What I learned from dying
What 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…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: I’m dying
I’m dying. I’ve known that for months but I just had a consult with a surgeon who was a straight shooter and his whole message was that I’m dying and very soon. In fact, one of the first things he said was “you’re in serious trouble.” This was the cancer specialist who was a well…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: I almost missed this week
By Dave Taylor In late April when I first began this column on my battle with stage 4 esophageal cancer I made it a goal to never miss a week no matter what. Well this week I’m barely making it. I’m still in the hospital with an infected chest cavity and severe anemia. I have…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: People are ready for my death
BY DAVE TAYLOR I hate to say it, but I get the feeling that people are ready for me to die. I don’t mean that people are actually looking forward to it or anxious to see how it goes, I just mean people lately seem more mentally prepared for the fact that I’m probably…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From Dying: Is This My Last Christmas?
With Christmas fast approaching I’ve been thinking about how the odds were stacked against me even being here for it. No one ever explicitly stated that I wouldn’t be here for Christmas but they made it pretty clear that I wouldn’t be around long, and that was eight months ago. And when you consider that…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying: Dreaming of dumplings
By Dave Taylor I haven’t been able to eat anything by mouth since about April. I’ve gotten 100 percent of my nutrition, both food and water, through a feeding tube, but that’s been fine because I was never all that into food. But lately I find myself obsessing and even dreaming about the foods I…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying; Living with cancer is honestly great
Having cancer has been great. Yes, I just said that having cancer has been great. Perhaps I could qualify that statement by saying that dying from cancer has been crappy, but living with it has been a genuine blessing. I’ve felt better the past week or so, including this week when I’m typing this with…
Read MoreWhat I learned from dying. Who wants my stuff?
Like most things medical, I’ve been willfully ignorant about chemotherapy. I’ve always considered myself healthy as a horse – and I in fact have outlived several horses – so I never needed to know about anything about it. I started my chemo regimen on Monday and I’m told that on days three through five after…
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