Stage 4 cancer
What I learned from dying; Now I lose my dog?
It’s been an excruciatingly long, hard week. On the same day that I finished up a column about how doctors considered my being alive a miracle, I had an appointment with my oncologist where one of the only things I remember him saying is “what we’re doing isn’t working anymore.” That means that Keytruda, the near-miracle…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying; Just a little bit more
Tuesday I was tired, like, can’t sit up straight tired. I was on the sofa leaning over, struggling to seem like I was even alert. Truth be told, I stay that tired most of the time, but this time it turned into a lesson that I thought I’d learned years ago and apparently hadn’t: a…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying; everyone needs a Jamie
After a long string of seemingly only good news, I finally got some bad news this week. My white blood count was too low to do chemotherapy chemotherapy so I was sent home from the hospital to try again next week. When I first heard the news I sighed and thought, “there’s no easy or…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying; How to live intentionally
I learned two lessons this week in two very different ways. First, I learned that when faced with a dire situation like stage 4 cancer, I must live very intentionally and choose each day – and each moment – to not let it overwhelm me. Second, I learned that when dry heaving into a trash…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying; I’m weaker than my woman
I learned a humiliating fact about myself a couple of days ago. I’m weaker than my girlfriend. I’ve always considered myself stronger than I looked, even now, so although I’ve lost around 90 lbs from my usual weight I felt like my core strength was still in there somewhere, even if it were hiding pretty…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying; Good news and bad news
My long promised update is finally here and it’s a mixture of good news and bad news. The good news is that my cancer spots are shrinking, some of them substantially, but the bad news is that in finding out the spots were shrinking I found out there were more of them than I realized.…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying; Men can be sick too
I told my girlfriend Jamie to get pictures of me working during my chemo treatment Monday but that I didn’t want them to be posed. I didn’t get much work done and she got a picture of how the day really went. This third round of chemo has been rough and the main thing keeping…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying
W Last Tuesday I found out that I have stage 4 gastric cancer that has spread to my liver. I think this means I’m dying. But being a journalist, I can’t pass up the opportunity to tell the story of a man whose life and plans might be cut short unexpectedly, so this column will…
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