Speechless

I am still stunned, amazed, and eternally grateful for the shows of support for me. Thank you. And keep the cards, letters, emails, phone calls, posts and smoke signals coming.

I missed a couple days correspondence when I hit a bad patch yesterday. I don't know if it was related to the liver problems or some other new, fresh hell. Whatever happened and why, I believe it was triggered by going off-diet on Wednesday night. I had been out doing some light shopping and prescription filling when I decided to hit a drive-through on the way home. Round about 3am it hit back. I had a massive pain in the gut that felt like the worst case of indigestion and heartburn I'd ever had combined. Maybe times ten. In any event, it took me plumb out of living until about 8pm. I was trying to relieve pressure from intake valve to evacuation port and any location in-between. Kinda makes me nervous about what I eat. And when and where. I promise to stay the strait and narrow now, though.

Speaking of eating, hope to see ya at the Rompin' Stompin' Bar B Q this Saturday (as in tomorrow) at Sam's parking lot off By Pass 6 Earl Rudder Freeway. Rumor has it that Butch from Maaco has 80 briskets to cook. Food will be available by the plate, by the pound and by the brisket. If you want a whole brisket, better reserve today. Cause the pit gets fired up tonight. Call Butch at Maaco 823-3008.

Right now the worst of my problems are the sores in my mouth and tongue. When the tongue gets irritated it makes it painful to talk. When it hurts to talk, it makes it unlikely for me to try. That's the main reason I haven't been back on the air yet. Nurse Caitlin from Baylor gave me a litre jug of saltwater and baking soda to clean and rinse to mouthal area. And now Nurse Kathy from the Cancer hospital has recommended a cocktail of Benadryl and Mylanta as a more effective rinse. I'm gonna try today.

No one has asked,really, but I'd like explain a little bit about my ailments and why Baylor Med Center is treating me instead of one of our many fine local Medical Establishments. The main reason is that we don't transplant here in the neighborhood. At least not livers. That is what I was first seeking treatment for (the liver was going way before the cancer was found). When I got the cancer diagnosis it was while on one of my bi-annual check-ups in Dallas. In order to get a new liver, they would have to shrink the tumors. So, as long as I was already up there and had a tab open anyway, that's where I got my Chemo. Round One. By the way I begin Round Two (basically the same treatment as before) on Monday June 14th.

I have been enjoying listening the The Devon O'Neal Morning show featuring Roger Garrett and the Spirit of Roy Gene in my convalescence. I hope I can pass the screening when I want to make my come back. You know, sometimes returning from IR, you find someone else has replaced you.

I was listening to AM Talk Radio the other night when I heard a promo for my BBQ Benefit and was near flabbergasted to hear the Bryan Broadcasting Stations are involved as well- WTAW, KZNE, KNDE. Not that we don't have a lot of history. Ben Downs was one of my first GMs when I arrived in 1979. And I've known most of his staff and crew for many years now. Sometimes, even working at the same facilities. Did I mention Ben is the only person who ever fired me (twice) that I still talk to? Then yesterday I was informed that Aggie96 wanted to promote the event as well. I am truly honored and humbled by the outpouring. I feel like I should be sicker than I am to deserve this response.

A couple closing notes: My son, Alex Munse, is working on another Benefit Show for next weekend at Revolutions Downtown. Give ya more details next time or you can contact him via his Facebook page. Individual cash donations can be made at The Bank and Trust.


Roy Gene

Surprise! It's Me, Again!

Didn't mean to leave ya dangling like that. The end of last week turned out a little rougher than expected. Everything was fine and dandy (relatively) until about Thursday afternoon. I started feeling a little nauseous and was losing my appetite (i.e., I had a rumbly in my tumbly that went all gibbity gibbity - Medical Terms). Up till that point I been eating 3 squares a day and cleaning the plates. And I, of course, asked for no chemical assistance for several reasons 1.) PRIDE, I didn't want to mess with my stoic and strong image so carefully cultivated 2.) CHEMICAL OVERLOAD, I didn't want to add another batch of drugs to my already drug-addled system. 3.) PRICE, for some reason I convinced myself it would actually make a dimes worth of difference to my Ultimate Bill if I refused certain medications.
By Friday morning it was bad enough that I begged for anything short of euthanasia to settle things down. I ended up getting three injections during the day, one that made me sleep(ier), two that were supposed to be drowse-free. It's tough to tell which,if any had any affect since I was pretty much groggy for the rest of my incarceration.
I was due to be cut loose on Friday, but they didn't get around to removing my direct-deposit catheter until about 4pm. After removal, they say they wanna keep ya an extra four hours to make sure everything went OK. It wasn't until 10pm that I was officially notified I could get up, move around the cabin, and go to the bathroom all by myself. So I stayed the night.

