Uplifting/inspirational story of my best friend, a young aspiring writer with cancer who manages to

swinginpoet

Hi there.  My best friend was diagnosed with cancer four weeks ago. It's a very aggressive form of Lymphoma, but they caught it early and started chemo right away and so far he has been responding surprisingly well.

 

I wanted to share with you this post which I created on imgur, as an introduction to Joey's story.  If you read to the end there is also a link to his blog, where he has been writing about the experience of finding out he had cancer, the reasons why he's not afraid, and the life lessons that have led him to his current state of ultimate positivity, productivity and happiness with his situation.

 

Joey has always wanted to be a writer, but lacked the inspiration and confidence to really go after his dream.  Since his diagnosis, he has found both.  He is now living with his parents, having chemotherapy treatments and writing almost every day.  His words are moving, inspirational and thought-provoking, and I highly encourage you to read and share them.  Not many young people could face a cancer diagnosis with not only bravery but optimism and even humor, but Joey says he is happier now than he has ever been, despite the cancer.  He has found his life's purpose, and whether he lives for five years or fifty, he thinks he will live a life worth living.

Please check out my post on imgur, http://imgur.com/gallery/KgHJp, and then follow the link to his blog (http://perspectiveodysseum.blogspot.com) at the bottom to hear his own account of his ongoing journeys.  Because as he puts it, "cancer is no reason to stop laughing at funny things."  Thank you for taking the time to read this message, and good luck to all of you out there.

 

~Taking Courage from my Best Friend's Cancer Battle

yamster34

Book printing

I wrote a book and had it printed at a local college that has the Espresso Book Machine. Have Joey lookup locations near him that have it. They do everything for the book there. A book has to be at least 80 pages to bind correctly. I have a full color photo for the cover but only black text inside. It costs $.09 a page for that. I am not sure what it costs to have colored photos inside but Joey can call and ask about that. I emailed the files to the college and they changed the file for me, got the books ready and sent them to me. I had a website setup so people could purchase books. Although I have given most of them away free. Mine is a Christian book about how God turns trials into blessings.

I have also had a positive attitude about my terminal cancer diagnosis. The doctor that diagnosed me seemed to think I was dying immediately and Monday will be 10 months! None us knows when we are going Home! My husband says we don't have an expiration date on the bottom of our foot. He is right so why do we just believe a doctor when they say we will die in 3-6 months or any other time frame. They don't know for sure, but if we believe they are right, they probably will be right.

Prayers and best wishes for Joey,

Amy

PrescottPaul

yamster34 said:

Book printing

I wrote a book and had it printed at a local college that has the Espresso Book Machine. Have Joey lookup locations near him that have it. They do everything for the book there. A book has to be at least 80 pages to bind correctly. I have a full color photo for the cover but only black text inside. It costs $.09 a page for that. I am not sure what it costs to have colored photos inside but Joey can call and ask about that. I emailed the files to the college and they changed the file for me, got the books ready and sent them to me. I had a website setup so people could purchase books. Although I have given most of them away free. Mine is a Christian book about how God turns trials into blessings.

I have also had a positive attitude about my terminal cancer diagnosis. The doctor that diagnosed me seemed to think I was dying immediately and Monday will be 10 months! None us knows when we are going Home! My husband says we don't have an expiration date on the bottom of our foot. He is right so why do we just believe a doctor when they say we will die in 3-6 months or any other time frame. They don't know for sure, but if we believe they are right, they probably will be right.

Prayers and best wishes for Joey,

Amy

prediction of duration of survivorship

In my case, I wanted to know an approximation to inspire me to not waste any time and be more mindful for each great day.  Also, I am a family med physician and miss providing patient care.  So, another part of my wish was to gain some sense of how long I could still provide patient care. I am also doing the integrative work with a well respected naturopathic oncologist as my tumor has poor long term survival if you believe the stats, so what the Hay,  might as well try something out of the box to see if there is a difference.  My oncologist is more positive for survival than I am, has patients with same brain cancer still living 10 years beyond prediction.  One of them I ask for contact info to see what he is doing positively for survival.  She said I probably would not be interested as he is a drug addict.  Wondering what he is shooting up? (just kidding).