Tom, I'll begin with apologies to the "whether or not alcohol is evil" folks, because I've enjoyed a couple[2] glasses of wine since getting my grandchildren to bed and settling in to read the OCF posts. I'm not a cancer survivor as of yet-I'm a stroke survivor-totally unexpected at age 63-left me blind in 1 eye and with screwed up thought processes-. And, as with alot of the treatment for cancer- my post stroke treatment meds were and are almost worse than the stroke. But then my husband was diagnosed with SCC and shortly thereafter my daughter in law got called to Active Duty and left me a 19 mo. old and a 14 yr. old to care for. I don't have time to worry about my own mortality now, And it has occured to me that might be be real secret to living. The "woe is me" feelings I had for the year following the stroke are gone. Instead its "do I have enough diapers in the house, and what time does Alex need to be at band practice and what can I fix that John can eat tonite" that are on my mind each day. I have said goodbye to 4 grandparents, my Father, Mother, 3 close Aunts and Uncles,a niece, and several friends over the past few years. Dieing is the result of living. Hope is what you define for yourself for the life you have to live.I believe that we can only HOPE that we use our alloted time wisely. Aren't there some wonderful people in this group?
Amy