Messages from Mike
I opened an old notebook of Mike’s tonight as I was going through a box of his things. I’ve been meaning to read through the notebook for awhile and finally got to it tonight.
I found a short list,
”Foods to eat when I’m better:
1) Roast beef (my own)
2) Sushi
3) Mexican”
Then there was a page of Mike dealing with fear:
“Fear =
Face
Everything
And
Recover
Cancer can not stop me. With God on my side, I need not fear.
Fuck
Everything
An
Run
I will come out the other side stronger and wiser.”
And on the other side:
“Experience will build my spiritual strength and bring me closer to my Higher Power. Love is the key to growth. I am loved by many people who will gladly help in any way they can. My sobriety and serenity will increase as I struggle with myself and grow towards accepting help and support. Today I am not alone, and I need never be alone again.”
The rest of the notebook was a food diary, written last January and February as the doctors struggled to figure out what was making him sick. They did scans and other tests, but the cancer hadn’t come back in the form of tumors, so they couldn’t see it until they found fluid on his abdomen the end of February and there were cancer cells in it.
I wish he had kept more of a diary, but this is all I found about his feelings in all the things I have. It was the same thing he was telling people. He would live each day and relish its joys right up until the day he died.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a new peer support program for people newly diagnosed with chronic or serious illness or with a new disability and their caregivers.
Patient Pals are people who have experience with various illnesses and disabilities, who can help someone newly diagnosed or with a new disability work through the fear, frustration, confusion and grief often experienced in the first few months.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
People with new illness or disability fare better when they have a role model -- someone who can help them negotiate their new path in life.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
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