Transplants of the kidney (note the ‘s’), pancreas, Type 1 diabetes; broken – leg, elbow, wrist, feet, hands, skull, ribs; osteoporosis, gastroparesis, cataracts, failed gall bladder, impacted bowel, chronic bleeding and… metastasizing head and neck cancer for over four years… in all, 40 years of ill-health is what 50 year-old-Brian Nelson has suffered. Even so, through his blog writing, he comes across as the epitome of wit, good-humor and positive thinking.
Starting off the day with my morning dose of The New York Times, and the usual browsing of the headlines, I was drawn by, “When Cancer Changes Your Appearance”. Especially because just a few days back I was chatting with someone close who has also been affected by cancer. Otherwise with positive attitude and a very active individual, I could not help notice signs of extreme pessimism along with a desire to end this now “purposeless existence”. Although I made efforts to cheer up the friend, I know it may not have had a strong-enough impact.
Please, if you read this blog post, I would urge you to certainly follow Brian Nelson’s Blog and hope that you feel inspired and encouraged by his approach to life… despite what most ‘normal’ people would think of as a ‘harrowing set of experiences’.
Brian, I wish you the very best. Thank you for your most inspiring post and for sharing your experiences. May you continue to have the will to live, and the wit to keep your life spiked and exciting. Hope your writing will also have the impact I desire over my dear friend.
Words-n-Motion 