Follow Up, Good News, Adios

As posted here a few months back, one of the many stories unfolding in Durham daily has been chronicled in a blog of well-written and poignant reflection.  Sometimes following these blogs can be challenging and even heartbreaking.  Not this one. 

Take a look at this entry, and those that preceed it for a good story, told well. Oh, and to the authors go a hearty congratulations.

Doing Great
This Machine Killed Cancer
Shayne Miel

Hey y’all,
It has been a long time since I posted on here, but I thought I’d drop a line and let you know that I’m healthy and doing great.  Back in June I had my 6 month scans and they still show no sign of anything.  I’ll get scanned again in November, but with just a CT and MRI, instead of a PET scan (which I’m thankful for because the PET scan is a pain in the ass).  I had an appointment last week with Dr. Shea, my bone marrow transplant specialist, to check up and see how I was doing.  As I was leaving his office, he slapped me on the back and said, “Congratulations!”

I know there are people who read this blog because the terrible thing that happened to me has happened to you and you are trying to find some advice or solace or something.  I don’t really have any wise words about what to do - they say that a positive attitude is important, so maybe fake that until it becomes real - but I want you to know that this thing is beatable.  My diagnosis was about as bad as it can get, an aggressive type of Stage IV Lymphoma in my heart, lungs, pancreas and brain, and yet here I am a year and a half later, almost as healthy as I was before I got sick.  I’m finally back up to my pre-cancer weight.  My band is playing shows again and we’re going into the studio next week to work on our long overdue album.  Our house is still in the process of being remodeled, but it looks like we’ll be able to move in by next February.  Also, Rebekah and I have started running, and I think that by this time next year, I’ll be back up to my pre-cancer strength and endurance (hopefully beyond it!).

I probably won’t be posting here very much any more.  This blog has been a great way to keep the people in my life up to date on how I’ve been doing.  Now, I get to see y’all in real life (at shows, at the bar, for dinner, etc), and I don’t have to let you know what’s up via the interwebs.  Before I sign off though, I want to leave you with two pictures.  The first is of Rebekah and me looking healthy and happy at our friend’s wedding earlier this summer:

And the second is something that I saw in the parking deck at UNC Hospital every time I was there.  I think it’s good advice, whether you have cancer or not:
 

Blogs...Lots of 'em!

One of humanity's great pursuits is authenticity of information.  How often do people consume information from and official source only to be somehow a bit dubious about its intent or genuineness?  Factually accurate data isn't necessarily hard to find - but the truth can often be a different matter.

The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB) has long prided itself on factual accuracy.  Credibility is a distant vista without it, but can an official organization fully speak from the standpoint of every corner of the citizenry?  Simply put, no.  With that truth laid bare, the desire to pull back the curtain on the community's inner workings and thoughts never wavered, and a year ago, a solution was born.

The truth - as told by anyone who wishes to tell theirs - can be laid out in a blog.  The barrier to entry on this format is low, most are very simple to use and free.  DCVB decided to give amplification to those truths by consolidating local blogs into a central location.  To date, more than 470 are listed here on a page on the Durham News Service website. 

On this page, a blog itself, are blogs from all corners of the community on all subjects - everything from personal ruminations to hard-hitting reporting and informed opinion.  Perusal of this list gives a reader a strong sense of Durham from many angles - just the intent for which it was designed.

There are thousands more to add to this compilation. Take this article as an invitation to see sides of the community in which you live that to you might be foreign.  Share the resource with friends who are thinking of visiting, or media that might be interested in learning about Durham by listening to those who call it home.  It's quite a fascinating journey.

Of course, those interested in sharing their blog and not finding it linked can email to share the address.