Marshall's Cancer Updates

From the New York Times : "One of the great joys of the Jazz Fest is the odd parade that occasionally takes over the pedestrian paths, bursting through the center of the fairgrounds with an explosion of color, sun-brellas, horns, feathers, and fancy footwork. This apparently chaotic event is called a second line. "The second line is a type of parade historically associated with jazz funerals; the term "second line" is often thought originally to have referred to the secondary group of participants in such a parade, behind the band and the family . "Second line" is also used to refer to the distinctive dance moves that can be glimpsed during New Orleans street parades of all sorts." It’s clear that my treatment team is transitioning me from curative treatment to palliative care that attempts to arrest disease progression and provide a measure of comfort. I've reconnected with the palliative care team for pain management and to alleviate side effect...

An existentialist gazes into the abyss; the abyss gazes back.  Existential Comics: The Elflord and the Mayfly In " Hour of the Mayfly: Life and Death the Existentialist Way ," Tim Raynor writes, "The Existentialist philosophers . . . were so impressed with the transformative power of death that they made confronting death central to their philosophical way of living. Death, Existentialists argue, brings life and its possibilities into focus. In the process, it reveals what we are ultimately capable of being. Heidegger argues that confronting death brings to light ‘the totality of our potentiality-for-Being.’ In a moment of vision, we grasp our full sphere of potential – a realm of potential that is ours and ours alone, that we may or may not take advantage of. We catch a glimpse of our whole person, our total capacity to exist. "     “There is no Stage 5.”  John "Johnny Sack" Sacrimoni,  The Sopranos ,  Season 6, Episode 14 .   I talked to Dr...