The My Cancer blog inspired thousands of cancer survivors from around the world and boasted upward of 30,000 comments. Sievers also appeared on ABC newsman Ted Koppel’s “Living with Cancer” television special, which was broadcast by The Discovery Channel in May 2007, as well as a special broadcast of NPR’s Talk of the Nation program that addressed the same “Living with Cancer” topic, which aired July 9, 2008, also hosted by Koppel and featuring cancer survivor Elizabeth Edwards.

“Leroy gave voice to a topic that we are very uncomfortable with — death and dying,” Ellen McDonnell, NPR’s morning programming director, said in a statement. “My Cancer had a face and a heart and a smile.”

Sievers is survived by his wife, Laurie Singer.

A memorial fund has been set up to honor Sievers memory and work. Donations can be made to the following address:

Leroy Sievers Memorial Fund
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
Patient and Family Services
100 N. Charles Street
Suite 234
Baltimore, Maryland 21201

SOURCE: myMeso › My Cancer blogger has passed away

Elizabeth Edwards is a breast cancer survivor who currently is battling a recurrence of her cancer, as a small tumor in her bone.

Sievers worked with Koppel for 14 years on the news program Nightline before joining NPR, and their conversations about Sievers’ experience were the core of Koppel’s three-hour primetime Discovery Channel special Living with Cancer that aired in 2007.

Talk of the Nation airs midday. For local stations and broadcast times in your area, visit www.NPR.org/stations.

Listeners can participate in this program by calling 1-800-989-8255 or emailing talk@npr.org. The program also is available as streaming audio and as a daily podcast at www.NPR.org and on the “NPR Now” and “NPR Talk” 24/7 public radio channels on Sirius satellite radio.

SOURCE: myMeso › Cancer blogger, Edwards on NPR tomorrow

During those two years, Leroy battled his brain tumor, and then cancer that attacked his spine. Now, his latest scan shows his cancer has all but taken over his body, affecting his brain, liver, lungs and bones. He’s managing his pain, realizing his time is short.

Leroy never really expected to still be writing the blog two years after his initial diagnosis, and yet the time is still too short. In a recent post, he wonders if there is a lesson in this unique struggle. He asks, “Have I missed something? A lesson that the disease was trying to pass on?”

In the years that he’s been writing the blog, Leroy has inspired so many people who are waging their own battles with cancer – all types of cancer. And so he posed this question to them. He asked them to “Finish this sentence: My Cancer….”

The results are emotional – they span anger, despair, heartbreak, peace, humor, strength – the tumble of feelings experienced by cancer patients and their caregivers, family members and loved ones.

Take a look. Add your thoughts about your own struggles with mesothelioma, as a patient or someone who loves another afflicted with this terrible illness.

And send a little prayer for Leroy as he faces what may be the final steps on this long and difficult journey. Thank you, Leroy, for sharing of yourself so honestly, and through your experiences providing comfort and hope and laughter, and an assurance that it’s ok to sometimes be weak, or afraid, or angry, or despairing, to so many people.

SOURCE: myMeso › Blog asks, ‘Finish this Sentence: My cancer…’