CLL Diary has gotten a couple of nice write-ups recently. It is occasionally reassuring to know that while I can blather on endlessly, I am not blathering on uselessly.
CR, the magazine of the American Association for Cancer Research, features this blog in its Spring 2007 issue. CR profiles a different patient blog in every issue, and writer Alanna Kennedy somehow managed to stumble across mine. The article talks about how I use humor to cope with leukemia and provides an excerpt from The President's Club, a piece in which I complained that us regular chemo customers -- people with chronic diseases -- ought to get the royal treatment, similar to what airlines and casinos do for their best customers. If you follow the link and read it, do read the comments also -- I managed to snag a lousy free hotel room upgrade, but one of the commenters got an even better deal.
CR, which celebrates its first anniversary with this issue, is billed as “a magazine about people and progress in cancer.” They sent me four back issues and I can say that it’s quite well done, with an excellent selection of subject matter that covers both the science of cancer and the experience of coping with it. And I am not just saying this because they did a story on my blog. It’s more reflective and less full of obvious entry-level tips than some similar magazines.
CLL Diary also got a nice mention in Family Practice Management, a publication of the American Academy of Family Physicians. An article Family Practice Meets the Blogosphere reassures physicians that blogs might just be a good thing. The author uses this blog as an example of the good kind of patient blog, not the crazy kind, and says of me, “His thoughtful entries examine the frustrations of the disease and the uncertainties of medicine. His blog site includes links to other CLL blogs, online support groups and sources of medical information.”
I may go crazy at some point in the future, of course, so these articles will have to serve as evidence in any sanity hearing that may come up at that time. Once I go off the deep end, I will probably adopt every stray cat in my zip code and let the yard turn into a jungle. I can see myself now, sitting on my decaying porch, paper bag wrapped around a bottle of pinot noir, meowing back at the cats while Marilyn decorates all of them with stick-on Christmas bows while sipping sherry. The fact that this sounds at all appealing means I really need a vacation.
2 weeks ago
8 comments:
Glad your blog has gotten positive reviews. I do take potshots at you, but you notice I do read your blog...
My wife inflicts, I mean decorates, the cats with bows at Christmas. She does it sober, too.
I'm psyched that CR's Alanna Kennedy stumbled on your blog and discovered what most of us feel. I've always thought the world needs to read your blog ... now it's getting a peek. That's nice!
David - Loved the Presidential Club blog entry... not a big surprise to those of us who know your blog to read that you are getting recognition, congratulations!
Now, about your parting thought, "meowing back at the cats while Marilyn decorates all of them" - lol! That is not an image the average blogger could convey so vividly... sounds like a cat person wrote it!
Yes, the kitty bow decorating didn't just come out of my imagination. It's based on historical fact. Tut, our orange tabby, used to wear yarn bows during the holidays. He actually seemed to like it, but he was a weird cat -- he used to chase German shepherds, and he used to take naps in the middle of the street. Hard to believe, but he died at a ripe old age of natural causes.
Reminds me of the time I took my wife's dog for walks when she was out of town. Hers was a rather large dog, and one day we walked by a house where a young cat was sitting under the tree in the front yard. Suddenly, the cat ran out to us and went right up to the dog. Now this dog had assiduously protected her back yard from the neighborhood cats, and now she was confronted by either a very brave, or very ill informed cat, who wanted to be friends.
The dog literally jumped back, unnerved by this very forward cat. I shooed the cat back to his spot, and we went on our way. I still see the cat, so he is also very much unharmed.
Your blog is a great read and a must for newbies. You reach deep to convey the feelings we all share. Congratulations.
Trisha
Marilyn wanted me to post here that, for the record, her festooning of the feline with a ribbon was meant as a goof and is not symptomatic of some sort of cutesy syndrome. I can attest to the fact that this is true, that neither of us goes in for the cutesy, and that her goofiness, which is almost a match for my own, is why I love her so much.
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