Cancer blog

LeRoy Sievers died this weekend. He wrote a daily blog on NPR entitled, "Cancer World". For the past little bit I've wondered everday when I opened his blog if it would say that he had passed away. He had made the decision just a few days ago to go into hospice care. I read about his death in the newspaper this morning. I still opened his blog today.

I first saw LeRoy on a program on the discovery health channel several months ago. He was on a panel with Elizabeth Edwards, Lance Armstrong, and another person whose name escapes me, and they were being interviewed by Ted Koppel. It was in a theatre in the round type of setting with people in the audience who were doctors, nurses, patients, family; and, I believe the program was in two parts. It was all about people living with cancer. I learned from it. I wanted to know more, so I started reading LeRoy's blog.

I don't know exactly why I read his blog everyday. I don't have cancer. I think it's because I've always been fascinated by how people deal with adversity in their lives. In other words, how do people survive?

I will miss reading about his daily life. He took me into 'cancer world', and as an outsider looking in, I was able to see a world that hundreds of thousands of people live everday. His blog gave me a sharper perspective of life.

I will miss reading his words and feeling his experiences. He offered an opportunity for people from all walks of life to connect in a world that stripped away many of their differences and gave them an outlet to share their stories and support one another.

I feel sad. I didn't know him personally and that's why it's interesting to me that I actually feel like I know a very special part of him. Our experiences, thoughts, and feelings can be expressed in words that have great impact on people's lives. Think about it...

carry on.