radical impact journal

You Call the Shots, N.E. Texas HPV Forum

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Today, I spoke to the Northeast Texas HPV Forum produced by the American Cancer Society, Mission HPV: Cancer Free Texas, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. A member of the audience recorded this video of most of my presentation and posted it on Facebook. Enjoy! (You may have to disable the … Read more

The top 10 things I wish everyone knew about having cancer

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The poet Maya Angelou wrote, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

It’s difficult to know how to react to someone who has cancer. What should you say? How should you act around them? I’m sure each cancer survivor could make their own rendering of this list. My goal with my version is not to criticize anyone’s past actions, but to help us all know better, so we can do better.

My patient identification number is blah-blah-blah. And that’s what I felt like at the start of my cancer treatment; just a number. Going through treatment, these were the Top 10 things I wish everyone knew about having cancer™ …

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And so it begins

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Day 1 in the books … I’ve been poked, prodded, x-rayed, CT-scanned, stuck with a REALLY big needle, and met about a half-dozen doctors. I’m pretty sure FRED is shaking in his boots right about now. 😃 For those of you who prayed about my appointments being moved, THANK YOU! This could change depending on test … Read more

This is about to get real-er

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Alright folks, this is about to get real-er. The UT MD Anderson Cancer Center called today and I get the impression that they’re serious about my case. I have to be there THIS Thursday morning to meet with Dr. Stephen Lai, MD, PhD, FACS. (That’s a LOT of education, my friends!), a professor in their Head and Neck Clinic. This guy has been specializing in cancer of the head and neck longer than some of you have been alive. I think I’ve got “the big gun” on my side. (And, of course, we know I have THE big gun on my side, always!)

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The beginning of ‘Let’s Kill FRED’

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“The good news is, it’s curable.”

But that’s about the only good news I’ve received in the past two and a half weeks.

A little more than a month ago, I started having pain in my throat and trouble swallowing. After a bunch of tests, I got a “gut punch” late last week. There’s no easy way to share this …

I have a rare, advanced, and aggressive form of cancer at the base of my tongue and in the two lymph nodes on either side of my neck. It is one of the only cancers of the head and neck that is curable at this advanced stage. The only other good news is that it does NOT appear to have spread outside my neck region.

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There’s nothing ‘just’ about it

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I’ve seen a number of videos lately that either display or encourage violent or forceful responses to behavior that – while reprehensible – was not violent or threatening. Some have been “watch this guy get taught a lesson” videos. Others have been instances of gross overreactions to insults or “ego bruises.” When I see these … Read more

Something amazing happened at lunch today

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Something amazing happened at lunch today!

I ate at the Dairy Queen at Loop 323 and East Fifth Street in Tyler, Texas, and I have to tell you what I saw happen. I’ve been intending to write the owner of that particular Dairy Queen for some time to tell him how friendly and professional the staff members at that store are, but things kept coming up that interrupted my plans to contact him.

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