My brother Charlie lives in Texas.  Before that, he and his family lived in DesMoines, which was a lot easier to visit since its only about a 5 1/.2 hour drive from Chicago.   I’ve actually not lived with him for 28 years.

He hadn’t been feeling well so he went to the doctor a few weeks ago.  The doctor asked him if he any stress in his life, and well, yes he does.  He works 80-90 hours a week for a Japanese gaming company.  It’s lucky if he even takes one day off a week.  He had a cough.  The doctor gave him a Z-Pak and sent him home.

Only things didn’t get any better.  Dry cough, low grade fever, no appetite.  They finally went to the hospital last week.  They run a bunch of tests.  Elevated liver enzymes, enlarged lymph nodes, high white blood cell count, low platelet count.

My brother has non-hodgkins lymphoma.  While this is a treatable cancer, it is aggressive.  The doctors think he’s only had it for 2-3 months.  Today he has a bone marrow biopsy to see what type of lymphoma it is, and will start chemo as early as tomorrow.

So this Easter, I enjoyed the time with my family.  Yes, I was Bizzy in my Kitchen, but my focus was more on the family than it was the food.

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Check out my brother’s post about his oldest daughter going to college – its hands down my favorite post of his.

Just want you to send good thoughts his way – he’s going to have a bumpy ride these next couple months. 

That’s Charlie, circa 1976 playing the guitar at a concert the neighborhood kids put together.

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Then we all growed up!  But I’ll still remember him just like this – with my sister and I peppering him with kisses.

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I love you Charlie!