It is 10 days after I received word from Mark that he was diagnosed with cancer. He has been hoping and believing that his health insurance would send him to a hospital in Hawaii or the Philapines for evaluation and some treatment, but he finally came to believe that they were not going to send him as they believe he only had three months to live. But then again, shouldn't he be evaluated by specialists in the field of oncology, of which there are none on Saipan? He has given away all his belongings except for a camera, a computer, and just a few clothes. When I visited him this past fall, he had closets full of clothes and 15 or so plastic crates of belongings and clothes that the hospital had paid to ship to Saipan, a television, an answering machine I had sent and lots of household items he and i had bought and cupboards full of canned goods and housewares : virtually everything he had collected over the years. He gave it all away except for a camera, a computer, and about 5 pair of pants and 5 shirts and bought a ticket for Bangkok.
Mark sends me an e-mail:
Well, I made it here. It was a rough trip, my back hurt, and then my elbow and my ankles got very swollen.. I am headed to the hospital now, but it is a holiday here so I don't know how much I can get done. My friend, the Thai doctor in Saipan, wrote me a note and referral to an oncologist at Bumrungrad Hospital, but in the same note he said that in my case he wouldn't reccomend radiation or chemo, because I might not survive it, or it might make me sicker. He is reccomending traditional Thai medicine, and said his family would help me with it.
It seems every person that I have talked to also knows of some doctor or cure that worked on someone they know. People are almost offended if I don't show the proper awe and gratitude at their sugestions for my care.
Talk to you soon, Love Mark.