Optimist

I live with dealing with cancer - - - like so many other folks in "the Club" who are struggling to get through life these days.  Multiple Myeloma is incurable – but not terminal.  Despite this prognostic reality, there is much progress on the research horizon - for me to remain hopeful.

You see, that’s my job – as a cancer patient and as a father of four and as a father-in-law of four and as a Poppa of 3.85.  I’m in charge of keeping things positive.  Considering that my Onc team is focused on managing the science and technology of my treatment, I think I actually have a pretty limited and easy assignment.

Throughout the process of my initial diagnosis, chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, and now my ongoing therapy, I found that worrying never helped my outcome, and could only cause to hamper my success (I find this to be true, for me at least, as applies to my life both personally and professionally). So, to keep myself grounded, my family centered, and perhaps raise the outlook for others, I use my blog (www.TheCanswerMan.com) as an outlet / sounding board for my own internal quandaries, and to offer help and hope.

Optimism is not a feeling that you turn on or off.  It’s a state of mind that affects every decision you make, every action you take; every success and mistake.  Sanguinity is as much a part of my therapeutic regimen as any medicine or procedure.  It has been proven scientifically and I'm living its results anecdotally every day.  Like anything worth having in life, it's hard work whose rewards don't always come easily, but invariably pay dividends.

I'd like to think that my sunny-side selections yield a fairly high ROI (Rosen Optimism Index).  Bottom-line: On top of the cutting-edge medications and potions, being proactively optimistic is a big part of what’s gotten me here today - - - and will get me through all of the tomorrows.