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May 17, 2006 -
Day 1 - Week 7 - Reading
At the Virginia Theological
Seminary in the 1960’s Professor John Rogers amazed
all of the students with his ability to walk and
read at the same time without running into the
beautiful trees or other walkers that define the
campus. His head buried in the latest theological
tome, Dr. Rogers would not even seem to glance from
the pages to chart his way. He had a sixth sense
and navigated the campus as if he had a seeing-eye
dog leading the way.
Some say reading for knowledge
is a lost art, and if the material I see people
reading at the gym is any indication of the general
patterns of well educated people then we are in
serious trouble. Magazines and treadmills perhaps
are more compatible than David McCullough’s 1776 and
stair masters, but reading seems to be the choice of
fewer and fewer people.
I read books, articles, and
occasionally a magazine article on the treadmill.
This is an art form that takes awhile to perfect,
but I figured a long time ago if I walked for an
hour and read simultaneously I was exercising
several muscles. No, I do not concentrate or focus
with the skill of surgeon, but I am able to process
information as I get my 2.7 miles in daily; or
almost daily.
Recently, 4 books have come my
way, all related to dealing with cancer. My
daughter Jennifer sent “Chicken Soup for the
Surviving Soul” 101 Healing Stories About those Who
Have Survived Cancer and “I’d rather do Chemo than
Clean out the Garage.” The second title, more
intriguing than the first which is in a long line of
“Chicken Soup” books, made me smile because I love
to clean out the garage. Guys like garages and I am
no exception. Maybe women like garages as well, but
not in my household. The summation of this book
goes along the lines of if you have cancer and chemo
make the best of it because you are given permission
to say no. Interesting perspective that implies
that others will understand if you can not make your
friends son’s bar mitzvah or Little League
Championship Baseball game. The first book is self
explanatory. Designed to empower those depressed by
the circumstance surrounding the disease, 101
personal stories of success is bound to offer
guidance, encouragement and hope.
The third book Jen sent is
called The Cancer Lifeline Cookbook. If you have
cancer go get this book today. I will be
referencing this gem with the subtitle: “Good
nutrition, recipes, and resources to optimize the
lives of people living with cancer."
This little by-line might be on
the refrigerator magnet that we would notice many
times a day. I would just condense it to say
“Optimize the lives of people.” What a great place
to start the day. If I know others are trying to
optimize my life and I am doing the same for others
then life is good. This word resonates with me for
when I chose a name for the organic fertilizer
company I started 10 years ago I chose Optimum
Yield.
I will come back to all these
books, as well as others because reading gives me
the pathways I need. Without the words of others to
line my way I will not be able to navigate the
sandbars, shoals and rips created by cancer. In
essence, I will be able to use others as my Seeing
Eye dog because I do not possess that 6th
sense of Dr. Rogers.
May 17, 2006 - 2nd
Offering – Same Day
Real writers, and I do not
consider myself in that category, have often spoken
of the challenge of over-coming writer’s block.
Sitting down in front of a manual typewriter in the
1960’s to write those college term papers, I often
would stare out the window of Kappa Sigma and wonder
if I could ever finish. The manual Remington long
ago sold for $3 at the Thrift Shop and since 1985 I
have used a computer to write. There is really no
difference other than memory and spell check. The
keys were the same and the speed has varied little
through the years. And, sure enough there are days
when I stare out the window looking at the hillside
wondering what the heck I should write about today.
Today/tonight is not one of those days.
Today was a busy day of copying
shows for a couple of outlets that have requested
the new offerings. It is mindless repetitious work
so my mind wandered, a lot. Frankly, the quiet time
was filled with curiosity about the process of
evaluation of my progress. I had been told that the
benchmark scan of my innards would be used as a
comparison some time mid-May. Mid – May is now, so
understandably I have been a bit anxious to know if
the chemo therapy is working. I learned late this
afternoon that tomorrow is a big day because I will
be photographed head to toe once again. This
imagery will be analyzed and Dr. Piro will let me
know on Wednesday. In other words, on the scale of 1
to 10, ten being most important day in the challenge
so far, tomorrow is an 8 and next Wednesday is a 10.
The hard part of having cancer
is the unknown aspects of the disease. Once the
truth is discerned, or the reality is presented
clearly, then you can adjust behavior, research new
pathways, and respond directly. It is like being in
the woods and hearing the sounds of the bear as
opposed to seeing the bear in the distance. I like
knowing what is going on because then I can adjust
behavior accordingly. Now I will have to wait
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before
I get to see the bear.
Every single person who has
experienced the searing words ‘you have cancer’ has
related the anxiety toll taken. Once the parameters
are laid out, the options evaluated, and a direction
charted a sigh of relief calms and reassures us.
Anxiety passes when our knowledge of how close or
dangerous the bear really is becomes clear. Cancer
truth may be hard to hear, but it is much more
difficult living with the uncertainties.
To get from tomorrow morning to
Wednesday I will garden, go the gym, take the
grandkids to the town fair, clean out my closet,
organize the garage, get my haircut, go over the
questions for our two Earth Talk guests on Monday,
and eat 5 small meals a day.
I should not imagine that I
will get writer’s block and if I do I will write
about the weather.
Back
to Week 7 |
