I’m not a political person, I’m a people person. I care more about what you do than what you say you do. When the conversation turns to politics, my eyes usually glaze over, my ears start to buzz, and I find myself physically twitching as the debate heats up. I’ve never been good at standing in muck and mire of political rhetoric, and I stink at being politically correct.
The reality is we have a financial crisis in this country that requires us to find new, creative ways to heal and support our sick with fewer dollars. To me, the important thing is to find cost-effective ways to manage illness while educating and empowering families to give better care.
Watching a news interview of a politician last night, my ears pricked up at the mention of Stage IV colon and liver cancer. Did someone say Stage IV? Now cancer-free? Who is this politician? And what does he have to share about surviving?
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out what helps people live with and manage their cancer. Are there certain life experiences that allow them to push on when most people quit? Is there something about their personalities that help them persevere when others drop out of the race? What kind of man gets through Stage IV colon and liver cancer, and what can he teach us about it?
Herman Cain is very clearly his own man. The son of working class parents, he went to college and became an Atlanta businessman. He’s the former chairman and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, who took his business experience into the public arena as a columnist and politician. He even served as deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City. Did any of this help him navigate his cancer diagnosis?
I’ve noticed that a lot of people who have organizational and management skills seem to direct their own cancer care. Does being pro-active about cancer treatment change the outcome?
Or is it his passion for challenges that helped him get through his cancer treatment and recovery? Do people who put their passion into surviving cancer fare better than those who see only the darkness of the disease?
He found out about his cancer in 2006 and subsequently had surgery and chemotherapy. In 2011, he says he is cancer-free and is actually thinking about running for president in 2012. Imagine that. A cancer survivor as president. Right there, he’s got my attention — not because of politics, but for his gumption. It takes gumption to not only survive cancer, but to thrive with it. And if this man is actually thinking about running for president, believe me — he’s thriving.
Can we have a Stage IV cancer survivor in the White House next time around? I don’t know. What I do know is this — it’s going to be a really interesting campaign year. This is a man who speaks his mind, who gets in there and puts it on the table. As a businessman, he worried about supporting his employees while building his company. As a political commentator, he no doubt has his own views on health care reform. But as a cancer survivor, can he deliver some of the secrets of managing and surviving the disease? I, for one, will be watching.