Second-best news in the world

Posted on March 25, 2013 8:55 pm by Patti Niehoff

Scientists unravel genetic code of esophageal cancer.

This is the kind of cancer that I had. The best news in the world would be a cure, but hey, I’ll take what advances there are!

More days away from death. Further thoughts on Christopher #Hitchens and others.

Posted on December 18, 2011 9:03 am by Patti Niehoff

What Would Jesus Read? Christopher Hitchens.

Image by Capt. Joe Kickass via Flickr

Yes, still somber in the wake of the death of Christopher Hitchens this past Thursday. Since I’ve had cancer, I inevitably focus upon any other person diagnosed with the same type of cancer that I had, esophageal cancer. Now in this past week the two people that I knew of who were currently dealing with that particular type of cancer have died, one on Wednesday and Christopher Hitchens on Thursday.

[I might add in here that I myself had my regular quarterly check-up at my oncologist's a week ago and everything is still fine and I don't even have to have a scan this year.]

All I can think of to do, and all I could think of to do before these two deaths, is to keep trying to take more days away from death than I was going to get otherwise.

I am also sitting here reading god is not great and feeling oddly soothed by it.

christopher hitchens dead and gone (propagandapress.wordpress.com)
Christopher Hitchens, 1949 – 2011 (dvorak.org)
Christopher Hitchens: 1949-2011 (shortformblog.tumblr.com)
Christopher Hitchens is Dead (breakingspells.net)
A Tribute to Christopher Hitchens (skepticalteacher.wordpress.com)
Christopher Hitchens: Remembering The Legendary Writer And Orator (huffingtonpost.com)
Christopher Hitchens (geoffarnold.com)

Christopher Hitchens: a tiny obituary for a great writer

Posted on December 16, 2011 8:11 am by Patti Niehoff

Image via Wikipedia

7:45

I woke early today for no known reason, tossed rather contentedly from my cocoon of bed clothes and eventually dragged the laptop over to begin some writing. Suddenly, I’m met with numbers of articles that mention the death of Christopher Hitchens yesterday.

I am sad at more than a loss of a good writer — he and I have/had the same kind of cancer, esophageal cancer. Mine was discovered far earlier in its development than his was, and thus a pang of guilt goes through me as I write this: I am still here. Being able to say “survivor’s guilt” does not really make it any easier.

But mostly I’m saddened at the passing of a writer who detailed life in Tumortown, as he called it, because such people are a rarity. He has gotten tons of details and insights down properly without once veering off into maudlin sentiment. In the world of cancer-writing, this is rare.

Good and talented people leave this planet far too early far too often, I think. We have to do our best to fill in the holes as we can.