Enjoy your holiday weekend. I echo your wishes for us back to you. Blessings.

Sent by Nancy K. Clark | 10:41 AM ET | 12-29-2006

Leroy,

My cancer friend you have said it all and more. Your words, your thoughts, your feelings have allowed all of us suffering from cancer a window into our own thoughts, feelings and hearts. Thank you for all you have given us this past year and together we can all have the hope that will give us the strength to move into 2007.

Sent by Marianne Dalton | 10:46 AM ET | 12-29-2006

Leroy,

I raise a virtual glass to welcome the New Year with you. I pray that next year we can do it again and reminisce about how cancer lost the battle.

Sent by Geoff | 10:49 AM ET | 12-29-2006

Happy New Year, Leroy. Thank you for your blog. It has been very meaningful to me.

Sent by Adam | 11:16 AM ET | 12-29-2006

All the best for the coming year! Will continue to send positive thoughts your way. Thanks for everything. You are an amazing man and you mean a great deal to all of us!

Sent by Sandy Lathe | 11:17 AM ET | 12-29-2006

Sent by Shelley Cole | 12:13 PM ET | 12-29-2006

God bless you, Leroy! I am in a very similar situation to yours — a day at a time, failed treatments, new treatments, new hope...When I think about suffering I often wonder if it is an opportunity the universe gives us to deepen everyone's understanding and compassion.

There are times when our suffering may seem like it belongs to us alone but as you can tell from the responses to your blogs, it belongs to all of us in one way or another and good does come out of bad — always.

Happy New Year!

Sent by DBC | 12:40 PM ET | 12-29-2006

Happy New Year Leroy. You are a source of inspiration to many people and I hope the New Year brings you many more chances to touch the lives of others.

Sent by Rhonda Martin | 12:41 PM ET | 12-29-2006

I can't believe it's almost 2007! There is so much to wish for the coming year. Besides myself and getting better, I wish for my brother-in-law to safely make it home. Wishing all the soldiers who are risking their lives to protect us to please safely come home. The dedication of our soldiers and people who are serving has shown me what selflessness is all about. The world is absolutely a better place because of the commitment and loyalty of those protecting us and trying to make the world a more peaceful place. My prayers for you and everyone else serving in Iraq is to end the war and have everyone safely come home.

Sent by Ann | 1:30 PM ET | 12-29-2006

One of my Grandmothers always signed her cards with wishes to the recipient for a happy, healthy and prosperous year. I wish all of these for you, Leroy, and for everyone who has been touched by your blog, and become part of this special family.

Sent by Sheara | 2:45 PM ET | 12-29-2006

Don't you sometimes wish, Leroy, that you had invented the world's best chocolate chip cookie and then created a blog about it and then touched so many lives, as you are doing now? Don't you just wish that this disparate group of folks, who regularly checks in with you, were all tied together by a chocolate chip cookie? By something completely positive and happy, not tinged by sadness? I hope that you derive as much strength from everyone's postings as we do from your blog — and that you get to enjoy some darn good chocolate chip cookies in the New Year.

Sent by Jennifer Haan | 3:11 PM ET | 12-29-2006

I am new to the blog. Inspired by your words, I have started my own journal. So much of the initial events (learning I had breast cancer, surgery, hair loss) are a fog and I was just diagnosed this past August. Your early entries stir up fear, emotions, and now armed with courage I have gleaned from your example, I no longer want to exist in that cancer fog. I want to record my thoughts, hopes, fears and experiences knowing I am not responsible for my cancer but I am responsible for engaging in my fight against it. Thank you, Leroy and to all the people who write and come to grips with LIFE with cancer. I look forward to 2007 and your new place in my fight.

Sent by Susan Paprocki | 3:13 PM ET | 12-29-2006

Can't let the year go without thanking you, and letting you know that your writing has become a centering place for me Monday through Friday mornings, a sort of touchstone. May the new year bring you blessings unsought and unimagined, in abundance.

Sent by Ceese Stickles | 12:18 PM ET | 01-02-2007

Leroy, Thank you for your generosity of spirit. My wish is for a more peaceful New Year, both within and without.

Sent by Ellen | 12:21 PM ET | 01-02-2007

A happy new year to you, Leroy and thank you for sharing this journey with me. I'm the caregiver of my mother who has stage 4 breast cancer and your words and those of others who have written over the year have helped me deal with all of this. Peace to you in the new year!

