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2025-01-18 I have been working on what best way to support what I have experienced in the positive effects on physical and mental health via this website and activities in contra dance. One part of this is QCD donations to a few local dance groups and some to Country Dance and Song Society https://cdss.org/. The other part is how to more effectively make use of my resources of time and dollars.
During the Winter Contradancers Delight Holiday I danced ~25 hours between Dec. 26-30, 2024, and spent moore time telling people the story of the “CCC” on the blank name buttons. Hits on the website went way up. I wonder how many will come back and see this blog posting? How can I better “market” what I’ve learned about lifestyle change for a healthier and flourishing life? There is some much moore to discover/write/document. How can I better “get the word out”?
The other activity is how to best conserve my financial resources in support of this work? Should it be a non-profit private foundation? or simply a non-profit or a for-profit organization? What I have been doing so far is seems to be a hobby that is incurring expenses that go beyond being just for fun and that there should be some sort of tax advantage even if the overall $$ are going out. I don’t want this endeavor to cost me which will take away from the $$ could be going to QCDs or take away from my retirement savings.
This past week was great in relation to interacting with CDSS and the dance last night. Details at Jan 11-18, 2025.
2024-12-27 – night – A brake in the dancing for Warren to share feelings about people who have been to the dance and are no longer with us and I again get pretty teary eyed as I AM so fortunate to be here.
2024-12-27 – afternoon – Added to LYMPHOMA CHEMO TREATMENTLYMPHOMA CHEMO TREATMENT 2024-12-27 I’m at Contradancers Delight Holiday near Morgantown, WV. Dancing to get a “fix” of good/great medicine by dancing with energy. Resting in the afternoon I’m reading FB posts on the Cancer Survivors and Supporters page dealing with individuals’ neuropathy from the chemo. I tell Cynthia about it and she says “I have seen it”. I had a pretty significant cry because I am SO fortunate that I never had any significant amount of it. Could this be a part of dance before, during, and after my chemo treatments?
Added to TWO CANCERS TWO STORIES and WELL-BEING & FLOURISHING and LYMPHOMA CHEMO TREATMENT
2024, December 25-26
Added Celebrate Crushing Cancer
Changed BACKSTORY and BUMPS into BACKSTORY and BUMPS Summary and BACKSTORY and BUMPS Details, added TIMELINE and PERSONAL BELIEFS and OBSERVATIONS, and REVISIONS.
2024, December 14
Added “drafts”/ beginnings for BACKSTORY and BUMPS, WELL-BEING and FLOURISHING
2024, December 13
Re-worded last paragraphs to Study and Story of Well-Being
2024, December, 11
Yesterday got my one year scan
Here is cut and pasted from my oncologist’s message:
“Everything looks fantastic today no concerns. PSA remains very stable at 0.03. CT scan shows no signs of cancer. You’re in remission! Keep up the great work and keep dancing!”
2024, November 27
Occasionally going back and thinking about where I was a year ago compared to where I am now. Here are some recent thoughts since I’m hitting one year anniversaries to various aspects of the last cancer.
Two years ago I sometimes was scared to go up and down the stairs even holding the handrail or take a walk for fear of falling and not being able to get up. I was also taking PT for walking and balance. But I knew I had to move, to put one foot in front of the other. Anything like a pushup was totally out of the question. Last year I could do one push up. For the past several weeks I can do 2 sets of 10 each if I get at least a day in-between.
November 01, 2024, is the first anniversary of the oncologist telling me there is no detected cancer. However, in the middle of December, 2023, began the mild PTSD which I talk about later, including how it has been positive.
Recently I talked to a person I’ve known for a long time but not much until recently. That person said they had just started radiation treatment for their cancer, similar to the cancer I had many years ago. Their partner said I was the first person outside the family that knew. This reminded me of how it was when I first learned of my new cancer. So unsure of what to do and what to say to other people as if I had lost control of my life since I wasn’t settled on how serious it was, what my treatment should be and in general not having specific answers for myself, much less to tell others.
It’s been my experience that some people want to talk about their cancer experience and others don’t. I can understand both viewpoints. For some people it is healing to talk about their fears and find out that they are not alone, that there might be other ways to view their situation and learn and grow physically and/or emotionally. For others, they may have seen or been aware of some very significant situations and don’t want to have it rehashed, too painful or in denial or simply it is behind them and they are focusing on the present and future. I’ve also seen where a person wanted to talk to others but only in certain limited instances. About a year ago I was quite unsure about bringing up my cancer story, especially to people I had not seen in a long time or were new to me. I didn’t want a “pity party”. I took a risk and was complimented on speaking up at a group breakfast one day for bringing up the subject. Later that person would not talk about it in the presence of their partner. I later learned that partner was adamant about not talking on any aspect of cancer. Without assurance of positive outcomes it certainly is a “no man’s land” out there. But for me it is healing AND I continue to learn and grow and thrive through sharing the experience.
I was talking to a cancer survivor who, like me, had had chemo treatment. In some ways I thought I was pretty special since my first cancer I had radiation treatment and my second cancer had chemo so here I am having both types of treatment depending on the cancer. In this particular conversation I learned that the other person who had chemo was also having radiation at the same time. And in addition it wasn’t external beam radiation, it was Brachy radiation. It seems as though there are just so many different types of cancers and so many approaches for treatment. And once you get the treatment will there be a relapse?
Facebook is most interesting in the sense that you go scrolling through and so often something will pop up related to cancer. I have looked at a couple cancer Facebook groups. Some seem to be better at filtering out ads for magical solutions and such. One thing I gain from reading them is how fortunate I have been, it’s simply reinforcing the gratitude of what I’ve had so far. For whatever the traditional medical treatments, I come away feeling that the lifestyle change that I made by being really scared in my first cancer and reading the book radical remission has really helped my body with regard to not only cancer but just overall physical and mental health. It reinforces the connection of the mind and the body. This results in my feeling to try and keep down my stress, especially my emotional stress, to enhance my immune system.
My wife Cynthia [https://www.hygeiawellnesspark.com/] has pointed out recently we need movement. We have the heart to move the blood and lungs to move the air but there is no organ for movement of the lymph in our bodies. Moving our bodies as what moves the lymph through our bodies. We were made to move both mind and body.
I am anxious to talk about stress, internal and external, good and bad, emotional and physical as well as the mild PTSD soon.
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