Its a sad day

Robin Williams died from an apparent suicide yesterday. But I smiled after reading some of his most famous quotes. Here are some of my  favorites:

"Goooooooood morning Vietnam! It's 0600 hours. What does the 'O' stand for? O my God, it's early!" - Adrian Cronauer, Good Morning Vietnam (1987)

[Mork picks up an egg] "Hello? Hello? Anybody in there? Little hatchling brothers, you must revolt against your oppressors. You have nothing to lose but your shells."

"You're only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."

You can read the rest here.

But the sad thing is that he committed suicide after dealing with depression. I too have depression issues as do millions of other Americans. But no one wants to talk about it. Its one of those diseases, like hemorrhoids, which are embarrassing. The problem with embarrassing ailments is people don't want to talk about them. So they do not communicate them to anyone, even a doctor, which can endanger their health.

My depression got worse with my second cancer diagnosis but I probably had it for years before. But damn it, cancer is depressing. And coping with it, for a second time, isn't easy. Treatment was the answer.

I don't know more about Robin Williams' depression story and only know what I hear on the news. His humor always had a bit of an edge. But he did make us all laugh as we listened to him. It is very sad that he is now gone.

"Crying on the inside, laughing on the outside."

Shallowness has its place

When dealing with the stress, sometimes we resort to the silly side of life and satire. I mean why not? Its coping as best we can.

Shortly after my diagnosis, I read a great book called "Cancer Made Me A Shallower Person" by Miriam Engelberg. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and died from it in 2006. When I read her book in late 2007 or early 2008, I think I threw it across the room when I figured out she died. I was mad. I was not ready for sad endings.

In the six plus years since I have often thought of this book and how I should give it a second chance. It was the first graphic novel I read so perhaps that is part of my response to it. Now, I just read this blog post on the New York Times Well section, living with cancer, Living with Cancer: "Chronic not Cured". Now I think it will read it again. I hope the library still has a copy.

I need to start my own

Not that I have any plans on going anywhere soon. But I read this obituary yesterday and, after laughing at several points, decided I need to write my own.

Someone's death, while sad, doesn't mean they should be remembered with sadness but by how they lived their  life. Walter apparently lived his life with humor and that is how he is remembered.

I want to be remembered how I am and not by little bits of information such as marital status, cause of death, blah, blah, blah. Let's keep life interesting. I better start writing stuff down now so I remember what I want to include....

I just wonder how long Walter's family will keep his ashes around. (And what are you supposed to do with someone's ashes anyway?)

I need to start my own

Not that I have any plans on going anywhere soon. But I read this obituary yesterday and, after laughing at several points, decided I need to write my own.

Someone's death, while sad, doesn't mean they should be remembered with sadness but by how they lived their  life. Walter apparently lived his life with humor and that is how he is remembered.

I want to be remembered how I am and not by little bits of information such as marital status, cause of death, blah, blah, blah. Let's keep life interesting. I better start writing stuff down now so I remember what I want to include....

I just wonder how long Walter's family will keep his ashes around. (And what are you supposed to do with someone's ashes anyway?)

Little bits of happiness in the medical worlds

The medical world does not need to be sterile and boring. Most waiting rooms have big screen tvs now. Chairs are comfier. They are trying to relax the patients a bit more.

I have been taking a family member for treatment to an area at the hospital where I haven't spent much time in a few years. I have noticed they are expanding the creature comforts for the patients and their family members. There is art. There is a lending library. There is saved seating. There is free coffee. Just nice little touches for long waits.

Then I saw this online:

A bunch of young men were seen running around a parking garage roof which is visible from the ICU rooms and oncology rooms of a Chicago hospital. I got a kick out of it. Apparently patients and providers a like did as well for its short life.

Engineering students made thousands of paper cranes for a hospital in Florida... The images are lovely and can be seen here.

While spending too much quality time at a medical facility, its nice for a little peek at something soothing or amusing.

Shallowness has its place

When dealing with the stress, sometimes we resort to the silly side of life and satire. I mean why not? Its coping as best we can.

Shortly after my diagnosis, I read a great book called "Cancer Made Me A Shallower Person" by Miriam Engelberg. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and died from it in 2006. When I read her book in late 2007 or early 2008, I think I threw it across the room when I figured out she died. I was mad. I was not ready for sad endings.

In the six plus years since I have often thought of this book and how I should give it a second chance. It was the first graphic novel I read so perhaps that is part of my response to it. Now, I just read this blog post on the New York Times Well section, living with cancer, Living with Cancer: "Chronic not Cured". Now I think it will read it again. I hope the library still has a copy.

Its a sad day

Robin Williams died from an apparent suicide yesterday. But I smiled after reading some of his most famous quotes. Here are some of my  favorites:

"Goooooooood morning Vietnam! It's 0600 hours. What does the 'O' stand for? O my God, it's early!" - Adrian Cronauer, Good Morning Vietnam (1987)

[Mork picks up an egg] "Hello? Hello? Anybody in there? Little hatchling brothers, you must revolt against your oppressors. You have nothing to lose but your shells."

"You're only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."

You can read the rest here.

But the sad thing is that he committed suicide after dealing with depression. I too have depression issues as do millions of other Americans. But no one wants to talk about it. Its one of those diseases, like hemorrhoids, which are embarrassing. The problem with embarrassing ailments is people don't want to talk about them. So they do not communicate them to anyone, even a doctor, which can endanger their health.

My depression got worse with my second cancer diagnosis but I probably had it for years before. But damn it, cancer is depressing. And coping with it, for a second time, isn't easy. Treatment was the answer.

I don't know more about Robin Williams' depression story and only know what I hear on the news. His humor always had a bit of an edge. But he did make us all laugh as we listened to him. It is very sad that he is now gone.

"Crying on the inside, laughing on the outside."

There can be humor in cancer

Cancer isn't supposed to be funny. But to patients it can be. People in cancer treatment are still people. They keep their sense of humor. Here's some proof.

A 12 year old boy from Milton, MA self published a joke book while in chemotherapy. He got other children in the pediatric cancer center to leave jokes for him each day. He compiled them and published a book. You can buy a copy online here.

All proceeds from the book sale go to pediatric cancer research. For $8.95 you can get a few snickers and laughs and help a worthy cause. If you don't like jokes for kids, buy a copy and donate it to your local hospital.

John Hopkins did not discover a dietary cure for cancer

There are a couple of hoax emails going around that have gotten the folks over at Johns Hopkins riled up enough to write a rebuttal.

I do find this humorous in some ways. How many emails have you gotten offering you a cure for anything you want and more. Either they are based on some known item that you just need to eat more/less of or not something like not cook in saran wrap. Or they refer you to someone far away with a really long name who promises you an elixir or prayer or something else that will cure you.

There are a few things they all have in common:

• Typographical errors and misspellings.
• Bad English
• Over promising

Back in the 19th century we had quack doctors who went around the country selling their cure alls. Now they don't need the horse and buggy, they just need the internet and your email address. But just remember if its too good to be true, it probably is. Use your delete button.