I once read, this would have been back in the mid-1950’s, an article titled.. The Ten Commandments of Sports.<\/p>\n
I tried to bring this article up on Google and failed miserably. Yes, there most certainly are many writings by this title, but I could not find the one I was looking for. One of its commandments was.. Thou Shalt Honor The Game. The philosophy behind this commandment was that participants must rise above the possible angst-of-a-moment during a game. Not to spoil or sully the game with ugly moments. Like THE Ten Commandments, few seem to live up to this one. There is a lot of poor sportsmanship visible in many games.<\/p>\n
To Honor The Game one has to Honor The Rules.<\/p>\n
One of the rules in baseball is this : The batter gets three (3) strikes.<\/p>\n
Like many rules, this is not as clear as it seems because of foul balls.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n When the batter has two (2) strikes, the batter can remain-alive-at-the-plate by ‘fouling off’<\/em><\/span> pitches.<\/p>\n THE GAME .. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL<\/p>\n No matter how I try to cut-the-cake..<\/p>\n Last November 25th, in the Dubai Airport, when I fell and broke-my-left-hip, flew to Mayo Clinic, had hip replacement surgery,\u00a0STRIKE ONE<\/em><\/span> was called on me. Pure and simple. No argument with the ‘Ref’ on the call.<\/p>\n This week, beginning on Monday, when I did not feel well, continuing into Tuesday when I made the decision to cancel my trip to visit Irkutsk in Russian Siberia, went to the medical clinic and hospital, saw a doctor, was examined hands-on and by ultrasound and CT Scan,\u00a0and yesterday Wednesday received news that I have possible kidney cancer, STRIKE TWO<\/em><\/span> was resoundingly called on me.<\/p>\n The first of the building blocks necessary for me to return to the United States and on to the Mayo Clinic Rochester Minnesota, has been set.<\/p>\n I have a paid-in-full ticket to fly from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to Hong Kong, on Thursday, the 24th of August.<\/p>\n It was the very earliest flight I could get on Mongolian Airlines. This is the end of the High Summer Visitor Season and airline seats are difficult to find.<\/p>\n This brings into sharp focus the fact that, in terms of International Travel, the further you get from having just one flight home (were I in Hong Kong I would have just one flight home) the more challenging it will be should you encounter a major crisis and need to and want to get home.<\/p>\n Think of being in Ulan-Ude or Irkutsk Russian Siberia. First getting back here to Mongolia. Then to Hong Kong. Then to the U.S. I had no indecision or reservations about cancelling my trip to Irkutsk (due to happen tomorrow) the 18th of August.<\/p>\n Today’s Rhetorical Question :<\/p>\n This is germane because, as recently as a few hours ago, I called Patti and told Patti that I was going to have a little chit-chat with my doctor about the fact that today, this morning, I am feeling just great, and was wondering IF all that had happened was I passed a kidney stone and if so, I was going to cancel my return flight.<\/p>\n Would the below series of events happen in the United States health care system?<\/p>\n I said to my doctor : “IF I had a kidney stone and it passed, would that show in new Ultrasound or CT Scan procedures?”<\/p>\n My unspoken agenda to my doctor was simple<\/span> : I am not ready.. I do NOT want.. to leave Mongolia. IF all there-was-to-this-drama was a kidney stone, let’s do some more investigating to see if the passage of a mere kidney stone was the issue, then I am staying.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n My doctor said : “The CT Scan showed NO KIDNEY STONES !!”<\/p>\n\n
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