It may also be significant that Bonnie and Bill bought a house on 18 August 1977 at 238 Lincoln Ave. Two times 38 gives 76 months. Measured from the beginning of her seven year cycle, 76 months takes us to September of 1983, which marks the time when her legal problems with the State of New Jersey reached critical mass, the time her health took a sudden dive for the worse, ending in near death, and the month before she moved from New Jersey, never to return to that area where she had spent 26 years of her life. Thirty eight months prior to September 1983 her short term disability ran out, and she was forced to apply for additional welfare assistance. That month (July 1980) also marks the beginning of events that would lead to her legal problems. Some people will claim that I am giving too much significance to these numbers, and that other numbers could have equal significance. Others will say that numerology is the fiction of the mind, and the product of an over-active imagination. But what does stand out are numbers that seem to have repeated significance in her life, and repetition is the basis for recognizing patterns. Such patterns, if they truly exist, would imply at least some degree of outside control and/or pre-birth planning of her life, which is a concept very much in keeping with New Age spiritual philosophy, but which goes backwards through the discharge sphincter of mainstream science. It was through the recognition of these patterns that the cycles were recognized, and from these cycles the events of her life become meaningful. The meaning, however, is still poorly understood and controversial.
On 1 October 1979 Bonnie qualified for an AIG pension and full benefits. She had discovered suspicious lumps in both breasts, and sensed that something was very wrong with them. But she followed her intuition, and postponed having mammograms done until after qualifying for full medical benefits. She was admitted to Garden State Community Hospital under Dr. D. and Dr. Abramson on 2 October. On 3 October she had biopsies done, with a diagnosis of severe bilateral cystic mastitis. On 10 October she was again admitted to Garden State Community Hospital under Dr. Abramson (deceased 1987) for bilateral mastectomies. Silicone implants were added. During the same operation they performed a total abdominal hysterectomy and oophorectomy in order to correct her menstrual problems after tests indicated ovarian/uterine abnormalities. Bonnie recalled having what may have been a near-death experience on the operating table after she woke up from ineffective anesthesia to find her chest laid open. After surgery she was able to tell her surgeon what he said following her being re-anesthetized, and that impressed him enough to watch his language whenever he again operated on her. She said once she began to feel the excruciating pain in her chest, she went into an altered state, which may have allowed her to leave her body to avoid the pain. She also said he began playing classical music in the operating room in order to relax her and keep her anesthetized. She said it worked. Bonnie made a rapid recovery, and was helping Jim teach the Adult Self-Hypnosis course by 15 October. She also began selling Aloe Charm cosmetics for added income. On 10 December, however, following a Christmas party at her house for the Aloe Charm staff, the suture beneath her left breast fell apart, exposing the subcutaneous implant and the development of a hemotoma. She was rehospitalized two days later for surgical repair. She continued to have problems with her breast implants slipping and the sutures opening, requiring additional surgical repairs. She said that her skin was unusually weak, and would fall apart around the sutures. By the end of January 1980 she was taking a number of therapeutic modalities, including lasix, lomotil, synthroid, tabron, slow-K, calcium, and vitamine supplements. On 10 march 1980 Dr. Abramson moved the left implant to underneath her pectoral or chest muscle so that it wouldn't slip, and so that her skin around the suture could completely heal. About three months later he moved the right implant beneath the muscle also. She jokingly said that she was the only woman who could do breast push-ups! While she was recovering from surgical procedures, AIG had her do claim adjustments at home. But when she was not able to keep up with the work load, she was placed on disability. She received her first short term disability check on 4 March 1980, and continued to receive one every two weeks for the next 138 days. By then she hoped to be back on her feet in full recovery, back working with Jim and their patients, and back to her career aspirations in modeling. On 6 May 1980 Bonnie brought to Dr. Abramson's attention an enlarged pigmented lesion on her left leg above the knee. Clinically it appeared malignant. She became concerned when a red spot turned into a lesion, and she began to lose sensation and motor function in that leg. She said that leg would suddenly go out from under her. On 14 May Bonnie was admitted to Garden State Community Hospital for a biopsy and a 24 hour pathology report. The initial diagnosis was malignant melanoma, superficial spreading type, level IV. Dr. Abramson was shocked, and wanted a second and more thorough analysis done at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. On 29 May the second analysis confirmed the diagnosis, and she was scheduled for immediate surgery on 2 June. Level IV is the highest level given before malignant melanoma becomes inoperable due to metastasis. She was also given a liver scan, chest scans, gall bladder echo and pancreas views, bone scan, and brain scan to determine the presence of any other abnormalities. Dr. Abramson told her the prognosis was not good, and that he wanted to remove her leg well above the knee. But she said she would have no reason to live if he did that, and wanted him to try to save it. Below is a picture of her leg following surgery.She made instant friends among the cowboys who frequented those stables.. When Bill wouldn't take her during the week, her new friends came to get her in Pasadena. They helped bring her fighting spirit back with encouragement and support, but most importantly with love. They helped restore her health by providing food and beer - lots of beer, which became a liquid diet for her. Previously she rarely drank beer, but she liked to impress her new friends by showing them how much she could drink without getting drunk. She had hypoglycemia, which allowed her liver to metabolize alcohol as though it was sugar. She said she didn't know what it was like to be drunk, because she couldn't get drunk. She recalled one drinking contest with straight shots of whiskey that she won at Billy Bob's dance hall.
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Copyright Bruce Cornet 1999