Great Roger Ebert article about coping with losing his ability to speak and taste!

[mucifer]

snip.


I think I'm musing my mind
By
Roger Ebert
on October 24, 2008 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

phrenologicalchart.jpg Blind people develop a more acute sense of hearing. Deaf people can better notice events on the periphery, and comprehend the quick movements of lips and sign language. What about people who lose the ability to speak? We expand other ways of communicating.

There are three ways I can "speak." I can print notes. I can type on my laptop, and a built-in voice says them aloud. I can use my own pidgin sign language, combining waving, pointing, shrugging, slapping my forehead, tracing letters on my palm, mime, charades, and more uses of "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" than I ever dreamed of.


Another path is open to me in the age of the internet. I can talk with new friends all over the world. Writing has always been second nature to me, as satisfying in a different way as speaking. Maybe because I was an only child with lots of solitary time, I always felt the need to write, and read. I was editor of my grade school, high school and college newspapers. I published the "Washington Street News" with a primitive Hectograph system when I was 9 or 10. I was a full-time newspaper sports writer and reporter (not an intern) when I was 16. I am a quick writer. It flows conversationally.

I know I could become fluent in American Sign Language, but the problem is, I need another person who speaks ASL. Selfishly, at this stage in life, I would rather learn to read a new language than speak one.

There is one thing I can do as well as ever. I can write. When I am writing my problems become invisible and I am the same person I always was. All is well. I am as I should be.

After my first stretch in the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, I began to write again, a little. After my second, I returned to a nearly normal schedule. This spring during my third rehab, I was able to log onto a wi-fi network and begin writing much more. This year, which has included two major surgeries, I have so far written 170 reviews, 22 Answer Man columns, 28 Great Movie essays (not all yet published), and 37 blog entries.

In May, I began to sense a change going on. At first it was subjective. This autumn it has become undeniable. My writing has improved... snip.


http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/10/i_think_im_musing_my_mind.html


very interesting article. I thought it might belong in the lounge and not general discussion. But, Ebert is a great lefty and has written some great anti mccain/palin articles recently.

[skooooo]

1. What's wrong with him?

I didn't know he had a problem.

[mucifer]

2. Thyroid cancer. He's had several surgeries. He's been thru a lot.

[Lancer]

3. Thyroid cancer diagnosed in '02 which spread to his jaw.

Even Ebert says he should be dead by now. He's had a very rough time. But he's a fighter.

[indepat]

11. My 99-year-old aunt lost her thyroid to cancer in the early '70s. Godspeed Roger

:D

[ReadTomPaine]

4. He's been battling cancer for a while...

Here are some relevant citations:

In early 2002, Ebert was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. In February of that year, surgeons at Northwestern Memorial Hospital were able to successfully remove the cancer with clean margins. He later underwent surgery in 2003 for cancer in his salivary gland and in December 2003, he underwent a four-week course of radiation treatment as a follow-up to the surgery on his salivary gland, which altered his voice slightly. As he battled the illness, Ebert continued to be a dedicated critic of film, not missing a single opening while undergoing treatment.

He underwent further surgery June 16, 2006, just two days before his 64th birthday, to remove cancer near his right jaw and a section of jaw bone.<43>

On July 1, Ebert was hospitalized in serious condition after his carotid artery burst near the surgery site and he "came within a breath of death".<44> He later learned that the burst was likely a side effect of his treatment, which involved neutron beam radiation. He was subsequently kept bed-ridden to prevent further damage to the scarred vessels in his neck while he slowly recovered from multiple surgeries and the rigorous treatment regimen. At one point, his status was so precarious that Ebert had a tracheostomy done on his neck to reduce the effort of breathing while he recovered.<43>

...

