Changing Normal by Marilu Henner & Michael Brown

Author:Marilu Henner & Michael Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books

May 24–31, 2003

Marilu

While we waited to get back the lab results of the cystoscopy, I became obsessed with learning everything I could about bladder cancer. I knew I would be going with Michael to his follow-up appointment on May 29, and I wanted to be ready with questions. After learning that there are two types of bladder cancer, I wasn’t going to let Michael take any chances. Eighty percent of the time bladder cancer presents as the papillary type that grows up like a small stalk and can be lopped off like a skin cancer tag. And the other 20 percent it presents as a CIS (carcinoma in situ), which is red, flat, and velvety, and lives on the surface, which can grow down and metastasize into other organs. As Michael’s Doctor Concierge, there was no way I wasn’t going to do my homework and find the best team possible. I was not going to let him down.

In addition to the follow-up appointment, the week was action-packed with getting ready for BookExpo America, the annual trade show for the publishing industry. I had attended several expos with my various books, and Michael had presented at BookExpo with a BrownTrout booth ever since 1989, but strangely enough, we had never run into each other over the years. (Once again it was obvious we were meant to reconnect exactly when we did.) This year I was doing a signing for my book Healthy Holidays, and Michael had his entire team in Los Angeles to man the enormous BrownTrout booth and meet with prospective customers. BookExpo runs Thursday through Sunday, so weeks before we knew about Michael’s diagnosis, we’d begun planning to throw a company party for forty people at my house that Thursday night. Michael had asked that we serve Mexican food, which I always love to serve because when you do it with brown rice and beans and guacamole and salsa, it’s really healthy. But Michael had asked that, in addition to the vegan options and the fish and chicken I don’t mind serving at the house, we also serve carnitas for his gang.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that in all the years I’ve lived in my house, I have never served beef, pork, or veal. Never. Long before the World Health Organization announced the link between red meat and cancer, declaring it carcinogenic, especially when cooked at high temperatures, I had been warning people not to eat red meat, and to absolutely avoid feeding it to their children. My boys have never eaten red meat or had a cheeseburger or a beef or pork hot dog (or had a glass of milk, for that matter), and they are healthy, strong, and tall. When friends heard that I was willing to serve barbecued meat for Michael’s party, they all said, “It must really be love for you to honor his request.” And all I could think of after his diagnosis was, Enjoy your last carnitas, Mister. No more meat or

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