"When my doctor tells me I'm terminal, I'll look for a quack." -- Murray Rothbard
I'm with Rothbard.
A quack is somebody who offers medical treatment that conventional medicine says is quackery. The treatment may work. It may not work. But when conventional medicine says you're terminal, go looking for somebody who offers a treatment on this premise: you may not be terminal.
That's what I'm doing. I get conventional treatment, but I also get unconventional treatment. Today, I am having a two-hour session with a physician who offers unconventional treatment. I will spend two hours again tomorrow.
Alex Trebek didn't take this approach. He stuck with conventional medicine, and now he's dead.
He had stage IV pancreatic cancer. That was a death sentence. Actually, I don't think it is. The physician I will be consulting with has had over three decades of success in treating late stage pain creating cancer victims. One of them has survived over 30 years. She was in stage IV when the treatment began.
Instead of looking for a quack, Alex went with conventional therapy. Here was how he announced his condition in March 2019.
He should have said this: "I will almost certainly be dead within a year."
The median survival rate for stage 4 pancreatic cancer is between two and six months. But keep in mind that an outlook for an individual depends on many factors. Your medical team can provide more accurate information based on your personal health.
Consider these words: "Your medical team can provide more accurate information based on your personal health." This is another way of saying that your medical team will take your insurance company's money until you stop breathing. In Trebek's case, Medicare paid for it.
HE NEVER STOPPED PERFORMING
He died on November 8. He was recording segments of Jeopardy up to October 29.
The final show will be broadcast on Christmas Day. It will be interesting to see how many people watch it.
He was loyal to his fans. He was loyal to all the people on the set whose income depended on him. These are good character traits.
But consider what he was sacrificing for. One show is just about the same as any other, except for the ones with IBM's Watson. One more show would not make much difference in the lives of his viewers.
In contrast, one more day to get his affairs in order would have helped.
What if he had found a quack with a cure?
There is Suzanne Sommers' book, Knockout. It reviews the work of a dozen alternative therapies. That is where I found out about the late Nicholas Gonzalez. His partner is my physician.
Trebek was worth $75 million, according to lots of celebrity net worth sites (which seen to copy each other). That large an inheritance requires hours of planning on how to distribute it.
He got an extra year of life, statistically speaking. He was on the high side of the median survival time statistic. But when you have stage IV pancreatic cancer, the high side is pretty low.
TIME PASSES
How did he spend his spare time? Fixing stuff.
You started in broadcasting in 1961. Twenty-three years later you started with Jeopardy , and now here you are with a life that allows many privileges. Outside of work and family, what captivates you the most?Fixing stuff around the house.So you’re a handyman?
I got up about 1 o’clock this morning. I told my wife, “There’s water running somewhere.” I wondered if a sprinkler was on. I got a flashlight and went out and checked, but no sprinkler was running. I tracked the sound to a downstairs toilet that was broken and running. I repaired it and went back to bed.
My wife enjoys fixing stuff, but not at 1 AM. She can fix just about anything.
I can fix just about nothing. I don't like to try. So, I have three choices: (1) see if my wife can fix it; (2) call a repairman; (3) buy a new one. Amazon is cheap and fast. I prefer to buy a new one. If it takes installation, my wife can do it.
My time is too valuable to spend it repairing things. Even if I could fix them, it would be too valuable to spend repairing them. When time passes, it is gone forever.
CONCLUSION
What would you do if you got a diagnosis of stage IV periodic cancer? How would you allocate your time?
If you needed the money, you would probably keep going to the office. Trebek did not need the money.
You need to decide what your calling is: the most important thing you can do in which you would be most difficult to replace. Trebek's job was his calling. That was how he saw it. Maybe that was how his viewers saw it. So, he kept going to the office.
I don't know how much spare time he had for that year and a half. Maybe he looked for a quack. Maybe he just never found one. He never told his viewers that this was his strategy.
He set up a nonprofit foundation in 2011. I assume that he made careful plans on how most of his $75 million would continue to make the world a little better.
If he had devoted the time that he spent producing his show to producing videos and other materials that could be used to support the organizations that he had decided to donate money to, I think he would have had a greater impact for his calling. Those videos would continue to generate donations for those charities. They would be permanent fundraising tools.
There comes a time when you have to decide how to invest the remaining time you have available. Should it go into your job or your calling? I recommend the latter.
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