The Bucket List movie stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward determined to complete everything on their "Bucket List" -- a list of things to do before they "kick the bucket."
For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of visiting foreign lands. I have seen Europe, most of the USA, Canada, Hawaii and Mexico. My outdoor adventures have included scuba diving in the Mexico and Hawaii, water skiing, snow skiing in Colorado and Utah, hiking volcanoes and the Napili Coast, sailing, swimming with dolphins, ocean kayaking with sea otters and camping. I rafted down the Colorado River and backpacked in Alaska.
I have fallen in love, married wonderful women and enjoyed many happy years with both wives. I have no regrets about my decision to divorce when the marriages ended. I have had several successful jobs and have worked with some terrific people. I also have been fired and quit a few jobs when it has been time to move on. I enjoy good books, movies, art, theatre and music. I love teaching. I have many terrific friends and family members.
I am 58 years old. I am cancer free. I am dating a terrific woman who truly enjoys life and she loves me for who I am. My life is in balance. I feel truly blessed.
The author Richard Bolles calls this “life planning” in his book, The Three Boxes of Life. I highly recommend it.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Road Trip Be Prepared
What to pack for a road trip is more difficult after cancer treatment. To some degree side effects will continue. I will eat something exotic that will give me diarrhea. I have a emergency diarrhea kit in the car. While traveling I will find restrooms with no toilet paper, no soap and no towels. Pack it.
After cancer treatments I thought I could resume my regular activities of camping and hiking and swimming and riding my bike. Wrong. Recovery is a slow process filled with surprises.
After cancer treatments I thought I could resume my regular activities of camping and hiking and swimming and riding my bike. Wrong. Recovery is a slow process filled with surprises.
A Good Stick for a Blood Test
As a colon cancer patient, you will be getting many blood tests. I recommend you find the most experienced staff to take your blood. Experienced patients call it a “good stick.” Remember the staff who do their job well and thank them. You will want to find them next time you need a blood test.
I like to keep a file copy of the requested lab tests and make sure the results are sent to all the doctors that need to know the results. File folders track my progress and organize my papers. This helps me with billing and taxes time.
As the technician is drawing blood, review what lab tests are going to be conducted on your blood and find out when the results will go to your doctors. An exceptional patient is proactive with your health care.
If the lab technician is inexperienced they will keep trying to find a vein and end up bruising your arm. This is called a bad stick. Not a big deal if you just need a blood test for routine lab work and you can go home and calm down.
I like to keep a file copy of the requested lab tests and make sure the results are sent to all the doctors that need to know the results. File folders track my progress and organize my papers. This helps me with billing and taxes time.
As the technician is drawing blood, review what lab tests are going to be conducted on your blood and find out when the results will go to your doctors. An exceptional patient is proactive with your health care.
If the lab technician is inexperienced they will keep trying to find a vein and end up bruising your arm. This is called a bad stick. Not a big deal if you just need a blood test for routine lab work and you can go home and calm down.
Back to Balance
Life after cancer for me means that I enjoy each day. I really don’t know when I will die. Could be when I am riding my bike to work. If I want to live a long vibrant life, I choose to change old habits.
1. Exercise
I need to exercise each day. Back to balance means to choose the right exercise and knowing my limits. I know when I overdo my workout because I wakeup with leg cramps in the middle of the night or have a sore back. This is called feedback. I can change my exercise plan for tomorrow. Knowing my limits before injury is an art. I enjoy hiking, swimming, ride a bike, walking, dancing and go to the YMCA to move my body.
2. Eat Right
Back to balance for food is to eat limited portions of low fat organic food. I monitor my weight daily and I am an active member of weight watchers. This group of friends help me learn to gain control over portions and eat right. I need food to nourish my body and support my brain function. Balance is needed so I can maintain my best body weight.
3. Get Enough Sleep
No more long 4-hour commutes and then nine-hour workdays for me. Overwork brings burnout and sleep depravation. I am done with that lifestyle. This burnout behavior lowered my immune system and led my to colon cancer. I bike to work through a city park in ten minutes. I take naps during the day.
