Dave Taylor
What I Learned From Dying: The power of baby steps
Today is my anniversary. This day one year ago was the fateful day that a gastrointerologist said “I’ve found cancer and it’s bad.” I’m quite certain I was supposed to be dead long before now. Now I’m thankful for baby steps and small victories. Today I’ll be taking my 1954 Bug to a restoration shop,…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: I’m getting nervous
I’m getting nervous. Things have been going very well lately and I’ve sort of forgotten that just two months ago I was told to go on Hospice. I’m getting used to things going well but I wonder if I’m setting myself up for a big, devastating disappointment. I’m scheduled to have another CT scan on…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying: I’m a married man
Last Saturday I made one of the best and easiest decisions I’ve made in my life when I married my fabulous fiancee Jamie Hunt. I highly recommend finding a fantastic girl and marrying her. We had a simple, laid back ceremony at Hawesville Baptist Church’s gym and even livestreamed it on Facebook, where something like…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: Now I lose my other dog?
Almost exactly six months after my beloved dog Lech Walesa died, now my other dog Little Face has joined him. To say we were not prepared is quite an understatement. My fiancee Jamie let her out to go to the bathroom Monday while I was in Owensboro running errands. When I got back soon afterward…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: Pleasantly surprised
Just one month after being told I should go on Hospice, my doctor told me he’s “pleasantly surprised” by my progress. That’s a far cry from when he told me this new chemotherapy was more likely to kill me than the cancer would. My latest CT scan showed that the cancer spots on my liver…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: I’m going bald fast
So I’m bald, very bald. And I’m going bald at what seems like some kind of world record rate. Just a few weeks ago I had a full head of hair and things were right with the world. Then one day I was drying my hair with a towel and the towel looked like a…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: Looks can be deceiving
I’m writing this from the air. I’m in a plane on mine and Jamie’s big trip to New York City where we hope to do something other than give me medicine and puke. As we prepared to take off, they described the floatation devices, oxygen, overhead lights, etc and I remember thinking, “Well they’ve thought…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: Still going
I’m still going, literally and figuratively. I’m still going to New York City later this month, I’m still going to be married to the love of my life Jamie next month and I’m still going, living on despite prognoses to the contrary. Not many believed I’d still be going at all. At my most recent…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: Feeling better or being better?
I actually had a great week this week. I felt good, I walked taller and I took on some projects. My new chemotherapy appears to have few obvious side effects, other than more nausea on days six and seven, and I’m generally feeling much better on it. Now whether that means I’m actually better or…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: The FUN in funeral
I’m realizing it’s not easy to plan an entertaining funeral. Never a fan of stuffy events, I don’t want my funeral to be the kind where people are afraid to make any sound and where smiles aren’t allowed. My funeral is going to be a celebration. I will be in eternity with God, in Heaven…
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