A wonderful reminder and timely for the Memorial Day weekend. I am so glad to know you produced THE FALLEN. I thought it was so dignified and respectful. For someone who has opposed this war from before it started it brought home the futility of loss, while respecting those who paid the ultimate price.

It is interesting to think of Cancer patients being focused on in the same way. I've never been as passionate about finding a cure as I have been ending the war, perhaps that is the message we need to focus on.

Sent by Dona | 8:29 AM ET | 05-29-2007

Leroy~ I am so very sad today. The day I've dreaded came this past weekend. My brother-in-law, Dr. Stephen Babel from Albaquerque, NM, has passed away. He had pancreatic cancer. We knew he was hanging on for his son's graduation on Thursday. No, he didn't get to go, but he was alive. He passed 2 days later. My husband sits and wonders about the fairness. I told him not to even go there. He says all the criminals and bad people in the world still get to live, and this wonderful, responsible, caregiver, dad, nice person has to leave us. I know there is no fairness in life, I have always told our kids that. I guess we just have to remind ourselves that he is in a wonderful place and we are being selfish because we want him here. As I watched all the pictures this weekend of fallen heroes, I could relate. "It's so unfair."

Sent by DiAnn | 9:15 AM ET | 05-29-2007

Dear Leroy, I read you blog periodically but I don't recall you talking about the poor people with cancer, nor people without insurance.
Their fight must be even worse then the cancer. I know in my case the Doctors would not treat me unless I could pay.
Pretty sad situation. . .

Sent by John S | 10:17 AM ET | 05-29-2007

Leroy, this is the only one of your posts where I think you've got it somewhat wrong. That is, about how you'll be remembered. I'm putting my money on you being remembered this way: the man with the admirable gift of taking whatever comes at him, and putting an Everyman face on it; the man who has demonstrated that any one of us is likely to be touched in some way by tragedy not of our own making; the man who has made a positive difference in the lives of so many beyond his personal acquaintance.

Thank you for doing these things for us.

Sent by Sheara | 10:59 AM ET | 05-29-2007

I came over from www.hansrue.blogspot.com Interesting perspective...battles inside and out.

Sent by Belle | 11:17 AM ET | 05-29-2007

While it makes me sad to see the ones who have given their lives to serve their country, it also makes me proud to know that TODAY we have so many who are willing to go, to serve and possibly lose their lives. I don't celebrate war but I do celebrate those who have served and are serving.

To extend the use of the war metaphor, the cancer war produces some victories but it also causes an enormous loss of life. Cancer doesn't discriminate. It is an equal opportunity disease. I do celebrate the small victories of some friends and acquaintances who are currently NED (No Evidence of Disease)and use these examples to give hope to others.

I also celebrate those who have lost their fight because they have each demonstrated such courage, spirit, calm and acceptance of their fate without bitterness or rancor. They chose to fight as hard as they could for as long as they could and with whatever treatment they could. But when it became inevitable, they said that it was OK and they were at peace. I see their faces and hold their memories close to my heart.

May we remember the soldiers that have fallen and may we also not forget our fellow cancer warriors who have lost their lives.

Blessings and prayers as always, Leroy.

Sent by Al Cato | 11:18 AM ET | 05-29-2007

Big hug from Iceland.
??slaug (my litle girl who is five year old has a brain cancer (bad).

www.aslaugosk.blog.is

Sent by ??slaug ??sk Hinriksd??ttir | 11:31 AM ET | 05-29-2007

Another great post Leroy. I work in a online cancer chat. I was talking to a mother last night whose Son was 21 months with Wilms Tumor.This is when the war on cancer gets ugly and unfair.
I so would wish this to be me and never a child. But war is like that it encompasses everyone.
I saw THE FALLEN as well and it was very well done. It brought faces to the war. Ones not soon forgotten.
Have a good day everyone.

Sent by Kerry | 11:57 AM ET | 05-29-2007

Leroy,

Suppose we woke up tomorrow to find that the population of Tucson, Arizona, Cleveland, Ohio or Denver, Colorado had simply disappeared? Suppose that disappearance continued, year after year? In subsequent years we would lose El Paso, Boston and Seattle. How much would we spend to find out why?

Fact is, we are yearly loosing more people to all cancers than in battle from all US wars from the Civil War forward.

To use your graphic example of the photos, if we lined up a 1" photo of those we have lost, along Main Street USA, we would walk nearly 8 miles to see them all.

Using the same format, if we spread those names and faces across the pages of Time Magazine, it would take nearly a thousand pages.