Sent by Belinda | 12:25 PM ET | 01-02-2007

I'm an oncology nurse working in an outpatient setting. Some of our patients are very active in seeking out support in the community. For others, it can be too uncomfortable, too painful or too foreign to reach out to "strangers." I mention you and your blog to those patients and suggest they might want to read your comments. I hear you express many of the same thoughts and feelings they are experiencing. For those who have difficulty reaching out, I think it could be very helpful to "hear" these feelings expressed in a non-threatening atmosphere.

As a nurse, I can share the thoughts and feelings of other patients so those new to the experience can know that they are not unusual or wrong. I do, however, emphasize that although I have worked in this area for many years, I cannot really know how it feels to be on the other side. That's why I think what you are doing is so important for others. I appreciate your ability to share so openly. You show great courage. Thank you.

Sent by Anne Helmrich | 12:37 PM ET | 01-02-2007

Leroy,

Happy new year. Happy new year. I could say it a hundred times... Happy new year. And thank you many more.

Sent by Reuben | 12:57 PM ET | 01-02-2007

Happy New Year, Leroy! Wishes for a different AND a better 2007 for you and those afflicted with cancer. Your blog and the comments of so many are a great reminder for those of us fortunate enough to currently be in remission to keep doing whatever we can to help towards a cure.

For those readers afflicted with breast cancer, they may be interested in the experiences chronicled by my friend Mary Beth, who started 2006 healthy and is ending the year as a courageous breast cancer survivor. She has endured chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, and is ready to start radiation. Her blog is http://mbupdate.blogspot.com.

Thanks again for your eloquent writing, Leroy, and best wishes.

Sent by Art Ritter | 1:04 PM ET | 01-02-2007

Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year. Those words resonate differently when we have cancer. Deeper. Richer. I thank you, too, Leroy, for your blog, your perceptive and candid writing. I wonder if you find it curious that so many of the things you write about are things we simply didn't know and perhaps could not have known, had we not developed cancer. Treatment, for me, was a constant deluge of discoveries. No one told me about the prickly finger tips, the bowel problems, the magnitude of fatique, the changes in tastes and smells, the wiredness of prednisone, the mental fog that persisted long after treatment. Mind you, I did read about these things in books, but I didn't GET it until I GOT it. Likewise, no one prepared me for the altered heart rhythms that developed months later. Or, the carple-tunnel-like disability that developed in both thumbs — it's going away now, after months.

And the visual changes have been profound. My ophthalmologist finds nothing wrong with my eyes, but I've had three changes of prescription since chemo. My right eye just isn't functioning properly and is easily fatigued. It's a mystery — and I'm a scholar, so it's very troublesome. I don't write to you to complain, but to mention these things that were totally apart from my knowledge until I had chemo. It has only been within the last year that scientific testing revealed there is actual merit to what we call "chemo-brain." That is, someone finally studied this and measurable cognitive deficits have been confirmed. We're not crazy after all. I look forward to positive medical advances. I hope for cures. In the meantime I'm on maintenance Rituxan. I hope each day that things will come together in just the right way so that cures become a reality. Best to you.

Sent by Anna Harmon | 1:10 PM ET | 01-02-2007

"Each day a little later now

Lingers the westering sun.

Far out of sight the miracles

Of April have begun."

I found this little poem years ago. I'm sending it to you because to me it seems hopeful and that's what I wish for you... hope and a miracle that's far out of sight. A happy new year to you, Leroy.

Sent by Beth | 1:14 PM ET | 01-02-2007

No! THANK YOU!!! Happy New Year!

Sent by Andrew Hodgson | 1:15 PM ET | 01-02-2007

Sent by Sarah | 1:18 PM ET | 01-02-2007

As farmers, we have spent a lifetime "hoping next year will be better!" and now we say the same as cancer sojourners. Unfortunately, reality leads me to believe 2006 may be the best it is going to get for us and I hear myself still telling my children not to "wish their lives away hoping tomorrow would come just because we don't like where we are today."

Within the past two weeks, Leroy, we have lost two cancer friends, one we knew prior to his cancer, one, a new friend from the infusion center. I'm glad you, another new friend, are going forth into the new year with much hope... we wish you the best with your radiation.

Funny how quickly you form bonds with people sitting side-by-side in those infusion chairs and how their passing hits almost as hard as that of lifetime friends. Perhaps its because we are small town people (County population under 3,000) where everyone knows each other and you just assume everyone is a friend and neighbor.

