It is Over!

It is Over!

Original Post - Saturday, January 19, 2008

(re-ordered for chronological logic)

It is Over!

AMP had her 4th and final chemo treatment last Thursday!!! We opened up the Champagne, unplugged the M/M and have been partying. We are dismantling the cross of treatment and trying to imagine what it will be like to move forwards.

For the scrabble lovers, you will be pleased to know that those who suffer sometimes are rewarded. AMP decisively beat me in the 4th, but not final game. (I want a rematch.) She was dominant and shrewd. Without a scrabble dictionary to refer to, we had to trust each other and accept not only some questionable words, but also questionable explainations. For example, the turning point in our match occurred when she made the 70 point word benchers. She said a bencher is somebody at an elementary school who benches a kid. And when there is more than one bencher then there are benchers. I didn't feel comfortable challenging her, giving the circumstances. When I was able to consult a dictionary I discovered the following: the word bencher exists, but the definition is a) senior member of an Inn of Court or b)a member of the House of Commons. What should I do? Is this fair? Larry

There were 2 comments to the original post:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

dear Amp -CONGRATULATIONS.! we are so glad that you are past this procedure. You and Larry been great in sharing and humanizing your experiences. So now its really a Happy New Year! cheers, val and tim

January 20, 2008 11:19 AM

Jamie said...

Okay, if the word benchers is what pulled AMP ahead and clenched her win, I might argue the point. BUT if she was already kicking your butt and benchers was just another in her repertoire... well, then you're out of luck! Congrats on making it through your last chempo session AMP! You're a winner all the way around!
much love ♥ jamie

January 20, 2008 5:22 PM

Benched!

Note: evidence of "medically-imposed" scrabble handicap - an icy eye-covering purported to minimize irritating ocular side effects of chemotherapy drug and cheating.



First of all - in no way did I suggest that a bencher is somebody at an elementary school who benches a kid. Unless the kid is on a sports team.I was referring to a sports term, a verb:
to remove from a game or keep from participating in a game: to be benched because of poor hitting.

I quite logically assumed that one who was removed from a game would be a benchee and one who performed the removal would be a bencher - therefore, if there were a number of people performing this function, such as rabid neighborhood soccer-basketball-baseball-you-name-it parent/coaches, they would be referred to as "benchers."

I do, however, admit to a minor error since I later found (as my husband would have, had he bothered to scroll further down in dictionary.com) - that a bencher is actually the person who sits on the bench - ergo, multiple people (kids, athletes, heck - anyone!) sitting on a bench would be a group of "benchers." An error in definition, but a WORD none-the-less: a word, a noun, a plural.

1. One that sits on a bench.
2. Chiefly British A member of the inner or higher bar who acts as a governor of one of the Inns of Court.
3. One, such as a magistrate, who occupies a bench.

In any case, it should be obvious that "benchers" alone could hardly put me in the outstanding lead I maintained throughout this final session. I won fair and square, the eyes seem to be holding up well and as far as cheating - where there's a will, there's a way:


Hopefully, I am now officially "benched"
from chemotherapy!!

xox
amp