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On Tuesday, April 2nd I was diagnosed with cancer. How’s that for an attention-grabbing opener? This coming Monday I begin radiation and chemotherapy and I am a very happy man. Say what? Up until last Tuesday, May 6th I thought I’d be living the rest of my life with a colostomy bag. So, you can see where radiation and chemo seem like a walk in the park. My point here is that pretty much everything in life is relative.
This posting is my first on the topic. Over the course of the next few months I’m going to write about my experience. It’s sort of an anthropology expedition. My next posting will lay out what’s happened since I decided to schedule my “routine” colonoscopy earlier in the year. At this time I’m planning on writing about my interactions with the doctors, nurses and administrators as well as my family, friends, colleagues and clients. We’ll see if my experience changes my envisioned agenda.
Before we start this adventure together I’d like to say a few things.
The medical profession today cures 50% of all diagnosed cancer patients.
Early detection significantly impacts this success rate.
So, do not delay. If you are 50 years old or older and have not had a colonoscopy - do not pass go, do not collect your hundred dollars, go directly to the phone. Call your primary care physician and say, “I want to schedule a colonoscopy.” No ifs, no ands, no buts. Do it. It’s painless. They give you great drugs and you wake up afterwards wondering when it’s going to start.
Last point, many people have asked “Has this made me re-examine my life?” The answer is yes and no. I’m one of those people who subscribes to Aristotle’s statement that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” So, I’m constantly looking at my life and asking myself if the life I’m living is in alignment with my values. Are the values I’m living still my values? So, in that sense my answer is “yes”.
The irony is that I don’t think that’s what most people mean when they’re inquiring. Because my practice keeps me on the road a lot (as much as 1 out of 4 nights away from home) I think they’re really asking if I will slow down or change professions or make some change whereby I will work less or differently. That’s where I answer “no”.
I am one of those fortunate people who get to do what they do for a living versus having to do what they do. I enjoy what I do so much that work is like play for me. There’s an adage that says “No one on their deathbed wishes they had spent more time at the office.” Well, I may turn out to be that fella. Many of my colleagues and clients are personal friends. I find the work environment we create to be rejuvenating. So, for me the only changes I currently anticipate are the short-term limitations my treatment may impose.
What about you? Take a little time and ask yourself, “What do I value?” “Does my day to day life reflect my values?” If your answer is “yes”, then Hallelujah. If not, what steps can you take within the realities of your life to bring your behavior into alignment with your values?
Don’t wait for an illness to take stock of your life. Carpe Diem. No, it’s not the fish of the day. Take charge, take action. Live a life worth living according to your values.
This posting is my first on the topic. Over the course of the next few months I’m going to write about my experience. It’s sort of an anthropology expedition. My next posting will lay out what’s happened since I decided to schedule my “routine” colonoscopy earlier in the year. At this time I’m planning on writing about my interactions with the doctors, nurses and administrators as well as my family, friends, colleagues and clients. We’ll see if my experience changes my envisioned agenda.
Before we start this adventure together I’d like to say a few things.
The medical profession today cures 50% of all diagnosed cancer patients.
Early detection significantly impacts this success rate.
So, do not delay. If you are 50 years old or older and have not had a colonoscopy - do not pass go, do not collect your hundred dollars, go directly to the phone. Call your primary care physician and say, “I want to schedule a colonoscopy.” No ifs, no ands, no buts. Do it. It’s painless. They give you great drugs and you wake up afterwards wondering when it’s going to start.
Last point, many people have asked “Has this made me re-examine my life?” The answer is yes and no. I’m one of those people who subscribes to Aristotle’s statement that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” So, I’m constantly looking at my life and asking myself if the life I’m living is in alignment with my values. Are the values I’m living still my values? So, in that sense my answer is “yes”.
The irony is that I don’t think that’s what most people mean when they’re inquiring. Because my practice keeps me on the road a lot (as much as 1 out of 4 nights away from home) I think they’re really asking if I will slow down or change professions or make some change whereby I will work less or differently. That’s where I answer “no”.
I am one of those fortunate people who get to do what they do for a living versus having to do what they do. I enjoy what I do so much that work is like play for me. There’s an adage that says “No one on their deathbed wishes they had spent more time at the office.” Well, I may turn out to be that fella. Many of my colleagues and clients are personal friends. I find the work environment we create to be rejuvenating. So, for me the only changes I currently anticipate are the short-term limitations my treatment may impose.
What about you? Take a little time and ask yourself, “What do I value?” “Does my day to day life reflect my values?” If your answer is “yes”, then Hallelujah. If not, what steps can you take within the realities of your life to bring your behavior into alignment with your values?
Don’t wait for an illness to take stock of your life. Carpe Diem. No, it’s not the fish of the day. Take charge, take action. Live a life worth living according to your values.
