The local Greek fisherman who refuses to be named AKA the avaratar
By katerina
@thea09 (18305)
Greece
June 26, 2010 5:31pm CST
If you have your settings set properly for Greek lifestyle you should be seeing an avatar of a portly Greek fisherman, one of my good friends, and my Koubaros Nikos. He manages to be the life and soul of the fishing village, fancies himself as a ladies man which he was in his youth, and can be a dirty old man and a gentlemam. For no reason at all beyond care he has given me free lobsters for years and the pick of his garden. He has rather a fancy for my Greeks Mama. I care not a whit if people get the wrong idea as I sit holding his hand now in public. He's a wreck. Not a day has passed since I've known Nikos that he hasn't complained about something, his leg hurts or his arm, he displays some foul fishing wound and moans. Now there's nothing wrong with him except the lung cancer which may be curable but is scaring him to death. He's just had his second bout with chemo. Poor sod, he's now stuck with the likes of me coddling him in public.
This is just me venting because my friend has cancer and the cancer won't kill him, his fear of it will.
5 people like this
14 responses
@vandana7 (100254)
• India
27 Jun 10
Thea 
I drank my coffee in the morning but I still seem to be dreaming! 
Welcome back. :)
Sad about your friend though. Looks like all your friends, including me, are infected with fear. :)
But in case of this greek gentleman, he needs to learn to live may be.
Anyway, a recent study announces that mankind itself is about to vanish in less than a 100 years. And much before that we can expect wars for river bodies, and food. So may be it is better to die with invisible invaders than watching those knives pushed into us, dont you think?
I drank my coffee in the morning but I still seem to be dreaming!
Welcome back. :)
Sad about your friend though. Looks like all your friends, including me, are infected with fear. :)
But in case of this greek gentleman, he needs to learn to live may be.
Anyway, a recent study announces that mankind itself is about to vanish in less than a 100 years. And much before that we can expect wars for river bodies, and food. So may be it is better to die with invisible invaders than watching those knives pushed into us, dont you think? 1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160626)
• United States
27 Jun 10
Thea we are glad to see you. I think you are a compassionate friend for this person. Is he also the one with the oranges? Of course he is scared, but will not want to admit it. He needs a reason to hope and his "friends" the locals are not helping him much. Good luck with keeping his spirits up.
1 person likes this
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
27 Jun 10
Hello Gerty, you have a face, nice to see it at last. I have lots of friends with oranges actually. Everyone is trying to rally him but he doesn't make it easy and you know how men can be with each other. Anyway they discuss his treatment when he isn't there but the women are being more useful to him at the moment and at least we can put a bit of a smile on his face.
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
27 Jun 10
Welcome back to You,Thea..Long time no scribble! All I can say is,I Hope Your Fisherman Friend is one of those who respond well to Chemo and makes a full recovery...For someone who's been using his strength and skill working all his life against the Sea,having something in his body that's out of his physical control and has the potential to kill him is a very scary place to Be..Having the support of good Friends and Family is important to those in that position..I wish him a full recovery!
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
27 Jun 10
Hi there shepherdspy, I'm not really back I was just feeling maudling and wanted to vent. I'm sure he's got the strength to beat it but he's been so terrified that I really thought he was going to drop down with a heart attack. Still he's been very good and packed the smoking in immediately and sits there now with a glass of water. No wonder he's so miserable,. all his fun has been taken away.
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
28 Jun 10
Hi thea. Nice to see you here. I've read a few of your articles on helium and I thought you're already pretty set there, and would not to see you here again.
Anyway, sorry to hear about Nikos. Any form of cancer would be a challenge in itself. Add to it the fear of the unknown, and I wouldn't blame him if he gets crippled by it(fear). We can't all be there for him, but glad to know that you are. Please send him our warm thoughts!
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
25 Oct 10
Hi Bounce, better late than never I hope. thanks for thinking of the avatar - it seems strange seeing his pic up there as he looks nothing like it anymore, he's swelled up like a potato and lost his tash. He's finished with chemo now but they couldn't operate as he's too fat. He's in a better mood and plodding along more like his old self.
keep reading Helium, I get paid when people read me and very lucrative it is too.
@p1kef1sh (45681)
•
27 Jun 10
Someone once said that "all that we have to fear is fear itself". S/he was right. But I think that I might not be able to sit calmly by with that diagnosis either. Hope that he's able to get it in perspective and keep holding his hand. Adults are way to prudish about such things. Friends can hug, cuddle, hold hands, kiss and generally care for one another without it necessarily leading to anything more intimate. Unfortunately they can't cleanse prurient minds. But frankly my dear... who gives a wotsit?