If we read each name aloud and took just one second for each name, it would take nearly six days.

Yes, each person has a name, a face, and is a child, a parent, sister, brother, mother, father.

It's a National....no worldwide disgrace.

Michael Lewis
Seattle

Sent by Michael Lewis | 12:27 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Leroy,

I agree with several other bloggers that life is unfair. Life just is what it is. There is a difference between dying from a disease that strikes you and dying because of decisions made by others about your life.

I grieve for the soldiers in Iraq who perish and for their families. Their deaths are not the result of chance, but of poor choices at the top.

Thank you for THE FALLEN. It was one of the most moving pieces I have ever seen.

Sent by Diana Kitch | 12:36 PM ET | 05-29-2007

I remember "The Fallen" well but never knew you had produced it, Leroy.That's something to be proud of. It was very moving. What was shocking was that it WAS controversial. I guess it was considered a threat to morale to shine a light on the individual human lives that were being snuffed out daily -- and still are -- by this war.

Whether it's war or cancer or heart disease or diabetes or a car wreck, it seems to me that what unites all these folks in the photos is not so much the cause of their deaths but just the fact that they died. We learn in childhood to avert our eyes from Death, to ignore its existence. And if we're lucky and those we love live long, healthy lives, most of us can go for decades with blinders on, blithely ignoring the elephant in the room. We're all going to die! Even "the people we see every day. The people we live with. The people we pass on the street.....us." Really taking that fact in, finally, makes most people feel a great tenderness for their fellow humans, I think. We all strut across the stage of life as if what we do or don't do is hugely significant. But the truth is that our lives are just little streaks of light, every one of which will be extinguished in the blink of an eye. (Like fireflies...hey, I'm waxing poetic here!) Is that unfair? Cancer's no more unfair than any other cause of death, is it?

It does seem to me that the loss of lives in Iraq is a waste, simply because I don't believe there was ever any justification for that particular war. But was it unfair that American soldiers died in World War II? Not necessarily. They were all going to die of something. They died fighting Hitler. The concentration camps were full of people hanging on desperately, waiting to be rescued. So -- those deaths don't seem unfair to me. Many soldiers died far too young, but they died nobly, for a worthwhile cause. (I don't mean to show any disrespect to those who have died in Vietnam or Iraq. I honor them, too, but believe they were misled.)

Looking deeply into the eyes of those people in the photographs in the New Yorker or The Fallen just makes us see our common humanity, that we are all mortal. And seeing that, we (or I, at least) feel a deep attachment to my fellow man and woman and child. Superficial differences melt away. I guess I feel sad, too, but without death, this old globe would soon be stacked up to the stratosphere!

In an ideal world, we could reach the realization of what we all share (mortality) and feel that connection (tenderness,love) without looking at pages of photos of the dead.

Sent by Doris | 12:36 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Leroy,
I thought "The Fallen" had an emotional impact similar to that of visiting The Vietnam War monument in Wash., D.C. It was the best the TV medium could do...the least amount of time with the most impact.
Then too, Billie Collins poem, "The Names" was so impressive when he read it in NY after 9 / 11 and before the 1st session of congress there the following year.
"The Fallen" still gives me chills...just thinking about it.

Cathi

Sent by Cathi Simmons | 12:44 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Very good blog today Leroy. I was at Firebase Keene in 1969, a young soldier,trying to get my jeep radio running, when a green tracer round went two inches in front of my eyes, where the four other rounds went I do not know, but I should have been one of those being honored yesterday. Many of my high school classmates were not as lucky. This was my first brush with death, but I survived. My second was Hodgkins Lymphoma in 1974, Thats 2 of my 9 lives, I was one lucky cat. My third was a silent MI heart attack in 1993. A heart attack in 1994, and a total heart block in 2006. I have almost used all those 9 lives. But I accepted and fought all these ailiments knowing That tracer should have ended my life, It did not and I was not going to let any illness take my life away. I have lived a very productive and satisfying life in all the extra time I gained.
THE WAR GOES ON 24 HRS 7 DAYS A WEEK Keep supplying all your soldiers the ammunition they need General Leroy.

Sent by Sam Means | 12:51 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Leroy & John S. - I think this would be a great topic. I have a friend that has SCLL (lymphoma) that was dx. through an ER and she was given referrals to Dr.'s but she has no insurance therefor they don't want to treat her. P.S. She doesn't quailify for public assistance either. Maybe this could be a topic one day. Thanks for this wonderful blog!!