4. Simple Housing
Back to balance with housing for me is living in a small studio. Living simply. No more big real estate property to manage. A small studio means I collect less stuff. I keep hauling out boxes of clothes to donate to goodwill. Less clutter more clarity. I live in an old building with wooden floors and old radiators. No air conditioning needed. I use fans.
5. Healthy Relationships
Back to balance with relationships means I end toxic relationships that suck out my life source. I do not have to fix someone else’s problems. The reason I have healthy friendships is that our relationship is respectful and supportive.
6. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Back to balance with my daily routine is making a list of things to do each day and getting my nap out of the way first. Balance makes my life peaceful and a lot more fun. Most things I worry about don’t happen. Does it take McDonalds ads to convince me that I deserve a break today?
7. Learn to Laugh and Have Fun Daily
Back to balance with overwork is planning leisure. Keep a list of fun things to do. Go see the movie The Bucket List. If today were the last day you would be alive, what would you do with your time?
8. Choose the Right Job
I am fifty-seven years old. I will be working a long time before I retire. If I want to have balance with my employment, I need to limit my stress level and work hours so my work life is sustainable.
1. Exercise
I need to exercise each day. Back to balance means to choose the right exercise and knowing my limits. I know when I overdo my workout because I wakeup with leg cramps in the middle of the night or have a sore back. This is called feedback. I can change my exercise plan for tomorrow. Knowing my limits before injury is an art. I enjoy hiking, swimming, ride a bike, walking, dancing and go to the YMCA to move my body.
2. Eat Right
Back to balance for food is to eat limited portions of low fat organic food. I monitor my weight daily and I am an active member of weight watchers. This group of friends help me learn to gain control over portions and eat right. I need food to nourish my body and support my brain function. Balance is needed so I can maintain my best body weight.
3. Get Enough Sleep
No more long 4-hour commutes and then nine-hour workdays for me. Overwork brings burnout and sleep depravation. I am done with that lifestyle. This burnout behavior lowered my immune system and led my to colon cancer. I bike to work through a city park in ten minutes. I take naps during the day.
4. Simple Housing
Back to balance with housing for me is living in a small studio. Living simply. No more big real estate property to manage. A small studio means I collect less stuff. I keep hauling out boxes of clothes to donate to goodwill. Less clutter more clarity. I live in an old building with wooden floors and old radiators. No air conditioning needed. I use fans.
5. Healthy Relationships
Back to balance with relationships means I end toxic relationships that suck out my life source. I do not have to fix someone else’s problems. The reason I have healthy friendships is that our relationship is respectful and supportive.
6. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Back to balance with my daily routine is making a list of things to do each day and getting my nap out of the way first. Balance makes my life peaceful and a lot more fun. Most things I worry about don’t happen. Does it take McDonalds ads to convince me that I deserve a break today?
7. Learn to Laugh and Have Fun Daily
Back to balance with overwork is planning leisure. Keep a list of fun things to do. Go see the movie The Bucket List. If today were the last day you would be alive, what would you do with your time?
8. Choose the Right Job
I am fifty-seven years old. I will be working a long time before I retire. If I want to have balance with my employment, I need to limit my stress level and work hours so my work life is sustainable.
Angels: Becoming Aware of Spiritual Support
I never really had the experience of being surrounded by angels until my cancer diagnosis. This was an intense period of prayer. Asking God for help.
Friends would ask, “Is it OK if my church holds you in our prayers?” Of coarse I said, “Yes, thank you very much. That is very kind of you.” At this point in time, I was pretty skeptical about the prayer and the existence of angels.
I was raised Roman Catholic. Today I am more a Buddhist and mixture of other spiritual traditions. Prayer really was not part of my life until cancer. I began praying with friends at work. I would pray during radiation treatments. Usually my prayers were asking for the power to fight this disease. I asked God for help guide me on this path of treatment and healing.
I did plenty of praying during my cancer treatments. I saw many angels arrive with God's grace.
Friends would ask, “Is it OK if my church holds you in our prayers?” Of coarse I said, “Yes, thank you very much. That is very kind of you.” At this point in time, I was pretty skeptical about the prayer and the existence of angels.
I was raised Roman Catholic. Today I am more a Buddhist and mixture of other spiritual traditions. Prayer really was not part of my life until cancer. I began praying with friends at work. I would pray during radiation treatments. Usually my prayers were asking for the power to fight this disease. I asked God for help guide me on this path of treatment and healing.
