Joel Naftelberg's Emotional Roller Coaster

I chose to write an essay about the “Topic of Cancer” by Christopher Hitchens. In this short autobiographical essay, Hitchens discusses his experience with Esophageal cancer. Just one day after lanching his book “Hitch-22” Hitchens was made aware of his illness, where he later describes the news as “taking me from the country of well, to the stark frontier.” It was then he chose to write about his experience for the purpose of documenting the changes that he, and his body were about to go through with chemotherapy, and also for the purpose of contemplating his current situation. The reason that I chose this story is because of my own personal experiences that I have had with many loved ones in my life. There is one case in particular that stands out in my memory, among the rest. It was when my friend of many years discovered that he had a very rare form of brain cancer. Soon after undergoing chemotherapy, he lost his battle. There are many people that believe chemotherapy at any stage is the best, and often times, the only way to cure cancer, yet others claim that chemotherapy is not the answer at all. A close analysis of recent statistics can settle this debate.

He told me a story of a friend he had who had cancer and she made the choice to stop the chemotherapy. Her arms had scabs and she decided enough was enough. She knew she wasn’t going to get better. She talked about death as if she were going to a party. He described how she appeared to be at peace because she lived a fulfilling life. Mr. E felt that she encouraged and motivated him more than he to her.Mr. E felt that the greatest joys of getting older were family and seeing it grow. He also felt that being loved and having others think highly of you were great achievements.Looking back on his life Mr. E felt that the only thing he could have done differently was to be more patient, smarter, more humane and not make as many mistakes. “You look back and think that you were not able to see things that are obvious” (E. Privacy, personal communication, October 10, 2012).

My patient is a 64-year-old that came in for upper abdominal pain. She felt her pain was worse when she lied down flat, so she had been trying to sit up and lean forward for most of the day. As the day went on her pain got worse, so she came into Emergency Department for further evaluation. She did not have any nausea or emesis and no change in her bowel habits. No fevers or chills. No trauma to the abdomen. In the hospital, she is diagnosed with acute pancreatitis.

T.B. is a 65-year-old retiree who is admitted to your unit from the emergency department (ED). On arrival you note that he is trembling and nearly doubled over with severe abdominal pain. T.B. indicates that he has severe pain in the right upper quadrant (RUQ) of his abdomen that radiates through to his mid-back as a deep, sharp boring pain. He is more comfortable walking or sitting bent forward rather than lying flat in bed. He admits to having had several similar bouts of abdominal pain in the last month, but “none as bad as this.” He feels nauseated but has not vomited, although he did vomit a week ago with a similar episode. T.B. experienced an acute onset of pain after eating fish and chips

This text is a speech presented by Jimmy Valvano at the 1993 ESPY's. This speech is iconic for being one of the last public appearances discussing his cancer and his new charity. He talks about the three ways to make every day count, how to achieve goals and the importance of cancer research. The text highlight Valvano’s enthusiasm, persistence to fight and true love for life.

Dr. Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science at Carnegie-Mellon University who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, educated me with his powerful inspirational message. Dr. Randy Pausch, 47 years old man who has terminal cancer with a life expectancy of a few months gave me a life lesson. He thought me how to achieve dreams also how to face death. Being diagnosed with any kinds of cancer is devastating and despairing, but for him it was opposite; he was happy and cognitively healthy during his final lecture at Carnegie-Mellon University. He even said, “If I don 't seem as depressed or morosed as I should be, sorry to disappoint you” (Video) and continued lecturing. He hadn’t show any sadness or depression during his lecture

“Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” The words of the great Jimmy Valvano. Jimmy was a Men’s Basketball Coach at N.C. State University. He is one of the greatest coaches of all time. But he is also the man who delivered the “Never Give Up” speech at the ESPY Awards in 1993. This has inspired so many people. It’s the thought of Cancer that often brings Jimmy into mind. Stuart Scott is also very inspirational when it comes to cancer. A real inspiration is Mrs. Spatz. She has beat cancer 4 times. Over and over again, she has fought and beat cancer. She is now a teacher at Wyndcroft Private School in Pottstown. Although she is my mother, she creates inspiration for many

Many people can relate to his personal battle with cancer and his dedication to cancer research. His speech was full of emotion. He gave examples of his anguish during a seven-day stay before the awards ceremony, explaining his liver complications, kidney failure, and multiple surgeries. This provided the audience with real life experiences to understand the depth of what this award stands for.

