David Brandt Beats Cancer

The end is HERE
by David Brandt


Hello, friends.

I kept my word. I'm still here.

In case you haven't read or heard in the past few days, I'm now in remission following six months of chemotherapy sessions (12 total sessions). While I am certainly "out of the woods," I am still dealing with overcoming a negative side effect of a chemo drug called bleomycin. The drug created small clouds of toxicity in my lungs which can sometimes leave me feeling winded or have shortness of breath. It also makes me cough a little more than I care to, but not to the point that I'm hacking up a lung (although that WOULD kind of help with getting rid of the toxicity). I'm taking a prescribed steroid for it that should help eliminate the clouds in the near future. This is NOT cancer and it's a short-term problem that is much less severe than the very thing I managed to beat.

Adios, Hodgkin's lymphoma. Don't let the door hit you in the mass on the way out.

So, things are suddenly going marginally better for me than they were, say, a month ago, when I was spending a week in Northside Hospital. Certainly better than four months ago, when I broke down and cried for the first time under the heavy weight of facing the disease. And far better than seven months ago, when I was first told I may have cancer.

And while I may have been calm, cool and collected in the early and middle months of treatment, the experience really became a battle during the last month of treatment. I never felt I was losing and failing in my road to remission, but I definitely felt like I had to keep throwing punches just to stop from being hit. But as it turned out, I was Ali eventually knocking down Foreman.

"OK, Dave, you KO'd cancer. What are you going to do now?"

Part of me would respond that I have no idea. But that's not necessarily true anymore. I've had months to think about what I'm going to do next - I've even made a list of things I'm eager to accomplish, big or small, within the next few years. I don't care for cliches - particularly those involving life and death - but I won't turn my head from the idea that I've been given a second chance.

I also won't be opening up about just what I plan to do with that second chance. Much of the reasoning behind this decision is that I'm still trying to process that the fight is over. I can't speak for other cancer survivors, friends or otherwise, but I don't believe there is immediate recovery from cancer - biologically, physically, or psychologically. I'm going to need time and, to a large extent, privacy. Some of you may call that hiding. I call it becoming.

What I will admit openly is that before I began to suspect I was sick, I was driven by two things: my career and - in recent years - politics. For many years, I've been a workaholic. And until I had more time to consider my life as a whole, that never really bothered me. Things have changed, so in some ways over time, so will I. But now that absolute control of my life has been returned to me, changes are going to take place on my terms and done my way.

But the reward of this second chance didn't come easy, and I'm not sure I could've achieved it by myself. I owe a great deal of gratitude to my family, friends and colleagues. Some of them have stepped up beyond favors and visits and really gave a great deal of time and energy to making sure I was able to eat, that I made it to my doc's office or chemo appointments, keep watch over me when I was feeling most ill, and allow me to continue doing my job to the best of my ability throughout my treatment (the last item helped maintain a sense of purpose, which is always important to me). All of these things helped keep my spirits up and maintained my optimism about the outcome of my situation. All the help, words of encouragement, and general expressions of support are great debts that I will never be able to repay.

With that said, I think I'm done with these long notes for at least a while. I'm looking forward to the holidays and I'm curious to see what I'll accomplish in 2011. There's some lost time and activities to make up... visit with old friends, attend more Braves games, spend more evenings out and about, maybe learn some sweet new dance moves. Might even start spending equal time between Best Buy and the Home Depot... can't appreciate those home theater systems without knowing just how to best install them.

Jeez, I'm getting old.

I hope all of you have a terrific holiday season and new year with your loved ones.

And thanks again, everyone.

-David Brandt


Dec. 10, 2010

Opportunity for Recent Graduates

SCHOOL OF BROADCAST & CINEMATIC ARTS

CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
2011-2012 GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIPS

Earn a Master's degree in Broadcast & Cinematic Arts while assisting with the School's undergraduate teaching, production, and administrative activities.
Assistantships are available in the following areas:

Video teaching and production
Audio teaching and production
News production
Film studies

Graduate assistants receive full remission of tuition and fees, and a stipend of approximately $10,300. Assistantships are potentially renewable for a second year.
A Graduate Assistant Application can be downloaded from the School website: http://www.bca.cmich.edu/.

For further information, please contact:
Dr. Peter B. Orlik, Director
School of Broadcast & Cinematic Arts
Moore Hall 340
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
orlik1pb@cmich.edu

Assistantships are filled on a rolling basis as high-quality applicants are identified.
CMU, an AA/EO institution, strongly and actively strives to increase diversity within its community (see www.cmich.edu/aaeo/).

Newest Alumni

Shhh don't tell them I said so, but I think our four Capstone presenters did such a good job yesterday, they are surely going to pass. I predict they'll be walking across the Johnny Mize stage next week to pick up their PC diplomas and become the newest Mass Comm alumni. Here are the presenters and their topics:

• Michael Barry - "Promoting Piedmont Debate"
• Matt Curtis - "How to Get It on Tape"
• Kathy Nicholson – “Building an Effective Imaging Campaign”
• Lee Robin – “Starting a New Radio Station”

I was happy to see alumni Heather Bardinelli, Justin Poole and Joy Ugi in the audience. Speaking of alumni, I heard from Eric Mathews recently. He is a development associate with Disability Rights International. It's a nonprofit that exposes abuses of the disabled. DRI released a Mexico Report and it was covered by the New York Times and ABC Nightline. See the Times report here:  Abuses Found at Mexican Institutions for Disabled

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American. ~O. Henry



Happy Thanksgiving!