I did plenty of praying during my cancer treatments. I saw many angels arrive with God's grace.
WHY ME? Survivor Guilt
Why do I get to live on and others die? October 2006 two close friends were killed instantly in automobile accidents. Both were my same age. Today another friend is dying of cancer in hospice. I feel lucky to escape the grim reaper but I question why has my life spared? What am I doing with my life and talent right now? Why me Lord? What should I do with my new lease on life?
I remember when I finished surgery, chemo and radiation treatments in 2004 I felt sooooo lucky to be alive. I was musing this same question….What to do with my life now that I successfully fought cancer?
I asked my good friend Lisa. “ Should I join the peace corps and go help somebody on the other side of the world?”
Lisa thought for a moment, then replied, “Doug how about just making a difference in peoples lives here in Oakland? You don’t have to join the peace corps.”
What a good idea. How about writing a book about my cancer experience and helping other people who have to either prep for their first colonoscopy of recover from treatments. As I reflect upon this question, I get more answers.
1. Be generous to others and yourself.
2. Enjoy each moment of life and urge others to do the same.
3. Cook meals for friends
4. Play lots of music
I remember a few years ago I had the pleasure of hearing Jimmy Carter speak. I find his life to be very inspirational. I remember to this day one quote from his talk. He said that he was standing on the shoulders of his father, who is standing on the shoulders of his father and so on. Because we have this foundation we can reach much higher than the previous generation.
So to answer the original question, Why Me? Just because. “Nothing personal. Your name just happened to come up.”
I remember when I finished surgery, chemo and radiation treatments in 2004 I felt sooooo lucky to be alive. I was musing this same question….What to do with my life now that I successfully fought cancer?
I asked my good friend Lisa. “ Should I join the peace corps and go help somebody on the other side of the world?”
Lisa thought for a moment, then replied, “Doug how about just making a difference in peoples lives here in Oakland? You don’t have to join the peace corps.”
What a good idea. How about writing a book about my cancer experience and helping other people who have to either prep for their first colonoscopy of recover from treatments. As I reflect upon this question, I get more answers.
1. Be generous to others and yourself.
2. Enjoy each moment of life and urge others to do the same.
3. Cook meals for friends
4. Play lots of music
I remember a few years ago I had the pleasure of hearing Jimmy Carter speak. I find his life to be very inspirational. I remember to this day one quote from his talk. He said that he was standing on the shoulders of his father, who is standing on the shoulders of his father and so on. Because we have this foundation we can reach much higher than the previous generation.
So to answer the original question, Why Me? Just because. “Nothing personal. Your name just happened to come up.”
You got the whole world in you hands
Introduction to Semi-colon
Semicolon was written for patients who are diagnosed with colon cancer. I want this book to be a resource to help you and your care-givers to develop plans to fight colon cancer and inspire you to heal completely. I encourage you to not just survive but thrive. My intention is to point the way to healing from the disease so you can continue living a vibrant life.
“Humans must rise above the Earth…to the top of the atmosphere and beyond. For only thus will we understand the world in which we live.” Socrates, 400 BC
I have traveled this road and won the battle. As a Colon Cancer Patient you have the power to heal completely. You will choose the right cancer treatment for your body. During this journey you will discover what needs healing and find the right path and proper pace for your recovery. You will find others who will help you with healing practices during and after your treatment. You have many choices to make during this journey. Remember, “You got the whole world in your hands.”
Semicolon was written for patients who are diagnosed with colon cancer. I want this book to be a resource to help you and your care-givers to develop plans to fight colon cancer and inspire you to heal completely. I encourage you to not just survive but thrive. My intention is to point the way to healing from the disease so you can continue living a vibrant life.
“Humans must rise above the Earth…to the top of the atmosphere and beyond. For only thus will we understand the world in which we live.” Socrates, 400 BC
I have traveled this road and won the battle. As a Colon Cancer Patient you have the power to heal completely. You will choose the right cancer treatment for your body. During this journey you will discover what needs healing and find the right path and proper pace for your recovery. You will find others who will help you with healing practices during and after your treatment. You have many choices to make during this journey. Remember, “You got the whole world in your hands.”
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