Death, it's a funny thing.

I met with my oncologist yesterday and for the first time, he actually gave me some kind of time-line for my cancer. Until this point, he used that "there is no expiration date anywhere on your body" routine. We were talking about taking a drug holiday for the summer. As he had explained before, there are several types of Prostate Cancer and the hormone therapy that I am taking now only works on one kind of the cancer and then only for so long. By taking drug holidays, it seems to extend the effectiveness of the therapy and for the first time he actually said 15 years. So there you have it. I have another 15 or so years left to have all the fun I can squeeze in to that period of time.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not complaining at all. If left to my own devices, I would have assumed that my time left was significantly less. Since I have adopted a new attitude toward life, this is great news.

A very funny thing happens when you learn that you are dying. Not a funny, ha, ha, thing but a ironic, peculiar funny thing. When you know you are going to die, you suddenly and finally begin to live. When you think time is short, you stop wasting time with people you don't like and you stop tolerating stupidity and whining. Instead of fear, one becomes comfortable with who we are. Instead of running away, we turn inward and try to resolve the conflicts that have hindered us in life. I can honestly say that I have never been this happy in my life. I now do what I want. I write daily. I pursue my art in photography, music and 3-D modeling with my model railroad. My time is my own and oh, how I enjoy it. My two life partners (my Jack Russel Terriers) and I travel when we want. We do what we want. In other words, life is a great treasure and I plan to enjoy it every day I am still here. As they say, “It's a great day when I awake above ground.”

So my friends, I go forward in life by living it one day at a time and enjoying that day to it's fullest.