Announcing Fall 2010 Capstones

Piedmont College Mass Communications Alumni are cordially invited to attend the Mass Communications Capstone Presentations for Fall 2010.
The presentations will take place from 4p - 6p on Wednesday Dec. 1 in the Swanson Center Screening Room.
Presenters are: Kathy Nicholson, Michael Barry, Matthew Curtis and Lee Robin

Marriage Advice

I just returned from Jenkins Lobby (formerly Jenkins Theater) in Daniel Hall, and a wedding shower for alumna Sandi Tatum, who is marrying Tim Suda, also an alumnus of the mass comm department. Those of us in attendance who are married were asked to give the new couple our marriage advice. Here is mine (I've been married 21 years):

1. Keep each other’s secrets. Married couples who are very close know intimate details about each other. It’s powerful to trust someone else with your insecurities, and feel he or she loves you anyway. It’s damaging when someone breaks that trust, even if the confidante is another family member or friend.


2. Don’t ride the complain train. I don’t know what men talk about when they get together without their wives. But I know what women talk about, and sometimes they complain about their husbands. If I have a problem with my husband, I work it out with him, not with my friends behind his back.

3. Express yourself. You can’t read each other’s minds. It’s a romantic idea that your spouse will know exactly what to buy you for your birthday without your having to say a thing. It’s thrilling in a perverse way to employ the silent treatment until he/she figures out what he/she did wrong. But it’s detrimental to your marriage. Say what you’re feeling and what you want and you’ll avoid misunderstandings.

4. Listen. The other person has just as much right to a point of view as you do. Sometimes you can agree to disagree.

5. Don’t criticize. I learned early on in our marriage that if my husband offered to clean the kitchen after dinner, I should leave the kitchen and leave him to it. If I suggested he wasn’t doing it right, he’d quit, and rightly so.

6. But know when to speak up. Encourage your spouse to do important things that are beneficial, like apply for a promotion or get more exercise.

7. Don’t keep score. Do nice things for your spouse when the opportunity arises. Avoid doing things that are hurtful. Do them for their own sake, and not for rewards or retaliation for things he/she did in the past.

Mass Comm Experience Day

The Mass Comm Department is playing host to 100 high school students Friday, November 5. Five groups of 20 students will attend workshops in Print Journalism, Public Speaking/Debate, Radio, Television, and a tour of the Swanson Center. Mass Comm faculty and students will work together to showcase our facilities and our department to prospective Piedmont students and Mass Comm majors.
Here's the schedule:


8:30-9:00 Check-In Swanson Lobby

As guests arrive, Admissions staff will check them in at the check in table and be provided with a folder of information which will include the following:

• An agenda of the day including an explanation of which track they are on.

• A map of the campus

• Promotional material about Piedmont College

• Nametag

After registering, guests will be directed to the screening room where they can find a seat and watch a video/slide show related to Piedmont and Mass Comm. The video will play in a continuous loop to entertain the guests while they wait.

Several mass comm. students will be available to take groups on tours of Swanson as they arrive early. Groups will be returned to the screening room by 8:55.

9:00-9:15 Welcome and Introductions Screening Room

Dr. Van Cantfort will welcome everyone to Piedmont College and introduce Mark and Gwen, the mass comm. faculty, and admissions staff. Then Dr. Van Cantfort will review the agenda and the procedures for the day. Eight mass comm. students will be present. Dr. Van Cantfort will introduce them and have the tracks report to their designated escorts who will greet them and help them get to their first session.

9:20-9:50 Session One

Track 1: Print Journalism Track 2: Radio Track 5: SWC Tour

Track 3: Television Track 4: Public Speaking/Debate


9:55-10:25 Session Two

Track 1: Radio Track 2: Television Track 5: Print Journalism

Track 3: Public Speaking/Debate Track 4: SWC Tour


10:30-11:00 Session Three

Track 1: Television Track 2: Public Speaking/Debate Track 5: Radio

Track 3: SWC Tour Track 4: Print Journalism

11:00-11:40 Tour of Campus

Guests will remain in their 5 groups. The admissions staff will be divided to take each group on a tour of campus.

11:45-12:30 Lunch Brookside Dining Room

12:40-1:10 Session Four

Track 1: Public Speaking/Debate Track 2: SWC Tour Track 5: Television

Track 3: Print Journalism Track 4: Radio


1:15-1:45 Session Five

Track 1: SWC Tour Track 2: Print Journalism Track 5: Public Speaking

Track 3: Radio Track 4: Television

1:50-2:00 Closing

Ending the day in the screening room, Dr. Van Cantfort, Mark, and Gwen will provide closing comments. A video will be shown of guests on campus during the day. Mark and Gwen will take photos during the morning sessions and will create the video while the guests are in their afternoon sessions.