.It was good to see him ay one of my favorite bars in the world.
Recovery was the same as last time. After all, they had to open up my torso to gain access to, this time my liver. Dani played for two weeks solo while I convalesced at home. It was like deja vu, as it was happening all over again. Getting out of bed, getting up and down the stairs took forever again nonetheless, I was itching to play a gig, but Dani insisted I had to stay home and recover. After a week I said "I'm ready!". Dani replied "No you're not! You need at least another two weeks of rest!". A week later I was back at Two Friends Patio Restaurant playing, but again, not lifting anything over 15Lbs. for six weeks. She never complained once. She's just say "You can take the mic stands and the chairs. Just not at the same time!"
Here I felt like a cad again! My girlfriend is carrying the P.A. my gig bag and I'm doing the lite stuff.
Damn.
However, I was playing and before I knew it, carrying the heavier stuff!
On September 2nd 2023, on a Saturday, I woke up and made some coffee. Armed with a cup of Jo at 8:00 o'clock, I sat down at my computer and as soon as it opened, my jaw hit the floor. Jimmy Buffett had died only several hours prior. This was a shock, to say the least. We, like the rest of the world, didn't know he was this sick. Plus, he played Key West back in March. Then, while he was here he also added shows at The Key West Theater, designed to cater to the locals, as the prices at the Amphitheater were insane. God rest his soul.
After the initial shock settled a bit, the very first thing I did was grab my guitar and in about fifteen minutes I wrote a tribute song for Jimmy that I titled "Sail Him Home". After all, Jimmy was a sailor! The song touched on other things as well in his life such as flying planes and writing books, as well as his adventures, such as being shot at in Jamaica in his plane. I played it on Facebook Live shortly after I finished it. Within 48 hours it had 10,000 views. 😊
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56Jp8g6tLtk
Thanks to the 10,000+ who watched it on Facebook Live.
I thought for a second. Then it dawned on me "Hey! I wrote a song!"
Apparently, this one was a gift?
I've had a few songs that were gifts. You don't know where they come from. Back in 1996 I wrote a song, "Sarah". Sarah was one of the longest songs I've written. It's about two brothers in the Civil War, one joined the Union army, the other joined the Confederate army. Their forces meet in Virginia and a battle ensues where they end up killing each other. It's a song that focuses on the idiocy and tragedies of war.
When I wrote the song, I had no plans on writing a song, much less, one about the Civil War. However, all of the sudden it was there and needed to be written. I knew the entity who needed it written could only stay for a very short period of time. I had the music written quickly. There was no choice, it had to be. Then the lyrics came so fast I could barely keep keep up with them. I was writing faster than I ever had, but I got in time. When the song was done, I felt a sense of gratitude and the spirit left.
It was quite the same with "Sail Him Home". The song was written quite quickly. The music was there and like "Sarah", the lyrics just came out of nowhere.
After this I was back to being chemo brain non-creative.
Make of that what you will.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56Jp8g6tLtk
Interestingly enough, less than a week later I was declared "Cancer Free"!!!
Hummmmm.....
I was now off chemo, however, it stays with you for two to three months. At least in my case that's how long it did. After a couple of weeks the pick holding issue was over and done with. YAY! Chemo Brain stayed with me for several months. I still get relapses now and then, particularly on stage.
A very, very, very important part of this recovery is credited and due to the generosity of friends!
Dani had suggested setting up a "Go Fund Me" account. Under the circumstances, it was a good option. Financially things were going to get tough, so we set it up. The outpouring was nothing short of amazing! I can't begin to thank all of you!
Thank you!!! Thank you!!!!! Thank you!!!!!
At the end of February it was time to take care of the osty, once and for all. I was back with Dr. Flanigan here in Key West for this. Apparently, I also had developed a hernia. Dr. Flanigan told me numerous times that this was a major surgery both before and after it took place.
It was a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, the osty really had to go. I paid my penance and served my time with all that went with it. A year and four months.
On the other hand, I'd be facing another major abdominal surgical intrusion again, along with all that went with the recovery. Getting back to normal was essential however, regardless of the pain involved and the same recovery of barely being able to get out of bed, walking the floor, not being able to play gigs for weeks, not being able to lift equipment and relying on Dani to do it when I was back playing.
Dr. Flanigan told me at least five times "You went through a very, very, very, serious operation
Nonetheless, we did it. Dr. Flanigan got the plumbing back in order and fixed the hernia as well. For a third time I went through a major surgery and all that went with it. I again was determined to get back to playing and with the help of family, friends, an amazing medical team, and especially Danielle, collectively, we beat cancer. Thank you for everything and as of May 1st our yearly schedule was set at 416 gigs.
We beat cancer! Thank you to all who helped, be it prayers, donations, healthcare professionals, and anything else that I'm forgetting! However, there are go guarantees in life, so I will have bi-annual cat scans. The first one is in July.
The Shanty Hounds at Two Friends Patio Restaurant
Danielle Hoy and "Key West Chris" Rehm
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