Bah

Ted Koppel was on the Daily Show last night, touting his latest special, "Living with Cancer". The taped pieces will be followed by a "town hall meeting" with cancer's greatest stars, Lance Armstrong and Elizabeth Edwards.

I can already tell that it's going to be a big pink Colonic of Hope.

The take-home messages from the interview last night were: 1. Cancer patients have great senses of humor and cancer can be funny, and 2. Stage IV cancer should be considered a chronic disease, like diabetes.

BAH!

Humor is helpful, if you have it in you.... but too much emphasis on the benefits of a good chuckle and you wind up with emails like the one I received recently from a woman who is this close to dying, and desperately wants to live. Her Naturalist told her that laughter would be the best medicine, so this sick, sick woman -- who should be saying good bye to her school age children -- sent out an S.O.S. asking for funny movie recommendations.

BAH!

Also: cancer is just another in group/out group. Until you have it, can the jokes, Ted.

As for chronic illnesses.... let's see.... we'll line up all the people with stage 4 cancer on one side, and all the people with diabetes on the other... and we'll see how many want to trade.

This chronic illness crap is just a buncha pained people seeking a li'l language anesthesia. Yes, people with advanced breast cancer can live longer than they used to live.... by months, not years... and often at the cost of their quality of life. Chronic illness. Pfffft.

BAH!