Easy day, Honoring Your Edge, Hope, Accepting Help, and The Great Wall of China

"There is no worse death than the end of hope", the Roman philosopher Palagius from the excellent film, "King Arthur" (2004). I am full of hope and enjoying the love and life force energy (prana or ki or many other words) that surrounds us and is within us all.

Yesterday was an easy day for me. I figured out my folks' telephone answering system and set the number of rings on their phone to two and set up their answering system so they can get their voice mails remotely. I also had a very nice visit with some friends at their beautiful home on one of the fairways on the Lake Wildwood Golf Course. We drove to a good friend's home in Danville, California and ate at an excellent, Italian restaurant. This good friend graciously and generously extended his hospitality and is driving us into San Francisco for my University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) oncologist appointment.

I am starting to do a bit of yoga and I am honoring my edge. My left knee is feeling good and I can almost walk at a normal pace now. I still use a crutch as a walking cane not only to slow me down but to provide my knee and skull an extra margin of safety.

I have learned to accept help gracefully through this experience with gioblastoma multiforme (GBM). At the scene of my bicycle wreck on June 10, 2007 where I incurred a concussion, stable compression fracture of thoracic vertebrae 10, a bruised lung, lacerated liver, and a slew of other relatively minor injuries that did not show up on imaging, the EMT report said something like, "The patient was exhibiting seizure activity and was combative and refused care." I have total amnesia of my wreck into the brick wall, Great Wall of China sized, volcanic rock so I trust the EMT report and it is consistent of who I was. I could see myself saying, "I'm OK. Just let me rest a bit and I'll be alright. Do not touch me. I do not want to pay for an ambulance ride or emergency department copay." I have short term memory loss of at least 30 minutes before my crash so unfortunately I missed out on my helicopter ride out of the most beautiful place on Earth, The Three Sisters Wilderness Area.

I learned during my week long stay in Sacred Heart Medical Center (SHMC) in Eugene to accept help with grace. It was easy. The skillful, loving care provided by the staff, physicians, nurses, and volunteers of SHMC to me the entire Thanksgiving week was wonderful and gave me and my parents great comfort. Thank you SHMC and god bless you.

Peace and Love,
Jack