Sent by Tanya Mostaffa | 1:36 PM ET | 05-29-2007

I appreciate this blog as I go to it often to get some perspective on having a brother who is dying of glioblastoma, brain tumors. I also look at the photos of the young men who have died in the war and understand that our family is not alone in grief.
Thanks for bringing that perspective.

Sent by Gwen Cooper | 2:16 PM ET | 05-29-2007

You know, I was watching the evening news last night, and of course, there were stories about soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. When it's a slow enough news day for the actual stories of these dead and their families to be told, the waste of it hits even more forcefully. All of those lives cut off to satisfy the reckless ambition of an administration that doesn't deserve to be served by such as these. I try to understand why our country was able to be led down the garden path to this place of waste, distruction and ruination of our national reputation with millions all over the world. I haven't been able to figure it out, and I don't know that I ever will. That loss and madness, as much as cancer causes sadness and pain that there are no words to convey.

Sent by Nancy K. Clark | 2:52 PM ET | 05-29-2007

I agree with Sherea. Leroy you make a positive difference!

Sent by claudia | 3:03 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Thank you John S. for bringing up the insurance problem. I've been thinking about it since the show on Discovery Channel. I remember when my 18 month old son was first diagnosed in 12/02, my company was changing our insurance from a pure co-pay system to an insurance with an annual deductible in 3/03. We were first devastated by my son's diagnoses, but we had to pull ourselves together and discuss with the doctors what procedures can be done before March when the insurance changes. I have to say eventhough we had to fight the insurance on some of the costs, we were pretty lucky to have decent insurance which pay for most of the costs. However, because of the high deductible, I had to leave a job I loved and outstanding co-workers who been thru my son's illness with me, in order to get a higher paying job to manage the deductibles.

Many people say you can plan better by putting money in the flexible spending account to help pay for the medical expenses. Unless you are a very accurate physic, you CANNOT predict on how much you will be spending on medical bills, especially when you have cancer!

Cancer SUCKS! Insurance adds to the "suckiness"! The only consolation is that the medical expenses are tax deductible (although I rather spend it on vacation with my son). I feel soooo sorry for people who do not have insurance or cannot afford the deductibles. We live in a wealthy country, we should not have to waste our precious energy on insurance when we have life-threatening illness.

Sent by grace | 3:06 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Hi Leroy, hi all.............I just sent a post but something happened with my computer so I will attempt again.

I just wanted to say that I totally agree with the post sent by Shearer. Her comments regarding Leroy were very touching and all so very true. Leroy is a friend who reaches for your hand and touches your heart. I hope it will be a very long time Leroy that we will have to use the phrase "remembering" when speaking of you. As always, wishing you the very best.

Sent by sasha | 3:50 PM ET | 05-29-2007

In response to DiAnn whose husband laments the loss of a good person; thinking about God/The Universe/Life -about the fairness of it all. I recently lost a good friend to cancer -At his service his daughter posed the question:Why would God take this good, loving, caring person...this person who still could've helped so many others ... and yet horrid criminals are allowed to live? The answer came back: If you were God, who would you rather hang out with?
She shared this story as it brought her some peace!

Sent by Madeline Fries | 4:07 PM ET | 05-29-2007

I am an army brat and a woman with cancer. My father fought in WWII and he died when I was just a child. I now am a mother with stage IV cancer and I would want to be remembered by my children that I was a wonderful mother to them, and not a cancer patient. Unfortunately, since cancer has entered into our life it is a subject that will always be on their mind.
Have a good day Leroy....

Sent by Miriam | 4:14 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Thank you for "The Fallen," Leroy. It was an act of sanity -- a light I needed to see held aloft -- during a time of denial. It held -- and holds -- such respect and meaning. Thank you again and always!

Sent by Sarah | 4:14 PM ET | 05-29-2007

The dichotomy of care between the insured and non-insured is mindboggling. It isn't fair. I don't know what will make healthcare equal for all in America. There are pros and cons to National Healthcare Systems.

I'm glad you saw the NY Magazine article Leroy. I saw it online last week, and thought of everyone on this blog, and the patients that I treat...ranging from a 2 month old to a 99 year old.

Nobody is immune. That is what I realize and see every single day.

Sent by Krupali Tejura MD | 4:37 PM ET | 05-29-2007

You wrote a Nightline newsletter some years ago about a little boy who died in front of your eyes in Somalia (or was it Rwanda?). I was just as moved by that story as I am today about The Fallen and the New Yorker articles. Your thoughts dwell back there in my psyche and I am haunted by your ghosts, Leroy.

