Why Write?

Why am I doing this? That’s a question a friend asked me this morning.

Well, I’m not really sure. I know I was inspired partly by Leroy Sievers, the onetime producer of Ted Koppel’s television show, journalist and blogger (MyCancer) who died not long ago. Not that I could be Leroy Sievers or take his place or somehow replicate his work but, rather, that I’d like to follow his lead. Maybe, like him, I could speak to and for people facing terminal cancer and to their loved ones.

I hope I can.

Another reason why I’m doing this is that "this" is what I do. It's what I’ve done my whole life. I’m a writer. I’m a writer who has cancer. So I’ll write. About my life and its joys and struggles and about my wife, Lynne, and my mom and brothers and friends. From time to time, but not often, I’ll write about what it’s like to be a cancer patient who happens also to be a sober alcoholic thanks to a recovery program I’m in. I think that’s relevant and also think maybe I’m a better person, maybe I do a better job of facing my cancer because of that program and what I’ve learned there.

I’m not sure what I’ll do with these words. I guess I’ll send them to a few friends and see what happens.

I do know I’d like to hear from other men and women with terminal cancer and their friends and loved ones. We share something. We share having to face death in a way that others can’t understand. And we shouldn’t have to face it without help from others who understand.

I plan to write as often as possible. I’ve no set schedule. Right now, I’m between courses of chemo so I feel pretty good except for the exhaustion that just won’t go away. But I don’t know for sure when the treatments will start again. And when they do, when I’m back to sitting in a room with my feet up and a needle in a port in my chest, I don’t know how often I’ll be up to writing.

So contact me, if you feel like it. And then we’ll see what happens.