He has been "clear" for 8 years!!!
It's not about me but about my husband. He developed throat cancer and was told that he had a 40% chance
of survival. He looked the doctor in the eye and said "You do what you need to do. I'll take care of the rest".
It was a very dark time in our lives.
The doctor explained the aggressive, but experimental, proceedure of radiation twice a day 5 days a week combined with chemo once a week for 12 weeks.
We became very creative about food preparation since he couldn't swallow. We made "power shakes" that he "ate" painfully because he would not give in to using the tube that had been surgically implanted for nourishment. He went from 185 pounds to 135 pounds in that period.
Because of his extraordinary will to live not only did he defy the odds he started to regain weight and strength every day after the treatments stopped. He was also told that there could be permanent scaring and skin tightness around the radiation area. None of that happened. His skin healed perfectly inside and out.
The doctor was so amazed that he asked my husband to talk to others who were fearfully facing the same procedure which he did willingly. He has been "clear" for 8 years!!!!!!!!!!
Kathy
New London, NH
I stopped dreaming and loving life
Ever since high school, I've been very interested in marathon running and triathlon training. Very interested in a very specific way, i.e. I liked to TALK to people who had done these events. Doing the events...well that was another thing!
When I was 25, my Dad died. He died suddenly and unexpectedly. I stopped dreaming and loving life. Two years later, I made it up to Vermont. The mountains, the fresh air, the desire to be active and have the freedom of the outdoors hit me with an amazing jolt of electricity. I had forgotten what it was like to feel a connection between my mind and my body. So I started to walk, to run, to snowboard for the first time. I did one marathon and then another. And this past July, I did an Ironman.
It hasn't always been easy to train when friends are having parties and the voice to sleep late is blaring in my head, but I have no regrets. I feel like I am LIVING OUT LOUD when I am outside and when I have friends and family to support me.
I was so thrilled to get my Liv'n Out Loud tee-shirt. It says so much about what I try to do each day!
Colleen
New York
I had no inspiration. No passion.
At 28, I was living the so called good life. I had hit my goals early on; I had my graduate degree and was making a lot of money while not having to work many hours to make it. I had a new car, a downtown apartment in Charlotte, NC and good friends and family near by. I excelled at my outside sales job and they had long term plans for me. But, after a few years of making sales, I found myself less and less excited about my place in life.
I had no inspiration. No passion. I did a lot of soul searching and finally decided I needed to seek out the purpose I was lacking. I resigned from my job and set out on a cross country life journey to find my passion.
www.iamontheroad.com was born on April 6,2004.
I wanted to learn about as many jobs and careers as possible to see what would fit for me. I could not have 100 jobs, but I could talk to 100 people about their jobs. I've traveled over 30,000 miles and as I went from city to city I interviewed people who had exactly what I wanted: Passion about their work and life. The journey has morphed into newspaper and magazine coverage, but it is not about that. I've found my purpose: to share the stories of people who are living the true good life. Keep seeking.
Andrew
Charlotte, NC