Sent by Mary Gail | 4:53 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Patsy's Cancer

Her name was Patricia.
She was my father's sister.
My grandmother's first, and only, daughter.
She would never become my Aunt.

It was 1941 when she died of Lukemia.
She was 8 years young.
My father, ten at the time, was the first to find her body, lifeless.

Can a ten year old boy understand?
Can a mother?
Can a father?
What's to be understood?

Devout Catholics.
This must have offered them comfort.
It wouldn't have for me.
The preacher after Katrina, when seeing his wife killed by a fallen tree;
"God indeed."

So I never knew her.
Didn't think about her.
Our life"times" never intersected.
Until, visiting my grandmother's grave,
Buried next to her was her daughter
And only then did I ask,

"What kind of Aunt would she have been?"
A question with no answer, I know.
A disease with no reason, we all know.
A lifetime only of eight years.

Goodbye Patricia.

Sent by Bob McMahon | 5:07 PM ET | 05-29-2007

I have spent my entire adult life with insurance and a solid paycheck. Thanks to cancer I have now lost both. I am told I do not qualify for drug assistance or any other assistance because of the money I made LAST YEAR. I was advised by an attorney to divorce my husband, shut down my business completely, and apply for social security. Six months of no income should just about qualify me. So let's see; I divorce my husband of 26 years, have no income, unable to eat or pay my mortgage for 6 months.....yeah, I am sure the stage 4 cancer and my mortgage company will wait on that turn of events.

The frustrating part is I was mis-dignosed when I had insurance. I sure cannot afford to piss off any doctors now that I am literally begging for help. I am once again applying for drug assistance....let's see if they will accept the large drop of income of this year instead of last year;s......meanwhile, I have 3 new tumors on my skull, I am eating veggies, drinking plenty of water, making all kinds of deals with God, and trying to keep that attitude of gratitude. (I am pretty successful most times in that area)

I am open for suggestions...maybe one of those infamous buses eeryone tells us about will hit me and I could sue for medical care...okay, refocus....tomorrow I turn 52 and I am spending the day with my kids and granddaughter.

Sent by Kay | 6:06 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Leroy your sweet face and writing will be what we(who read your blog and have seen your work on TV) will remember. Thank you for being a voice for cancer PEOPLE.

Sent by Vicki (FL) | 6:18 PM ET | 05-29-2007

It's amazing sometimes when you open a book or read a blog how some messages hit you between the eyes.

I recently have come in contact with a neice and nephew I have not seen or communicated with in 26 years. These guys were only babies the last time I saw them and they truly have no knowlegdge of my side of the family. So I sent picture after picture to them, but they are only faces. The stories and lives they have lived are yet to be known. So what does this have to do with cancer? EVERYTHING.

Cancer has taught me what is really important, and that it's up to me to fully give them my attention. I want to know them. I want them to know me. I want them to know they were not forgotten, nor will they be.

Thank you cancer, I needed this lesson right now. I go for another maintenance in 2 weeks and yes, I am noticing "warning signs". Are they real or imaginary? Hope for imaginary please.

Sent by Beth Hime | 6:55 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Thanks for "The Fallen." That was such a remarkable homage to the victims of this irrational war.
If every person with cancer in NYC with had turned out for the photo on the cover of New York Magazine, do you think they would have entirely filled the Sheep Meadow AND the Great Lawn? Maybe more? Thanks for blogging. Joanne

Sent by Joanne Wilkerson-Burke | 7:17 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Leroy,

I am overwhelmed. Your entry today and so many of the comments speak directly to my heart. As one of the commenters suggested, you WILL be remembered fot this blog. Thank you so much for your seemingingly endless insights and your willingness and discipline to share.

Sent by Andy Halpern | 6:31 AM ET | 05-30-2007

Dear Leroy,
Thank you so much for the Fallen - I agree with your comments about the controversy. And - thank you so much for this blog and all of the ideas and experiences you've shared about your own cancer. Even though nobody in my close circle has been stricken by cancer or war, I imagine the death, the suffering, and the loss that this war (and all wars around the world) exacts on so so many everyday.

Thank you so much for your heartfelt contrast of those who lost their lives to war to those who are living with cancer. As a society, we could do so much more for everyone who has cancer, or any disease: (e.g., treatments, cures, daily assistance and support) if we made that choice rather than the choice to emphasize militaristic or political endeavors.

