When Things Go Wrong…
and How to Rise Above the Worst of It
By Edward Douglas
January 20, 2014
In conclusion, I just want to say a few things that I hope that people who have been following my story either here or on various social networks will take to heart because they’re important to me:
1. Take your health seriously. Go to see a doctor regularly and when you feel sick don’t assume it’s a cold or fever or something that will go away
2. Get your blood tested – I can’t stress this enough because it’s not something that most normal people would do if they’re feeling the signs of the flu or a fever but blood cancers can hit you from out of the blue, within a matter of days or weeks, and it could be lying dormant within you without you realizing it. But it’s found fairly easily and it should get treated immediately.
3. If for whatever reason someone in your life gets this horrible disease or something similar, make sure you’re there for them but also make sure to remember that everyone handles everything differently and some people like to feel independent and self-sufficient so smothering them with sympathy won’t always help.
4. Don’t take anything for granted. Ever. I can’t tell you how much stupid stuff I’ve dealt with in my life that now seems trivial and pointless. People get outraged over the dumbest things. People are generally selfish and aren’t considerate to others. These are things that should not be and you shouldn’t have to get any sort of debilitating disease to realize that everyone is capable of being nicer to each other.
5. An addendum to the above: You can NEVER have enough friends. Ever. I don’t think I could have even gotten through chemo if I didn’t have so much love and support and prayers from everyone on Facebook, Twitter… my best of friends back in New York City, my internet acquaintances, some who I’ve known for 20 years or more, and just about everyone in my life who always checked in on me to see how I’m doing and was there to cheer me up when I needed someone to talk to. I couldn’t have gotten through this without them. The reason I mention this is that it’s way too easy to judge people or decide that someone isn’t a person that you want to spend time with, but you know what? Everyone has some good in them and you’ll be shocked how that comes out when you need help.
I think that’s enough for now. As the doctor in Vegas told me (not the Sam Elliot guy - the Indian doctor), leukemia is a life-changing experience. It’s something that I’ll always remember going through and getting through and I plan on doing everything I can to share my experiences with others and do whatever outreach I can so that people know what to expect when leukemia or other blood cancers strike because it’s not something that gives you any sort of advance warning.
In general, this whole thing has been a huge learning experience for me from the second I was diagnosed with leukemia throughout my attempts to recover from this stem cell transplant, which has been a massive part of trying to avoid relapsing.
Edward Douglas writes the Weekend Warrior box office analysis feature that can be found over at ComingSoon.net. You can read his discussions of box office, awards and festival coverage on the Weekend Warrior Blog and to keep up with his latest articles and posts, you can follow The Weekend Warrior on Twitter.
Continued:
1
2
3
4
Tweet
Print this column
