Photo: Newsday
Since Jeter had his ankle surgery on Saturday and CC is headed for a consult with the dreaded Dr. Andrews and Granderson is taking a trip to the opthamologist (maybe someone should send Cano to a sports shrink too), it seemed like a good time to talk about my new book a bit.
As many of you know, my husband Michael has Crohn’s, a chronic, autoimmune disease that affects the GI tract. He’s a trooper, despite having been hospitalized nearly 100 times since he was diagnosed at age 11, but caring for a family member with an illness or disability is a challenge. In addition, my mom, the original She-Fan, is 95 and experiencing memory impairment. What I’ve done in YOU’D BETTER NOT DIE is to share my personal essays about various aspects of caregiving – from baking a chocolate cake for a grumpy nurse to finding out why men should never go to the ER without a woman along (sorry, guys, but it’s true; you don’t like asking for directions and you don’t like giving a complete medical history). I’ve also interviewed other caregivers (some caring for a spouse or child, others caring for an elderly relative), along with experts in everything from fitness to meditation.
What you don’t know is that one of the caregivers I interviewed is a charter member of this blog: Harold, the father of our wonderful Barbara. Harold not only knows his Yankees baseball, but he’s an extremely kind and generous man who shared his caregiving stories about his son, who had ALS, and his wife, who had Parkinson’s. I thank him for his participation.
Another caregiver I interviewed from the Yankees family: Suzanne Preisler, the wife of Jerome Preisler, a prolific author who also writes for YES.com. Suzanne took care of both her sister (ovarian cancer) and her mother (pancreatic cancer), and one of the ways she got through it all was by watching Yankees games.
There’s much more about the book on my web site, but I wanted to alert everybody to it since it’s coming out in a couple of weeks and there will be coverage of it in the media, as well as the launch of my video book trailer. And I encourage anyone who has a family member with an illness or knows someone who does or even works with caregivers to spread the word. My goal with the book was to offer a cheerful, even entertaining companion (this is not a depressing book – really!). With more and more of us having to deal with aging parents and grandparents, I hope it can be helpful.
As for the Yankees, they’ll be fine. I agree with those who’ve said Swisher is unlikely to be back. Soriano too. I was disappointed to read that Pineda won’t be ready to pitch until mid-season, but another year of Kuroda, CC, Pettitte and Hughes would work, plus some pitcher yet to be acquired. (I don’t see Phelps moving into the regular rotation.)
For me, the biggest issue isn’t A-Rod. It’s Cano. He’s always been streaky, but he had everybody mystified by his fade. He needs to find a way to be more consistent if he wants the big paycheck once he’s a free agent.
Anybody watching the other games? Are they good?
