HERMAN CA...N

I'm not saying anything about politics.  Heaven knows I have my opinions, but I'm going to spare everyone from those.  But here's what I do want to say.  I really like Herman Cain.  I want to meet him.  I want to have lunch with him and hang out for the afternoon.  I don't care what we talk about, so long as we hit on his time as CEO of the pizza place and having cancer.  He says things like, "That dog won't hunt."  If he doesn't look like the cat who swallowed the canary when he smiles, no one does.  I love it.

Five years ago, in 2006, Mr. Cain was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer and Stage IV liver cancer.  Can you imagine?  According to WebMD, the 5-year survival rate for Stage IV colon cancer is about 8%.  http://www.webmd.com/colorectal-cancer/guide/treatment-stage?page= and, with regard to liver cancer, "Advanced liver cancer has no standard curative treatment."  http://www.webmd.com/cancer/understanding-liver-cancer-treatment?page=2  I've heard that when Mr. Cain's doctor told him they would be removing a significant portion of his liver, he is reputed to have asked, "Can I survive with just a sliver of liver?"  Obviously, he did.

So, here's what I want to know from Herman (we're now on a first-name basis):  did he smile like the cat who swallowed the canary before he prevailed over such odds and use phrases like, "That dog won't hunt," when he was discussing treatment alternatives with his doctors?  Or did grasping a one out of 12 chance to live somehow infuse some "happy" into him?  I mean, I don't know if I could do that.  Of course, if I think I cannot, then there's a good chance (better than 1 out of 12) that I won't.  Even if I say I will try, I'm painting a bleak picture for success.  In the words of the great Jedi knight, Yoda, "No! Do or do not. There is no try."  So I'm guessing Herman just picked himself up and said, "I'm going to beat this cancer," and he did it with that smile of the cat who ate the canary.

So here's what this tells me.  If I want to go on with life and figure out what I can do so that I'm not constantly focused on my Parkinson's, I have to get off my bottom and take affirmative action to do it.  I get that.  The problem is knowing what "that" is.  For me, I substitute teach.  In fact, right now, I'm sitting in Honors Algebra.  And I write.  In fact, I doing that right now while I'm substitute teaching.  I'm having trouble figuring out if there's anything else I want to do.  I have some things in which I'm involved, but they don't make me happy like subbing and writing do.  So I don't know if I'll keep doing them or not.  In the meantime, I will continue subbing and I will continue writing and I will capitalize on the "happy" I experience from them.

 Happy hunting!

G 

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