Side note: I learned much about Bedpan Etiquette while on the inside. The staff all realize how embarrassing and undignified the whole process is, but you only make it worse if you try to read a magazine while on the Mobil-Pot.

Saturday morning as I packed my belongs and prepared for the getaway, I was still feelin' illin', so I drank one of them Breakfast-In-A-Can thingies and promptly turned over my innards and puked through my mouth, my nose and every other facial orifice. I couldn't keep conscious for more than 15 minutes at a time on the way back to B/CS (thanks, Gail)and then plopped into my own Bed Sweet Bed and kept the snoozing marathon going until noon Sunday.

They told me the side effects from Direct Chemo would be less, so here's my personal final tally: nauseousness, diminished appetite, fatigue, drowsiness, mouth sores. Glad I didn't get the full strength.
I had been planning to return to the airwaves today (Monday) but yesterday evening I made a judgement call to wait till Tuesday , the 18th.

I gotta go back for Round Two of Chemo in about three weeks.

Thanks again for your emails, texts, postings, phone calls, thoughts and prayers.
Please forgive me if I don't respond immediately, I will try to acknowledge every one, and every one is important to me.

Roy

Long Distance Shout Outs

It's Thursday, and that means Shout Out Day! That's the time we set aside every week to acknowledge our listeners by name and mention special people and occasions. Usually, I have a hard time coming up with the unofficial minimum of two. Not that I don't run into R&R fans everywhere, just that I forget to write them down. If I do write them down, I forget where I put the paper. If I find the paper, I can't read my own handwriting or remember where I met those names. This week, I have the opposite problem: I have so many people to thank by name, rank and serial number, I couldn't possibly fit them into the allotted time and space.

Let me start with the staff of The Roberts Hospital at Baylor Medical Center. This bunch has gone way out of their way to make me as comfortable as possible. All shifts, all job-titles, all week. I don't believe I've run across a single surly soul and, on the contrary, have had a number of good conversations with staff about no med-related subjects.

Here on the home front, big props for Butch from Maaco - I don't know why they say he's had a bad heart. My son, Alex Gene (RG2), Ingrid "Zingy" Hightower, Gail Spears, David Decker, James Haislett, Chip Howard, Frankie (my Grandbaby Mama) Chris Kiske, and Ben D. Downs (the only guy who ever fired me - twice - that I'm still on speaking terms).

In addition,those I haven't seen or heard from in quite a while, including Tom Fussell, John T "Dirty" Duncan, Susie Haddox Campbell, Charle Haldeman, Corbin Maclaine, John Thompson, Nurse Susie Kiernan, Frank Devich, Tom Bonelli, Chuck Paulinski, Audrey Shika, and Wayne "Sam" Longeno (in his own, strange way).

My family has been great, too. Thanks, Ma, for not crying. Big Bro Ed, Li'l Bro Bob,Ex-wife Polly, stepdaughter Charly and all my Little Rascals, blood-related or not. My niece Erin, Special kudos for RG3, my grandson, who always gives me a dose of what I need every time I see him.

I'm not forgetting all my Media Friends in Print, Radio and TV. Nor do I ignore the cards, emails, Facebook postings, Comments, Texts, Twitters and old-fashioned telephone calls I've received from friends I've met in person and on the air. Thanks to every last one of you for thinking of me.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. America from border to border and coast to coast and all the ships at sea.

Finally Roger and Laurie Garrett who have been giving me an assist for a few years now. Special thanks to Roger, who has let me finish several sentences over the past couple weeks.

My apologies for any glaring omissions.

And now, Royce, who have YOU got to Shout Out?



Roy Gene