Saturday, September 06, 2008

An Unwanted Journey: Day 1018 - "A Butt Load of Courage"

Daniel is a colorectal cancer patient. He recently commented on my blog about the television special Stand Up To Cancer. He recommended I check out the following web sites:

If you care about someone being treated with cancer, please visit these sites. But be forewarned that they are not easy, especially if you too are dealing with a Stage IV diagnosis, something which Kris acknowledged with her disarmingly simple statement, "I have Stage IV cancer. There is no Stage V."

She also has a spot on the iTunes video Survivors, a video podcast available to anyone who cares to download it. If you, like me, watched the Stand Up To Cancer broadcast last night, go ahead and get the video podcast. It has all of the video montage highlighted in the television special, plus a little more. And it is strangely comforting, even as the tears flow.

It wasn't all tears, though. The segment feature Homer and Marge Simpson was absolutely hilarious. At one point, Marge yells, "There's his wedding band! He told me he was getting it polished!"

I have the distinct impression that the next few months will be a slo-mo personal version of the Stand Up To Cancer special. I'm hoping that as I face the surgery, the recovery from surgery, the chemotherapy, the restaging, more surgery and even more chemotherapy, I'll be able to generate a "butt load of courage", remembering that each tear will be followed by a laugh which will in turn be followed by another tear...and, my deepest wish, by a cheer.

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