2015 Celebration of Life, San Diego CA USA
The 2015 Celebration of Life was this past Friday.  A group of tumor/cancer survivors created this event five years ago to say thanks to the people that were there for us during the most difficult times in our lives:  our family, our friends, and fellow survivors.  This year Patti McDonald, Vi Ariola, and I did the toasts.  We showed the latest Tumors Suck videos.  It is getting harder to get people together because everyone is very involved in a variety of different organizations, most notably: Relay for Life, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Stupid Cancer, and First Descents.  We welcome ALL to come and celebrate another year together!  The purpose of the “Celebration of Life” is to formally say thanks to the people who were there for us in the most difficult times in our lives!  We rarely get to do that.  I don’t think I ever officially said “thanks!” to all my supporters.  We formally recognized them by honoring them with toasts.
Something strange happened that night…  I’ve noticed that I always get choked up whenever my family is there for a presentation!  My mom, my dad, and my brother went through so much because of me.  It is very humbling.  Somehow I got them to write “essays” about their experiences with having a loved one going into surgery!  Very surprised they did it!  When they aren’t present for a talk, I’m fine.  I still can’t believe how strong they were for the situation I put them in!  I’ve spoken at numerous universities, hospitals, ceremonies, and events all over the world, but put me in front of the people that were there for me when I was “lost”… I get very emotional.  I can’t help it! I was confused, scared, and for the first time in my life not confident.  I’ve noticed that I now wear my emotions on my sleeve, which is funny because before surgery, I was a very stoic guy!  When I’m excited about something, you can tell. I’m also more apt to have an emotional responses to heart-wrenching stories.  I always blame my “allergies” when that happens.  The past year was particularly tough losing a couple close friends to brain tumors.  It does not get any easier.  There is a part of me that realizes how close I was to leaving this world or having severely debilitating side effects.  It is very humbling.  I strongly believe that my prior and current physical activity level played a very large role in my survivorship and subsequent “thrivership”.  I’m VERY interested in WHY my survivor friends who are physically active tend to do better after treatment.  I’m very curious.  The human body is not supposed to be stationary. I think that there must be some relationship between physical activity/exercise and post oncology treatment quality of life.
Anyways, after a very busy September of traveling, I can finally rest! Â Actually this week, I’m experimenting with the Google hangout in a classroom setting. Â I’ve done it a couple times, but I’m still trying to perfect it! Â Then I can rest! Â I will try to take some screen shots and post it on facebook! Â Starting to plan MKF activities for next year!