Cancer has one of the biggest effects on the patients mental health but also the patients loved ones and friends. It is one of the hardest things to get a grip on when the doctor tells someone that they have cancer and a fifty-fifty chance of making it. "The disease can bring many changes-in what people do and how they look, in how they feel and what they value" (Dakota 4). It makes people look at the world and their lives in a different way, valuing now what they took for granted and seeing the bigger picture in every scenario. It is something that no one can actually brace, even after the doctor tells them. Through it all though, the person must remain strong and optimistic because the cancer can affect the person's moods and in return affect the outcome of the person and the chances of their making it

Overall everyone in Deanna’s family has been very supportive throughout her cancer treatment, even her husband’s Green Bay Packer fans. The person who had the most psychosocial issues during her treatment is her husband Brett. From the beginning Brett is extremely nervous about it possibly being cancer. During the day of the diagnosis he is continuously calling to see if she has any news on the test results. After telling her husband she has cancer, she explains that her confident husband had a pale face, he didn’t know what to say and she believed that he was more shocked than she was. He was supportive when he asked if he should quit playing football so he could spend more time with her. Arthur Frank argues that “illness such as cancer is

When I asked him how is life now? He explained that surviving on a day-to-day basis

In September 2015, Mr. C was re-diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which had been in remission for 4 years, and he is currently receiving cancer chemotherapy. Mr. C reported that the cancer is more debilitating this time around as he is experiencing more pain, only sleeps three to four hours a night, and has noticed a dramatic decrease in energy over the last month. This decrease in energy particularly upsets him because he reports not having the energy to spend time with his girlfriend and her son.

“’So what’s your story?’” she then then replies “’I already told you my story. I was diagnosed when-‘” He interrupts and says “’No, not your cancer story. Your story. Interests, hobbies, passions, etcetera… Don’t tell me you’re one of those people who becomes their disease. I know so many people like that. It’s disheartening. Like cancer is in the growth business, right? The taking-people-over business. But surely you haven’t let it succeed prematurely’” (Green, 32).

Throughout the entirety of his memoir, Randy Pausch, a man dying of pancreatic cancer, is extremely upbeat and positive. He never pretends that his illness isn’t there, but also never dwells on the fact that it is. His doctor sums this attitude up perfectly by calling him “his poster boy for ‘the healthy balance between optimism and realism’ ” (Pausch 183). Being able to have a positive attitude is the most prominent and, to me, the most important lesson that The Last Lecture teaches. Randy’s understanding of optimism vs. pessimism comes simply from the childhood story, Winnie the Pooh: ”Each of us must decide: Am I a fun-loving Tigger or am I a sad-sack Eeyore?” (Pausch 180). Randy is clearly a Tigger, and I can very easily identify with that part of him. I am often too optimistic, to the point where I can be perceived as slightly obnoxious. But I’ve always lived by the “fake it ‘till you make it” idiom, meaning that when I truly feel bad about a situation I’m in, I can make myself feel better just by acting like things are okay. This doesn’t mean I am blind to real problems, I just do what I can to make them easier to deal with. I believe that Randy had similar beliefs regarding his cancer, as his “...personal take on optimism is that as a mental state, it can enable you to do tangible things to improve your physical state” (Pausch 183). All of the other ideals that Dr. Pausch lived by are important, but I think that his positivity is truly what enabled him to achieve his dreams and live a full

About a year after being diagnosed, his doctor told him that he was cancer free. He was so happy; his face was all smiles. I had never seen him so happy in his entire life. It was such a beautiful sight seeing my old mans face that lit up, he told everyone that he was cancer free. I was so proud of my father for being that strong, cancer couldn't even bring him down.