The biggest threat is not across an ocean .. but right inside me .. inside all of us. It is perplexing, and disturbing, that, as a society, we make the choices that we do, failing to understand the losses and the suffering to so many. Our only hope is to show the faces and the names of the dead and wounded - and hope.

Sent by Deb McGinnis | 8:06 AM ET | 05-30-2007

When my wife died of cancer, I established a permanent web presence for her www.memory-of.com It's a excellent, inexpensive way (limited amount of time for free, small donation makes the site "perpetual". I've often thought that either for people with cancer who want to make sure they are remembered, or to their families, it's an excellent thing to do.

Sent by Al | 10:18 AM ET | 05-30-2007

Something comforting about seeing the faces of fellow cancer survivors. Let me explain. I go to a sight YASG. Have been since my cancer trials began 2 yrs ago. I'd say about 6 months or so ago I had everyone on there e-mail me their pics and I put it together to send out to the"gang". I wouldn't say it made it more real but it made our friendships a little more complete for me. When fighting cancer it is easy somedays to feel like a little lonley spec in the middle of this big world. To feel lost. But then you see fellow faces and they just makes me feel stronger and conected...

Sent by Christine VanHoose | 1:02 PM ET | 05-30-2007

Hi Leroy,

I am new to your blog and have really been enjoying it. I saw you on "Living With Cancer" and that's how I found you. I am a one-year breast cancer survivor and have a blog as well. I hope to someday get the readership you do!

In regards to the war, I agree that it's so sad that so many lives have been cut short for a war that doesn't make sense. One thing we need to remember, though, is that more than just Americans are dying. My heart also hurts for all the Iraqis who have suffered and died as well. How terrifying to have war right there at your front door, to witness death daily. Each life is precious, whether American, Iraqi, or some other nationality.

In regards to Doris' comments, I wholeheartedly agree that we all die at some point and that death in and of itself is not unfair. What's heartbreaking, though, is when someone dies needlessly, tragically, or much too young. My hope is that my cancer is gone for good and that I will live a long life (I'm shooting for 100), happy and healthy to the end, and that I die peacefully under a shady tree with a smile on my face. While I know that may not happen for me or even for the majority of the world, it's something I wish for all of us.

Thanks for blogging, Leroy.

Susan
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/lemonmargaritas/

Sent by Susan Metters | 9:18 PM ET | 05-30-2007

Dear Leroy, You came to my attention because you have cancer???and so do I???but I think what I will remember, from ???Living with Cancer??? is the solace you seem to take in nature, the beauty and asymmetry of the bare branches framing the windows of your home, the timbre of your familiar tenor voice as you narrated your story, the humility and lack of artifice in the way you expose your experience with the medical behemoth???(sometimes I feel like it clamps me in its??? teeth, violently shakes me up, randomly tosses me around, and maybe, just maybe, I???ll be left with a little less cancer, but perhaps a bit more)???anyway, the person you seem to be made an impact on me???cancer was simply the vehicle. Sally (new to your blog???I don???t even know what ???blog??? means but I???m going to stick with you for awhile.)

Sent by Sally Jenkins | 9:27 PM ET | 06-04-2007

Those faces haunt me; actually, I received an email to join the faces; however, I had to work. And actually, I am glad I could work. A visit to CancerLand, often the waiting room at St Barnabas Medical Center's (Livingston,NJ) Cancer Center haunts me, even when I am sitting there. I study faces; I feel pain, hope, waiting, acceptance, giving up energies each time I sit there. I want to jump up, give Reiki to the world at that moment. However, we are faces, scanning newspapers, knitting, grading papers (me), seeking comfort from others who accompany us.

I come to CancerLand Cancer Center visits alone out of necessity and preference. It helps me center; to be present in this experience.

Recently I participated in the March Call on Congress with C3 Coalition. Most of the advocates are living with or have experienced cancer and are on the never ending ride to keep it away. I looked at our faces; smiling, beautiful, hopeful, energetic. This is how I want to see the faces of cancer. Yet, it is not always the way. Nor are the beautiful New York photos. Thankfully, nor are the faces in the Cancer Center waiting room always the way. The composite faces, to me, represent the face of cancer--and although it has changed my life positively in many ways--it does, in moments, haunt me.

Sent by Deborah J. | 7:13 AM ET | 06-09-2007

Wow. I have just begun to read your blog (last week??? I think) and I have to say this one has touched me deeper than most of the other entries. I can't think of anything more to say. Your words on this day have left me speechless...

Sent by Dawn | 11:19 AM ET | 11-15-2007