Those of you who follow my blog know that I’m a fan of Randy Pausch, like so many others. I first blogged about him last September, after watching his Lecture of a Lifetime — what he has learned in his too-short years, and the legacy he wants to leave his wife and children. As I said then, I felt his remarks were simply brilliant, and brilliantly simple.
[If you haven't heard of this fine man, you should know that in August 2007, he was given up to six months to live. He is dying of pancreatic cancer, a swift killer with very few who survive it more than a few months once it's diagnosed.]
I learned Randy appeared on Oprah today. That means that people who had not heard of Randy, and his “lecture of a lifetime” before today have certainly heard of him now.
I didn’t see Oprah, but I did decide I needed to check back in with this remarkable man. On his personal blog I found a link to the video of his address to the Carnegie-Mellon Class of 2008. (As an aside, I’m proud to say that my closest friend’s son, named Tim, was a top engineering graduate at Carnegie Tech this year — you go, Tim!)
Just like any of the other appearances of Randy’s I’ve witnessed, his graduation speech was moving; moving to the point that you just wish — just WISH — and hope and pray that his death is a loooong time coming from now. He is so generous with his words of wisdom. He needs more time to share them all.
He made two excellent points for the rest of us:
When we are on our deathbeds, it won’t be the things we did that we regret. It will be the things we didn’t do.
To live your best life, find your passion — the thing that fuels you from the inside. You won’t find it in things you buy or own. You’ll find it will be grounded in other people.
Since first discovering Dr. Pausch last year, I’ve felt a bit of a kinship. Unless you’ve ever heard that death sentence (you have only six months to live) you can’t really relate to it. But if you have heard it? You discover there is a very strong tie that binds you to that person — and I feel that tie with Randy Pausch.
Take the six minutes to watch his commencement address. It will stay with you, as I hope it will stay with those many graduates of Carnegie Mellon who were lucky enough to have known Dr. Randy Pausch, even if it was only for those few minutes at commencement.
Several people have asked me if pancreatic cancer is the same cancer that afflicts Randy Pausch. You may remember Dr. Pausch as the Carnegie Mellon professor who gave his lecture of a lifetime in Fall 2007.
Dr. Pausch has done a great job of battling his cancer. He was given only a few weeks to settle his affairs, yet he is still fighting strong, six months later.
A close friend, Paul, succumbed to pancreatic cancer last year. He lasted only three weeks past his diagnosis — breaking many hearts among those of us who knew him.
So for those of you who are so inclined, please say your prayers for both Dr. Pausch and Mr. Swayze and their families. Your prayers have a far better influence on pancreatic cancer than most therapies can have.
Last September, a gentleman and professor from Carnegie Mellon (Carnegie Tech) made headlines when he announced he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, then stood before a lecture hall of students and gave his “lecture of a lifetime.” It’s about achieving one’s childhood dreams.
I watched it again this morning. As I said when I wrote about Dr. Pausch’s lecture last September, it is simply brilliant and brilliantly simple.
And it still melts me down.
But this post is not about Dr. Paush’s lecture; instead it’s an update on his health and life. I discovered this morning that he keeps a blog that provides that update. He is still in treatment, and so far is finding some success with a cocktail of drugs containing Gemcitabine+Tarceva+Avastin.
He’s been doing everything from spending time with his family, to advocating and lobbying Congress for more funding for research in pancreatic cancer. And yes, he’s still collecting stuffed animals and achieving his goals.
So in case you were wondering, or in case you’d forgotten, Dr. Randy Pausch is alive, as well or better than might have been expected, and is definitely making a difference.
As Dr. Pausch stated in his lecture, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt; we can only control the way we play the hand.”
… for every email I’ve received from friends, web visitors, blog readers, radio listeners regarding the man in England named John who was misdiagnosed with cancer, spent all his money, then found out he had no cancer afterall…
Google provides links to (as of this blog post) 186 publications that carried the news. I watched the report myself on both Good Morning America and the Today Show. The short version is that John was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, told he had only six months to live, and found out after several months that he had no cancer at all. Because he had spent all his money, and run up his credit cards past their limits, he is now suing the hospital that provided the wrong diagnosis.
