perspective

A former colleauge of mine, Derek Miller, has been living with cancer for nearly four years and sharing his experiences publicly on his blog penmachine.com (and also through interviews on CBC). Sadly, a week ago he announced that he will die soon. He has handled this reality with straight-forward, unwaivering courage.

From his post titled "The endgame":
"In the next couple of years, about 100 million people will die around the world—of old age or other natural causes, in accidents, of infections, from pathogens or poisons, in wars and terrorist attacks, from congenital defects, in fights, of suicide, in natural disasters, from medical errors, of exposure, by misadventure, by assassination or murder, and of various diseases and conditions. Between 10 and 15 million of those people will die of cancer. Today I'm telling you that I'll be one of them."

I haven't known him personally in many years, but I do know this: Derek is smart, funny and accomplished. He is 41 years old and has two young daughters, a wife, a puppy, and a network of family and friends he loves ... and, he's dying. It seems so unfair, and yet, it's simply the way it is. Is dying, at any time, by any means, really 'fair'? It's just a sad fact, made more sad by the circumstances surrounding it.

I've been a fan of Derek's blog for a while now, and his stories of living with cancer (and cancer treatments) have often put things in perspective for me - his recent posts, perhaps even more so. His latest CBC interview is hard to hear, and real. Give it a listen.

For the holidays, give yourself and your family a gift. That pap/breast exam/prostate check you've been putting off? Yeah, lets all agree to make that a priority.