6 Months

[bentcountershaft]

Let's say the Dr says you will be dead within six months. What do you do for those six months? Bucket list? Travel? Find God? Help your fellow man? Make videos to show your kids later like Michael Keaton in that one movie? What would you do?

 

[mishele]

Damn man, that is a crazy deep question for a Monday morning!

 

[nola.ron]

Well, I already know God but I would certainly try to finish out my days according to my beliefs. First of all I would see another doctor... a specialized hospital for whatever I was diagnosed with. I would also try to make an impact on other people's lives. I would spend it with family and friends, make sure everyone really knows how I feel about them, make sure my finances are in order and that my family will be ok, my property/assets distributed as I want them to be, make videos addressed to everyone in my family individually, and THEN work on bucket list items. In that order.

I sincerely hope this isn't an indication of news you have been given!

 

[bentcountershaft]

I sincerely hope this isn't an indication of news you have been given!

No, not at all. Just had the thought in the shower.

Damn man, that is a crazy deep question for a Monday morning!

That's a fair point. I wonder how much people answers would change if I asked on a friday night?

 

[mishele]

Damn man, that is a crazy deep question for a Monday morning!

That's a fair point. I wonder how much people answers would change if I asked on a friday night?

Yeah, I'll answer later tonight after a glass or 2 of wine...lol

 

[sm4him]

After making sure all of the legal/financial stuff was in order I would:
(not necessarily in order of importance)

--Spend as much time with family and friends as possible
--Travel as much as I can (given my current finances, that wouldn't even get me out of state, but still...), explore new places, take pictures. MOST of my bucket list is places I want to go.
--Write letters to my kids and my sister and my best friend. I'm not much of a "make a video" kinda girl.
--Put my heart and soul into the speaking ministry that is what I really feel called to do
--Start trying to get rid of all the junk in my house so the kids won't have to do it.
--Sing in a church ensemble group. Just once.

There's probably more, but those are the main things that come to me right now. Fortunately, I am doing some of those already. Wish I could travel more, but oh well.
Oh and that last one? That's more a pipe dream than a bucket list item. My wonderful music minister graciously allows me to sing in our choir, because honestly, when people hear me sing "On A Hill Far Away," they probably wish one of us WAS on a hill far away, so they wouldn't be hearing me.

 

[oldhippy]

Try to get run over by some guy in a Lexis. DW could use the extra loot. just kiddin

 

[TimothyJinx]

Try to get run over by some guy in a Lexis. DW could use the extra loot. just kiddin

Made me laugh out loud!

 

[Buckster]

When told I have an incurable cancer and was in stage 4 (the last before death), I wasn't expected to last another 2 months to Christmas that year. I started writing like crazy to communicate my thoughts to my loved ones. I made it a point to spend more time with my daughter. I reached out and met my son. I made more art. I made it a point to savor each day that I woke up again. I followed the doctor's recommendations in the hopes of getting into a remission. I made cartoons about it. I blogged about it all to keep loved ones informed and to help others in similar situations hopefully cope a little better. I started speaking my mind a lot more, and holding back a lot less.

I took up smoking cigarettes too, since I was no longer afraid I'd get cancer and would be dead within a couple months anyway! I quit again later, but yeah...

With the help of science, medicine, chemotherapy, monoclonal antigens, and a positive attitude, I managed to get into a remission and survive. Two years later when it returned, I did it again. Several years after that, about 10 months ago, my symptoms returned in a very aggressive way, I got a whole new variant of my incurable cancer, and I dug in to beat it again, this time with a stem cell transplant added into the mix about 2 months ago because it was so aggressive that the chemo alone wasn't going to cut it. My hair is just now starting to grow back, and my energy levels are returning. I'll have a PET scan in May and a review of it in June to see if the remission is holding it in check again for awhile or not.

It's been 11 years and 4 months since I initially found out, and every day is a special day I never thought I'd have to enjoy, so I do. In all that time, I've never known if I've got 6 months, 6 years, 16 years, or even more remaining, but I'm making the best of every day I have left as though it's my last - within my means. I don't have the money for a round the world adventure fulfilling a bucket list. I don't have the energy to climb mountains anymore. I've no interest in pursuing the supernatural.

But I'm still looking forward to setting up a new studio space with my gear this spring and to get shooting again. Looking forward to day trips to scenic or educational or fun places. Looking forward to enjoying time with my daughter and grandkids and other family and friends.

This much I can tell you: You get a whole new perspective on daily life when you really come to understand that your days are truly numbered.

 

[oldhippy]

God love ya Buck. Your a tough old bird. I'll say a prayer in my old hippy way. Keep knowing that you are well. As I've read .. Physican heal thy self..later Ed

 

[runnah]

Spend less time on here that is for sure.

 

[skieur]

Take a look at all the research, study and experiments on death, near death experiences, and what happens afterward. There is a lot out there to find and some of it may be interesting.

 

[LightMatters]

Thanks, Buckster. Really needed to hear your resilience and determination tonight. Tomorrow morning ... no make that in a few hours ... I'll be sitting w/my 86 yo father-in-law while my mother-in-law has another biopsy for a recurrence of metastasized lung ca. She was Dx'd about 9 mo ago, and underwent radiation and chemo, w/the first few post-treatment scans negative for new lesions. Their 50th wedding anniversary is in mid-May and having that celebration to plan/look forward to may be a major factor in pulling her forward. I sure hope so! So many other people have walked this journey which is a good thing for me to remember, often. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[pgriz]

Cancers, even metastatic ones, sometimes don't grow fast when you're past 80. I know of four cases among my mother's cohort (she's 90), who have had cancer diagnosed, and continue to live reasonably well. One had metastatic melanoma, which is a very aggressive cancer, and she has had it for 11 years now. At the time (11 years ago), she figured she didn't have much time left anyways, so decided not to have it treated. Now she's joking that a bad driver will kill her on a crosswalk before her cancer does. I'm not making light of the seriousness of the disease, but it does appears that cancerous old cells just don't have the same vigour that cancerous cells from young tissue do.

 

[LightMatters]

Cancers, even metastatic ones, sometimes don't grow fast when you're past 80. I know of four cases among my mother's cohort (she's 90), who have had cancer diagnosed, and continue to live reasonably well. One had metastatic melanoma, which is a very aggressive cancer, and she has had it for 11 years now. At the time (11 years ago), she figured she didn't have much time left anyways, so decided not to have it treated. Now she's joking that a bad driver will kill her on a crosswalk before her cancer does. I'm not making light of the seriousness of the disease, but it does appears that cancerous old cells just don't have the same vigour that cancerous cells from young tissue do.

Great perspective, and an aspect of the disease cadre I hadn't heard of before. Thanks, pgriz!