My questions: which part of the story is so fascinating? the misdiagnosis? the spent money? the lawsuit? And what will be the takeaway by readers and viewers? Here are my thoughts:
When interviewed, John was asked whether he was angry, and he replied that yes, he was. In my own experience, I was SO angry — so VERY angry — and I know that was difficult for many to understand. Being told you will die within months turns your life around 180 degrees. The torment and turmoil is devastating. Then, later being told that “oops!” they made a mistake — and you will be fine afterall…. at the point where you should be elated, and your reality must turn back around 180 degrees again… you just can’t let go of the fury! Until…. as that new reality begins to sink in….
Revenge comes next, and that’s where John’s lawsuit has him. I read recently that the revenge center of the brain is among the most “pleasurable” — that when that part of the brain is stimulated, it is almost as satisfying as the taste of chocolate or the elation of new love, or the acme of good sex. I don’t know if that’s true! But I can tell you that ever since I decided to turn my “revenge” into helping other patients, it has been beyond satisfying. Every day I get to wake up, do my writing or interviewing or presenting, and know I’m having a very positive influence on someone else’s life. Honestly — that kind of revenge is TRULY sweet.
And yes, for the handful of pathologists and oncologists who had a role in my misdiagnosis — I hope when they see my face in the newspaper, or hear my voice on the radio, or see notices about my presentations, they suffer a jolt of guilt when they do. Fine by me. It keeps them on their toes and may prevent the next misdiagnosis from happening.
Beyond the revenge — and perhaps the place John has not yet found himself — is the point when you realize that such a horrible experience has truly become the biggest blessing of your life…. yes….
My cancer misdiagnosis was the biggest blessing of my life.
The reasons are many. I am a changed person in many ways. My death-is-imminent diagnosis made me pause, and that gave me the opportunity to reassess and realign my priorities, focus on how to make sure my loved ones know how much I love them, learn to smell the roses, take time for ME, and gave me the strength to take some risks I had not previously been able to take.
The proof? I talk to my father and my daughters, all of whom live out of town, several times each week. I sold my marketing business, changed careers, established DiagKNOWsis.org and EveryPatientsAdvocate.com to help others advocate for themselves, too. I learned to shut down the computer to take some Trisha Time evenings and weekends. And after 18 years of being single after divorce, I let myself fall in love — and even get married! Now THAT’s a risk, right? !!
Many people have asked me why I didn’t sue, by the way. I did talk to a lawyer and was told that in New York State where I live, in order to prevail in a lawsuit, one must show physical harm. Since I refused chemo, I was never physically harmed. Evidently emotional and mental anguish don’t count, at least in New York State. Regardless, even if there was a possibility of succeeding with a lawsuit, I never would have followed through. I think some lawsuits have their places, but not this one. If I had ever suffered through chemo?… hmm…..
More importantly though — the takeaways I would wish for John and YOU?
For John, I hope he can get beyond his revenge. Either that, or I hope he can turn his revenge into a way to help others because it is SO very positive and SO very sweet.
For John, too, I hope he can realize that every does happen for a reason. He needs to figure out what the reason was for his circumstance — and then he needs to figure out how to make the best of that reason.
And for you, my readers? Sharp patients know to GET A SECOND OPINION — and to pull out all the stops to learn everything they can about difficult and deadly diagnoses! Had John done so, he would have figured out, like I did, that his test results were misread, and he didn’t really have cancer.
… and I would have had to think of something else to blog about today.
The sad news came of 
Last September, a gentleman and professor from Carnegie Mellon (Carnegie Tech) made headlines when he announced he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, then stood before a lecture hall of students and gave his “lecture of a lifetime.” It’s about achieving one’s childhood dreams.