Ebert underwent further surgery on January 24, 2008, this time in Houston, to address the complications from his previous surgeries. A statement afterwards from Ebert and his wife indicated that "the surgery went well, and the Eberts look forward to giving you more good news ..."<55> <56>, but on April 1, the 41st anniversary as film critic at the Sun-Times, Ebert announced that there had been further complications and his speech had not been restored. His love for movies and writing remain intact. He wrote, "I am still cancer-free, and not ready to think about more surgery at this time. I should be content with the abundance I have." His columns resumed shortly after the April 23 opening of his annual film festival at the University of Illinois.<57>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert

[mucifer]

6. if you click on the link to his article you can see in his pic he is hiding his neck yet

he stares right into the camera no apparent smile. It's an interesting pic.

[ReadTomPaine]

8. I'm at his blog a few times a week...

never miss a review even when I disagree with him. All of his film books are great reads. Incidentally, virtually all of the reviews he's done for television (as well as print) over the years are available online.

And I agree - that is an interesting photo, btw.

[ReadTomPaine]

13. Here's his famous article post surgery - "I ain’t a pretty boy no more."

Which he took from Raging Bull, one of his favorite films. He doesn't hide his injury, in fact just the opposite - check it out.

My Ninth Annual Film Festival opens Wednesday night at the University of Illinois at Urbana, and Chaz and I will be in attendance. This year I won’t be speaking, however, as I await another surgery.

I have received a lot of advice that I should not attend the Festival. I’m told that paparazzi will take unflattering pictures, people will be unkind, etc. Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. As a journalist I can take it as well as dish it out.

So let’s talk turkey. What will I look like? To paraphrase a line from “Raging Bull,” I ain’t a pretty boy no more. (Not that I ever was. The original appeal of Siskel & Ebert was that we didn’t look like we belonged on TV.)

What happened was, cancer of the salivary gland spread to my right lower jaw. A segment of the mandible was removed. Two operations to replace the missing segment were unsuccessful, both leading to unanticipated bleeding.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070423/PEOPLE/70423001

[ReadTomPaine]

5. Roger is a national treasure. n/t

[tabasco]

12. I agree.

Ebert is a treasure.

I emailed him once and got a personal reply.

He must get thousands of emails.

[kayakjohnny]

7. Dang. In the old days I didn't like him much at all. Now, I think he's a pretty

tuned-in person. And I think he's just fine. Goes to show what can happen through time. I wish him the best. And I give him two thumbs up.

[lynettebro440]

9. I agree, was never a huge fan

but way to keep beating death....hang in there man

[pitohui]

10. thanks for the tip

when i was young i didn't speak for variously dx'd reasons (not cancer, obviously, and i speak fine now)

to this day there are many times when i don't wish to speak and while i will answer email or hang on internet forums i won't answer the phone

interesting to read someone's take on this from the other end of life

you stay strong, mr ebert!

[Book Lover]

14. Inspiring

I find nearly everything he writes thought-provoking...

"I know, I know, four-letter language is the currency of a movie like this, and many of the other films Judd Apatow produces. I would be lying if I said I was shocked. I would also be lying if I said I had no taste, or judgment of comic strategy. I'm sure I've seen movies with more extreme language than "Step Brothers," but here it seems to serve no purpose other than simply to exist. In its own tiny way, it lowers the civility of our civilization.

Now what about the violence? These two adult children do horrible things to each other. The movie must be particularly proud of one scene, because they show part of it in the trailer. Dale thinks he has killed Brennan by slamming him with the cymbal of his drum set. He rolls him in a rug and prepares to bury him in the lawn. Brennan comes to, bangs Dale with the shovel and starts to bury him alive.

I dunno. Maybe it sounds funny when you read it. Coming at the end of a series of similar cruelties, it was one living burial too many. There is also an attempted drowning. And ... never mind.

<snip>

Sometimes I think I am living in a nightmare. All about me, standards are collapsing, manners are evaporating, people show no respect for themselves. I am not a moralistic nut. I'm proud of the X-rated movie I once wrote. I like vulgarity if it's funny or serves a purpose. But what is going on here?"

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080723/REVIEWS/611265921