Today, I was a little taken back when my 22 year-old son who is having to run our farm stated that he wished people would stop asking about his Dad and let him go about his business. He said he appreciated all the caring, but it was impossible to get away from thinking about Cancer when everyone keeps inquiring and offering to help. I know he means well and perhaps some day he will understand how hard it is for friends to find the right words.

Having said that, I thank all of you answering Leroy's blog for your wonderful thoughts. May we all "watch the car behind us" and have a wonderful — HEALTHY — 2007.

Sent by Nikki | 1:27 PM ET | 01-02-2007

Shelley said, "I don't know how to talk to anybody anymore." She has put into words how many cancer survivors feel.

But there is a way to talk to people, a way that will help you on your journey. At the least, find someone who is going through the same journey. Better yet, find a cancer support group. Check with the American Cancer Society, The Wellness Community, Women Supporting Women, etc. for such groups. I have attended a weekly support group for three years. These are people, Shelley, that you will connect with! These support groups will not replace Leroy, but they will provide some additional support.

Sent by Don Winslow | 2:26 PM ET | 01-02-2007

Leroy, Peace to you in 2007.

Sent by Dawn | 5:42 PM ET | 01-02-2007

My mother is going through breast cancer treatment. Be aware that I feel for you and will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Sent by Renae VanDuyn | 5:43 PM ET | 01-02-2007

I have read all of your comments, which were while my mom was dying from a four-year battle from ovarian cancer at the age of 81 yrs. We lost her on Dec. 23rd. We had the help of hospice, which everyone says is wonderful. I agree. But my mom wanted to be comfortable and my sister and I tried VERY hard, but they are the experts. If she had been at the hospice facility I think she would have had an easier time. Nightmares linger in our head. Hopefully they will fade with time. I want to say more, encouragement to you because you sound awesome. You hear stories from all of us, but remember only the best and most encouraging. There will be a day when you look back like my mom when she was bald and think, "I made it."

Sent by Laura Jackson | 5:48 PM ET | 01-02-2007

Dear Leroy,

I've kept a journal for years and every years end I write a summary of the past year and hopes for the new. My diagnosis in July '05 certainly changed '06 the tone. Since then, like many of us, I've been in some sort of treatment. Either chemo or radiation or surgeries. My New Year's goals used to go something like "Finally get the basement cleaned out", or "Learn to take it easy." As I'm thinking about what my goals will be in 2007, I realize how much this disease has changed my life, and miraculously, lots of it for the better! Its like the camera lens on my life has brought everything into a clear, sharp focus. It's not what I would have wished for, but it is here, and it is part of me for the good, the bad and the ugly. (I'm thinking about the radiation gowns for that one.)

Wishing you the very best possible year under the circumstances. Your blog has given me so much food for thought, and I appreciate all of the sharing and insight beyond measure.

Sent by Patricia | 7:35 PM ET | 01-02-2007

Mr. Sievers,

I have been reading your blog for several months now and this is my first time commenting, so please forgive my wordiness. I wish I had an editor — so much to say in this little box. I do not hear a ticking clock, and certainly not because everything is electronic. I put my comfort in acceptance of the very large and sometimes overwhelming picture that limitations put value on our time. First, I am not a religious person, but I do have a deep belief in the human spirit —just look at your life. Why would anybody risk their life to bring images and words that hopefully will improve people's lives. Because of your spirit. I have been a photojournalist for the past 30 years covering the auto industry — nothing like the 155 journalists that gave their all. That is the human spirit.

Everyone has the same 24 hours. It's what you do with any of your time. My closing comment is that people sometimes call me lazy, I don't know why, living takes all of my time. My love and respect to all of us that are members of that club nobody wants to join.

If I have offended anyone, I apologize. My intent is solely to share what comforts me.

A value filled '07.

Sent by Jerome Magid | 3:10 PM ET | 01-03-2007

Dear Leroy, I have been reading your blog for a while now and I just wanted to thank you for your courage to share your most innermost thoughts and feelings. You look your fears in the face and tell it all. I admire your chutzpa! May you continue to speak your mind in '07 with honesty and simplicity. Your words help more people than you can ever know. Thanks so much! Peace to you in the new year.

Sent by Jeri | 11:00 AM ET | 01-04-2007