Sympathy for Christopher Hitchens

[oberliner]

When my friend Michele was a lifeguard, people used to ask her, "Are there sharks in the ocean today?" And she would reply, "There are sharks in the ocean every day." Christopher Hitchens is swimming with the sharks. The possibility of death -- the reality of mortality -- became less abstract for him in June, when, on the brink of publishing his new memoir, "Hitch-22," he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

In a brilliant, beautiful and, fittingly, darkly hilarious essay for the new Vanity Fair, the most seemingly indestructible man in journalism describes his "very short-lived campaign of denial" and "the new land" of sickness with his trademark gimlet eye, chronicling "the way that my razorblade would suddenly go slipping pointlessly down my face, meeting no stubble."

http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/08/06/christopher_hitchens_rages_against_cancer/

The essay referenced in this piece is well worth reading.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/09/hitchens-201009

[babylonsister]

1. Here's more. "I'm Dying"...video of interview at link...

http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/08/hitchens-talks-to-goldblog-about-cancer-and-god/61072/

[Cleita]

3. My boss is thinking of adding a no smoking (tobacco) clinic

to his practice. I think we should use that picture as an incentive for those who find it too hard.

[oberliner]

5. It seems to be more about the drinking than the smoking

Based on what I've read, extreme alcohol consumption appears to be the more likely culprit here.

[Cleita]

6. Yes, he drank a lot like most Englishmen, as did my

Irish husband. He (my husband) quit smoking in his early fifties but enjoyed his shot of whiskey almost to the day he died and he didn't die of cancer. I guess he stopped smoking in time. Really, do we know what actually causes cancer? I know people who died at the age of ninety with a cigarette left in the ash tray, but I'd say smoking most of the time leads to those types of cancers and if you mix it with alcohol, you are presenting a double whammy.

[applegrove]

15. This is what cancer is in sorta a generic way. On the ends of DNA strands

there are instructions that say "One time, copy this DNA". So your throat repairs itself by making more throat cells, your lungs repair themselves by making more lung cells, etc. When you run down the cells as in drinking hot tea over years: your throat or smoking:your lungs, the cells therein get run down. Instead of it saying "One time, copy this DNA" the "One time" gets worn off over time and it simply says "Copy this DNA". So you get crazy growth of cells which is what cancer is.

Different families have different incidences of cancer because of how long the ends DNA strands are in different families.

So some people in some families smoke but never get cancer while others do. Some people (in china for this example) drink boiling hot tea and get lots of throat cancer.

So don't partake in habits that require lots of replacing of cells (each food high in fiber & crunchy vegetables to stop getting colon cancer for example). And if you do have cancer in your family pay extra attention to take care of that part of your body so you don't wear down the strands of DNA.

[Cleita]

17. It really is genetics and the complications that

accompany it. :-) However, I don't find smoking harmless. It would be better if it still weren't a socially accepted institution. I grew up with people smoking around me all the time and I took it up when I was sixteen. Even though my parents disapproved, they weren't really upset because it was so acceptable. I still don't feel people who smoke should be treated like dopers, or really dopers shouldn't be treated like dopers when you think about it, but I really would like to see the social convention of smoking tobacco become extinct. It's just does nothing to improve anything, IMHO.

[malaise]

2. There was a great interview with Anderson Cooper

last night - fascinating.

[oberliner]

4. Yes indeed

Sadly, the prognosis does not look particularly promising.

[malaise]

7. Not one of us has a good prognosis

The only philosophical truth in my life is that everything that lives dies - it ensures that I enjoy life and treat others as I want to be treated.

Hitchins has a clearer understanding that time is not on his side, so at least he can make preparations. Any one of us could die suddenly and go before him.

[oberliner]

10. I think Hitchens has a quote to that effect

I wish I could find it - he definitely has a way with words.

[spanone]

16. well said...

:hug:

[JerseygirlCT]

8. I've always thought he was a complete ass

But I do wish him well through this. I know his chances of a recovery aren't good, but I still wish him the best possible outcome.

Which doesn't mean he's not still an ass, btw.

[joeybee12]

12. I agree...I certainly hope the best for him...

but that won't change my feelings about the many things he said and did.

[rox63]

13. He's an ass, but...

He's also a talented writer, a scientist, and a vocal atheist who know how to put the religious loonies in their place.

[Hissyspit]

14. He, in his new book, still refuses to acknowledge the civilian misery and deaths

Caused by the Iraq invasion. I wish him well and wish this on no one, but he remains an unrepentant war crimes enabler.

[catzies]

9. My father died of esophageal cancer one month ago today,

I wish Mr. Hitchens comfort in his final days, however many there may be.

[malaise]

11. Deepest sympathy

on the loss of your dad. It's a horrible diagnosis. :grouphug:

[AnArmyVeteran]

18. Sorry to hear about your father. I wish you well ...

[Catherine Vincent]

19. I didn't like him but I do wish him the best outcome from this. nt

[Jamastiene]

20. As much as I cannot stand some of his views, some of his other

views and commentary have been great. I specifically liked what he said on AC360 about Falwell(after Falwell died) and what he said about Jessie Helms. His words are like sharpened swords and daggers. When I agree with him, dammit, I agree. When I do not, dammit, I do not. Either way, I have to give him props for his command of the English language.

I hate to hear he has cancer. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Despite the fact that I disagree with him on quite a bit, I do hope he can fight the cancer and win.