Reports of my death…
…are highly exaggerated. I feel badly that I haven’t blogged in so long; this time it’s not even that I didn’t have anything to say. Instead, my lack of writing has been more about just ending up spending more time with my wife (after the kids were in bed) that I didn’t want to take the time to write. Of course, at least part of that has to do with the feeling that my posts should be inherently meaningful and deep, rather than quick updates on what, if anything, is happening in my life. Nevertheless, I thought I would take some time and reflect on the import of yesterday.
For those of you who don’t know, yesterday (March 1) was my 43rd birthday. It was a low key, but highly enjoyable day at the Hamburger household (heck, it snowed for about 6 hours). What made it all the more enjoyable was the fact that less than a year ago (since April 23, 2008, to be exact), I was not entirely sure I was going to make it to yesterday.
I’m happy to say that not only have I made it to 43, but my health, all things considered, is good. In fact, my weight is slowly going up (despite my efforts to the contrary — I would say to folks, tongue in cheek, that I didn’t think it was fair that other people with pancreas cancer lost substantially more weight than I have). I figure if I am going to have this cancer, I want to have the “benefits” as well as the downside. 
In other pancreatic cancer news, it appears that President Obama listened to Patrick Swayze’s plea for greater funding of cancer research through the National Institutes of Health (the proposed 2010 budget includes $6 billion in NIH funding for cancer research. Moreover, approximately $1.3 billion of the president’s stimulus plan is earmarked to the National Cancer Institute). But as I called for when I addressed Swayze’s plea, PANCAN says that the next step is to “make significant progress with the deadliest cancers, such as pancreatic, where very little improvement has been made in the past thirty years.“ I encourage all of you to take a moment and learn more about HR 745, the Pancreatic cancer Education and Research Act. If you are so moved, please join me in encouraging our representatives in Congress to support this bill.
Merle