Category Archives: Attitude

The Worst Medical Advice I’ve Ever Received

Couch Potato Dreams of Cycling

Couch Potato Dreams of Cycling

A few months after my cancer diagnosis, the medical costs were accumulating and the insurance carrier was questioning every treatment, compounding the stress levels.

The insurance carrier decided they’d like to send a nurse expert to my house to evaluate my condition and care. We reviewed my diagnosis and what I was doing to ‘stay healthy’. Her stated goal was to get me the best care possible, but I suspected another motive to minimize insurer costs.

Prior to diagnosis, I was very physically active, riding bicycles around 10 hours a week, for the last 25 years. I often rode to work and back – logging in extra miles, 25-50 miles on some work days, 60+ on the weekends. My diet was poultry and fish, with fresh veggies every day – a pretty good diet except for a love of pizza. Beside genetics, there was really little reason for me to have pancreatic cancer – at age 48.

I talked to the nurse about how difficult it was to ride the bike while on chemotherapy. While still riding every day, two days after chemo I could only manage about 3 miles and others up to 30. The long bike rides helped me release stress while giving me time to process the thoughts running through my head.

And this is where I received the worst medical advice ever:

You don’t need to ride your bike any more. Now is the time that you get to sit back, relax, and use up all that fitness you’ve got stored.

Wow.

With one recommendation she dismissed my stress relief and suggested I wouldn’t survive long.

Apparently I should sit on the couch and watch TV for the brief remainder of my existence?

I disregarded her advice and suggestion. Six years later, I’m still riding my bicycle and surviving.

Driving treatment decisions on 11 Nov 2017

Stockdale Paradox & Cancer

I’ve been thinking about how we patients and caregivers approach our struggle with cancer. I’m four years after diagnosis and in my second year of remission and I realize that I’m still not done. This will be a long-term struggle. Even in my enviable position, I still have periodic scans, receive an experimental vaccine, research new treatment options, and participate in online discussion groups. At any time, I can be thrown back into the treatment phase.

I’m not done with cancer and cancer’s not done with me.

We’re told to “beat cancer”, “make cancer history”, and become a “survivor”. But as I look forward from here, I don’t see any of these happening soon. I don’t see a real and lasting conclusion that doesn’t end in my death. Which is not to say that cancer wins!

This has led me to wondering what I can learn from patients with chronic diseases such as depression, diabetes, heart disease, HIV, etc? What mental attitude do they adopt that lets them endure over the long haul? What if cancer patients adopt parts of this mindset? With a long-haul mindset, would we handle this better?

Today I was introduced to the Stockdale Paradox (video below) and I immediately saw great relevance to this situation. Admiral Stockdale was the senior Naval POW for over 7 years during the Vietnam War. His life lesson resonated with me. Perhaps it will help you define how you’ll endure this disease. I leave you to discover it as I did.