Comments are welcome!

Part of my hope with this blog is to start a dialog. I like to hear my own voice and see my own words, but honestly I much more want to be part of a conversation about what it means to have cancer and how people can both give and get support when they are on either side of that particularly ugly coin.

So don't be shy! Leave a comment, ask a question, share your own experience.

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A Celebration of Life.

I attended a dinner last night featuring many of the army of angels I have written about before . The reason we all got together was to have a celebration of life , and the life that we were celebrating was mine. Wait... what? A celebration of life is most often thought of as a gathering of the people that matter to someone  after they pass away. It is often less formal than a funeral and is usually stripped of the religious aspects of a funeral. In our increasingly secular Western world (and I make no judgement whatsoever about this trend), this is often the only  ceremony that is held to commemorate the passing of someone. But if this is what a celebration of life is , why was I in attendance, walking around and laughing and doing all the various things that very few of the people for whom these celebrations are held are able to do? Simple - this celebration of life could just as easily have been the more commonly held post-mortem type held in my honour. I actually onl...
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Midway

The Battle of Midway was one of the most significant naval battles in history, taking place over four days in early June of 1942 just six months after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. Although outnumbered in terms of both ships and aircraft, the United States Navy prevailed, destroying all of the Japanese carriers and their accompanying aircraft (248 aircraft in total across 4 carriers) and one heavy cruiser involved in the battle. The US Navy lost one carrier, one destroyer, and approximately 150 of 233 aircraft in the battle. Sadly, 307 US servicemen were killed in the battle, with over 3,000 Japanese servicemen perishing on the opposite side. So... what does this have to do with me and cancer? On the face of it, a devastating naval battle that occurred 72 years ago has nothing in common with my cancer diagnosis and treatment. But if you dig a little deeper there are at least a few passing similarities. First off, I have often heard of people "battling cancer"...
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I had supper with a whole group of angels the other night. They all happened to be women, but in my experience angels are just as likely to be male as female. Have you ever met an angel? I bet you have, but you might not have realized it. Let me put some context around my statements. I am nominally a Roman Catholic, but I was raised to think critically rather than to rely on faith. That said, I still have a belief structure that aligns pretty well with the catechism of the church. I also admire and try to model the beliefs of other religions like Buddhism or Islam for example. "A good idea is independent of its source," according to a very capable doctor I worked with decades ago; I try to live my life according to any  principle or teaching that makes sense or brings me peace. So, with that in mind I want to share a joke/parable because it helps to explain how I wound up at the same table as a group of angels. So here it goes... A very devout, deeply religious man star...
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