Comments on: If not “fighting”, then what?

By: Elly Smith

Elly Smith — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:16:22 +0000

Hi Chris and Gill, I just wanted to say how much we have appreciated your blog and if there is anything that we can ever do to help you just let us know. Elly, Duncan and family x

By: Tweets that mention A mammoth undertaking › If not “fighting”, then what? -- Topsy.com

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:17:37 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Hugh McGuire and Daniel Royer, Chris Booth. Chris Booth said: New blog post: Why I "fight" my cancer, and don't think there is a better word. #cancer http://bit.ly/d7wOoo [...]

By: icyjumbo

icyjumbo — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:33:43 +0000

Unfortunately it wasn’t in today’s print edition, and the online version of today’s paper isn’t up yet. I suppose there’s still tomorrow. Nevertheless, I felt it was important to say something, and some people saw what I wrote. David and Veronica both commented with interesting syntheses of Sizer’s and my arguments, which probably approach the best way to look at cancer and fighting.

By: icyjumbo

icyjumbo — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:27:13 +0000

David A. and Veronica, you both seem to be saying about the same thing, and I think you’re both right. I admit, I’m willing to define things any way I like, as long as I can do it so that I choose to be happy as much as possible. Strangely enough, that is quite a strong point of focus for me at the moment.

Veronica, I’m sorry to hear about David’s trigger finger. That sounds painful. I hope it’s not archery related, although I suspect it might actually be keyboard related instead

By: Catharine E

Catharine E — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:39:42 +0000

Great letter, Chris! I wouldn’t be surprised if they get a bunch of letters from cancer patients, and I hope they choose to print a bunch of them (yours included, naturally).

By: David Allsopp

David Allsopp — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:23:13 +0000

Hi Chris,

I have the slight problem that I agree with both letters, so something is amiss

I think it comes down to defining what battle(s) you are fighting and what constitutes a victory. I think Dr Sizer is arguing against the idea of a singular win or loss at the conclusion of the entire ‘campaign’ – whereas you are enjoying victories (plural) day by day.

The definition that Dr Sizer is, er, fighting against would make us all losers (after all, we all eventually lose our battle with the universe, and die). But the sum total of our daily, yearly victories hopefully adds up to a happy total.

So I agree with you that there seems no better word than “fight”; perhaps Dr Sizer would agree with it too if others defined their battles and their victories as you do!

Good to see you today,

All the best,

David.

By: Veronica

Veronica — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:22:43 +0000

Hi Chris, As you say, interesting to see if they do publish.
My impression, (and I hope you will set me right if I am wrong), is that you are looking at this process as a series of challenges, an approach that seems perfectly logical to me. The size of that challenge, from the small having coffee with friends, to the enormous processing the diagnosis, is immaterial. The joy of meeting that challenge and succeeding cannot be underestimated.
I don’t believe that there is any “right way” to deal with any illness. Each individual has to do what is right for them, and if it’s not what convention dictates, so what. Where would science be if no-one ever thought differently.

By: icyjumbo

icyjumbo — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:53:37 +0000

@Seonaid, you keep reading; I’ll keep writing

By: icyjumbo

icyjumbo — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:52:34 +0000

Oh, don’t worry, I will!

Actually, I knew about Barbara Ehrenreich, and wrote a post about how strongly I agreed with her about “positive thinking”. http://www.icyjumbo.com/blog/2010/learned-optimism/ was where I wrote about learning to choose how to react to events, as advocated by Martin Seligman.

By: Seonaid Teal

Seonaid Teal — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:35:35 +0000

Chris,
I’m glad you get so much out of the blog. Its a great read. Well done. I’ll keep reading.