I used to read a blog on NPR called “My Cancer.” In that blog, Leroy Sievers, a journalist, producer, cancer-survivor and now blogger, chronicled his life with colon cancer. The posts he made were succint and to the point, but nevertheless, they were so real. And so tragic. And so real. Unfortunately, Sievers passed away last week, but according to the comment count on the entry where news came of his passing (1258) he will be truly missed. I wrote a post about it on LA Cityzine last week, but here I have included one of his quotes.

“Being a cancer patient is hard work. And you’re on the job 24/7. There are no breaks. You don’t get weekends or holidays off. If you don’t feel it physically, you live with it mentally. It can be unrelenting. I think that’s what I’ve been feeling.

Boxers get that break between rounds. Football players can catch their breath in the huddle. Sometimes those few seconds can make all the difference in the world, can mean the difference between victory and defeat. I just need a time-out.

Except there are no time-outs in this game. Somewhere deep down in yourself, you have to try to find the strength to just keep going. Sometimes I find it, sometimes I don’t. And if you don’t find it one day, maybe it will be there the next. But it’s hard. Probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do.”

Photo via NPR by Tyrone Turner