Thursday, March 22, 2007
Elizabeth Edwards
Elizabeth Edwards has been diagnosed with metastatic disease.
I don't know if she has already gone through the crushing wailing despair bit yet, or if she has had more prompt access to therapy than I did, but her attitude seems remarkably upbeat and positive. Let me stress that she has every right to be upbeat and positive (she has been diagnosed with a lesion on one rib, which is treatable but not curable): bone mets are very controllable and it is possible to live with stable bone mets for years. It took me about a year to shake the feeling that doom was imminent; I am glad to see that she is forging ahead and not letting this control her life.
"You can go cower in the corner and hide or you can go out there and stand up for what you believe in," John Edwards said. "We have no intentions of cowering in the corner." John Edwards of course means that he is going to continue seeking nomination for the 2008 election despite his wife's condition, but however you feel about the man's political aspirations, he's got a point.
Upon receiving bad medical news, the very worst thing is to give up on what is important to you. If you decide to quit living your life, the disease has already won.
I don't know if she has already gone through the crushing wailing despair bit yet, or if she has had more prompt access to therapy than I did, but her attitude seems remarkably upbeat and positive. Let me stress that she has every right to be upbeat and positive (she has been diagnosed with a lesion on one rib, which is treatable but not curable): bone mets are very controllable and it is possible to live with stable bone mets for years. It took me about a year to shake the feeling that doom was imminent; I am glad to see that she is forging ahead and not letting this control her life.
"You can go cower in the corner and hide or you can go out there and stand up for what you believe in," John Edwards said. "We have no intentions of cowering in the corner." John Edwards of course means that he is going to continue seeking nomination for the 2008 election despite his wife's condition, but however you feel about the man's political aspirations, he's got a point.
Upon receiving bad medical news, the very worst thing is to give up on what is important to you. If you decide to quit living your life, the disease has already won.
Labels: Elizabeth Edwards, metastasis