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
27 Jun 10
Good morning Niece, how nice it is to see u on here, has been awhile. I'm sorry to hear about your friend & so glad u are giving him your support. He needs all he can get. Cancer is an awful thing. It is rampant here. Seems u don't go a week w/out hearing someone who has it. U take good care of him.How is Hugo? Happy sunday to u both.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
30 Jun 10
Yssou Niece, glad u are doing so well w/your writing. Cancer is horrible. I have lost family & friends from it. my nest door neighbor is having cancer surgery fri. I'm very worried about him.
hold on to that 11 year old as long as u can. They grow up way too quick.
my son & i did make up but have not forgotten what he called me & don't think i ever will. Ryan spent the day w/me sat., his dad was helping a friend move. I really enjoyed that.
Soooooo good to hear from u. Don't be a stranger. hugs.
@thedailyclick (3017)
•
27 Jun 10
Hi Thea
Firstly my thoughts go out to your friend and also to you as you comfort him. I hope he realises that there is no point in fearing cancer, because the fear of it achieves nothing but stress.
But you bring up an interesting point about the fear of cancer and what it does to someone. This may sound completely daft when in this day and age where modern medicine can cure many things, but if I was to get cancer in a way I wouldn’t want to know. I know that the stress and worry would get to me despite knowing that fear achieves. Where living in ignorance means that yes I may die, but I would die not stressed out by the fear.
Anyway I get away from the point and more importantly I hope your friend realises that his worrying isn’t achieving anything.
Take care my friend.
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
28 Jun 10
The word cancer is enough to scare anyone! You mentioned that your friend’s cancer may be curable so I pray that he will be okay with your support. You sound like you are such a good friend to him. What Nikos is going through is one of those things that you cannot describe unless you’ve lived through it. I imagine feeling very afraid and sad with the idea of possibly facing your own demise and I would guess that the anxiety would come and go. Thank goodness for friends like you because love and support mean everything is situations like this! Good on you for not giving a darn what anyone else thinks as you hold your dear friend’s hand!
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
27 Jun 10
i am so sory for your friend. Why not hug him as well? I haven't seen you here fr so ong but then I was away for 3 weeks and so busy for afew weeks before that. Jus keep on being a friend.
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
30 Jun 10
I'm happy to report that with much prayer and fssting (plus the assistance of the daughter) we have made wonderful bread.bu**er the print has gone small on my son's computer.When this happens I can't see a thing.Anyway - please visit more often as yo ar missed by so many people here.
I do hope that he gets better and the chemo is successful
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
29 Jun 10
Hi Cynthiann, I haven't been here for ages but felt like venting and I know I've still got good friends here even if I only pop in now and again.
I do hug the avatar and molly coddle him far too much, went down tonight and he seems more accepting tho' he's got the next chemo hanging over him for the 14th. He's doing a good job of sending his male friends away who try to help but they seem pretty useless anyway and just look on glad to see the women fussing him.
He's certainly looking better than he has in all the time I've known him though now he's dropping the kilos.
Did you ever get the bread maker to work my dear?
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
27 Jun 10
Hello, Thea - lovely to see you back, even under such sad circumstances. I love to hear your tales of Nikos, and it's so sad that he can't accept his situation and deal with it.
You're right that attitude plays a big part in survival. A good friend of ours here has lymphoma, and he's also just had his second bout of chemo. the difference is amazing. He's seriously ill, but he's kept his sense of humour, and he's determined to get better. Last night, eight of us - including him and his wife - went out for a meal to our favourite Spanish restaurant.
It was touch and go if he'd make it, as he wasn't well during the day, but he did, and they both thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Our other friends were amazed at how much food he put away. His wife said it was lovely to go out for something other than medical appointments, and they both felt as if they were starting to get their life back again.
Tell Nikos he's just an old attention seeker. Make him angry - at least it would be more positive.
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
27 Jun 10
Hello Sandra, I'll go down and have a couple of hours with him tomorrow as he's out every night now till late, instead of trotting back to feed the chickens. He's lapping up the female attention at the mo' but then the fear comes back. Glad you had a good night with your friends.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
29 Jun 10
Hi Thea, it is great to see you back here. 
Cancer is a horrible thing, but it can be prevented and cured providing it has not spread too far. Cancer cannot survive in the cells if there is lots of oxygen in them. Cancer thrives in cells that have had too many chemicals put into them. I do not believe that chemo has any positive effects on people.
Leading a natural lifestyle free from chemicals and including herbs into our diets from the geranium family which encourage oxygen into the cells, can help to prevent and cure existing symptoms of cancer. Herb Robert is a good one that I have heard success stories about here in Australia. Look into them to see whether you can find them over there.
Cancer is a horrible thing, but it can be prevented and cured providing it has not spread too far. Cancer cannot survive in the cells if there is lots of oxygen in them. Cancer thrives in cells that have had too many chemicals put into them. I do not believe that chemo has any positive effects on people.
Leading a natural lifestyle free from chemicals and including herbs into our diets from the geranium family which encourage oxygen into the cells, can help to prevent and cure existing symptoms of cancer. Herb Robert is a good one that I have heard success stories about here in Australia. Look into them to see whether you can find them over there. 