I seem to have struck a cord with my talk about taking things into my own hands and putting a solve on the puzzle problem.  You can tell I am really pleased with myself on that one.  Nothing like a good first outing.

To keep it simple right now let me talk about this in the context of the cancer arena.  I have noticed stages in my journey that I am trying to observe, articulate and make clear for myself and others.   Let’s run through them quickly as they exist today.

First a person gets a diagnosis and he becomes a patient.  This word makes me queasy.   I associate with all that early freak out time after the dreaded diagnosis.  But the way it seems now that anyone can be a patient.  A stump or a rock can be a patient.  Or a patient that flails around with all sorts of irrelevants and doesn’t get beyond.  This is where guidance is essential.

Second a patient can with guidance and effort get to a place of personal happiness were “things are good” despite what would seem like a bad situation.  A place where being present in the moment leads to living for the day in a good way not an escapist way.  Thinking about this being the cancer camper stage.  This is were the patient has moved on to enjoying this break from former life style to realize this is an important phase of life that needs to play out.  Think about being at Camp Runnamucka when you were a kid.  You were sick of lime jello and were sunburned and insect bit but you were having the time of your life.

Then if one is  accumulating some extra energy from getting on top of side effects maybe he starts having the inclination to start causing a little trouble.  Maybe he starts asking questions about things, like how come this or how come that.  Or maybe he tries to change something for someone else, like “come be a camper and quit being such a patient”.  Or maybe he throws out a jigsaw puzzle that is cruel and unusual so patients don’t get frustrated.  So he is starting to get off the reservation as they say, leaving the bounds of Camp Runnamucka but heck it seems like what he should be doing, right?  So, I’m in uncharted waters for me here and coming up with the working title of Cancer Commando has been helpful to focus my energy.

So the protagonist in One Flew Over the Coocoo’s Nest was Mc Murphy.  Not that I am saying anything about the hospital or nurses just that I feel like that character in my particular situation but I am starting to feel like McMurphy.   It’s got to be a good thing, right?

Look, I have to go for now.  You guys are lovely, Felipe.