My writing spot this morning. Live, from San Antonio, Texas, it’s Fishrocks!
Over the past two and a half years, I’ve written over 70 blogs, most of them describing my trials and tribulations with a disease that continues to effect my life in profound ways. Fishrocks, the blog, has been my way of dealing with the frustrations of the day to day issues of being an advanced prostate cancer survivor.
I hope I’ve been able to give you a glimpse into what living with this disease is like. I’ve tried to be as honest as I can be, which frankly, can be a bit embarrassing. I know for some of you, you were probably embarrassed for me.
Me- Hey, this is what’s happening with my sex life!
You- Really dude, we don’t need to know.
Me- No, really, everything has changed. Let me tell you about it.
You- Just…no. Please stop.
Yeah, sorry about writing about some of the more intimate details of my life, but it’s part of the whole advanced prostate cancer package, so to speak. And writing this blog has helped me deal with all this crap, like, for instance, watching my legs turn into cottage cheese and practically needing a pulley system to get up the stairs. As my body keeps falling apart, this blog is hopefully keeping my mind sharp. It also has helped keep my sense of humor about this whole messy journey, which is probably the most essential thing to my overall mental health.
The other thing that this blog has done is generate lots of positive comments. A lot of you have taken the time to tell me that you like what I’m writing, and to hang in there with all the cancer stuff. Your comments mean a lot to me, and they encourage me to write more, so for all of you that comment, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
This little blog that I started because I wanted to stay smarter than the rocks on the bottom of a fish tank has been read all over the world. Currently the third most views this year for Fishrocks, behind only the U.S. and Canada, is Singapore, which blows my mind. I’m a geography nerd, so I get kind of excited when I get a view from places like Bosnia and Herzegovina, or the Ukraine.
Closer to home, the people that run the website ProstateCancer.net have also noticed my little writing adventure, and, probably against their better judgment, are giving me an opportunity to write for them. I signed a contract to write for these good people, and, believe it or not, they’re actually going to pay me for my honest and sometimes goofy insights about the disease that has profoundly changed my life. Go figure.
Wait, you’re probably asking, what about Fishrocks, the blog that sometimes veers off into places like politics and religion and the One Poop Rule? What happens to that?
Well, my goal is for Fishrocks to be a little more what I originally intended for it to be…a blog about stuff I’m interested in. A little more about politics, religion, food and drink, and sports. And less about cancer. I’m gonna save my prostate cancer blogs for ProstateCancer.net because that’s what they’re paying me for. When my blogs get published, I will link to them so you can still read them. They will look a little different, but it will still be me. They have assured me that the content of my blogs will not be heavily edited, although I really don’t have an issue with that. Some of my writings could use a good editor.
So, Fishrocks continues, albeit with different subject matter. Not completely different, because I have previously written about Joy Behar and why I no longer go to church, but less about stuff like dealing with chemo and an unsuccessful sex life. Which, for some of you, may come as a great relief.
So to speak.
Thanks for reading.
Peace
Fishrocks 