Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Another Cancer Patient Passes Away

Hi,

I follow 1 or 2 cancer blogs at any given time. I choose them because for different reasons they resonate with me. One blog that I've been following since it's inception 8 months ago is a blog titled "Waeger Will Win" co-authored by Dan Waeger and his fiancee Meg Rodgers. Dan had been fighting lung cancer for almost 4 years when he passed away at 26 (note, I updated his age based on feedback from his mother -- I had mistakenly said "in his early 30s") on Monday March 16 2009. It's probably hard to go back and read the 100+ blog entries since the blog began, but the last 5 are particularly poignant. Even in death, this couple could find compassion, love, sorrow, a winning attitude, and dignity all at the same time. Instead of dwelling on the act of dying, one recent post defined the term "winning" and tied it back to Dan's situation. Another post focused on 25 things to remember about Dan. The blog carries both humor and gravity. If you have an interest in learning from others by example in a time when "for better or worse" followed the "worse" case, yet did so with so much strength and loving, it's worth reading the five posting dated from March 5 2009 to March 16 2009. Their blog is at:

http://waegerwillwin.blogspot.com/.

My wishes for peace go out to Dan, Megan and their families and friends.

Two other items. Thank you for all of your comments on my last post entry. About a third were from people who actually posted comments directly on the blog. The rest were excerpts from emails I received. I removed the senders last name (or just included their initials to ensure anonymity) as well as non-cancer related comments before posting them. This blog is more about "my cancer" than it is about me.

One blog comment last week suggested that I provide advice about what approach I would use today, given my found (although not desired) expertise in Cancer World if I were to hear those life changing words today, "you have cancer." That's an excellent suggestion and a topic I'll address in the next few days. They also suggested I ask you what subjects about cancer may be of interest. I certainly don't have all the answers, but it may lead to some useful commentary by me as well as contribution by you. If you have questions or subject areas, please post them.

Once again, posting a comment is easy and doesn't require a user ID or pass code. A comment can literally be posted in a minute by clicking on the word "comment" at the end of each blog entry. Check the "Anonymous" radio button blog option if you'd rather not log in. It is that easy.

Thanks for checking in, stay positive, and take care of yourself.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, young man for mentioning Dan. This is his mother., Cicily Waeger He was only 26, not 30. His funeral is Friday. There are no words for our grief. I am continually amazed at how much Dan and his struggle and his blog touched the lives of so many. Dan and Meg taught us how to live in the NOW and most of us never do learn that.

Meg Rodgers said...

And this is Meg. Thanks for following our blog, as well as for writing your own. I find great comfort and inspiration following others who walked the same path as us.

Meg

Anonymous said...

Just wanted you to know that you often refer to lung metastasis as lung cancer. You could not be more inaccurate. Lung cancer is very very different than lung mets. Unfortunately young Dan suffered from lung cancer, so please make the distinction as you build your "blog community"