To those who continually ask about our colleague, and friend, Bruce Hooley, he’s ready for the fight. And if you know Bruce…he’s not going to back down from cancer’s punches.
It seems that more than questions about football Friday night…people were so very kind to ask me about the progress, and prognosis, of our colleague and friend Bruce Hooley, who was diagnosed with cancer six weeks ago, and is on the doorstep of his fight to beat it through radiation and chemo, starting in a matter of days.
One particular individual recently spoke as if he knew Bruce very well, though they’d never met. From his writing alone, this person knew, exactly, what Bruce Hooley was all about.
“I like to read him because he writes it the way it is,” he said, requesting that he not be identified. “He’s not afraid of the consequences of telling the truth. I can tell his character, and character is stronger than the people who try to knock you down.”
I was stunned…by how you can be known by the way you express yourself in not what you say, but how you say it. And Bruce has never minced words, although at times it would have been better for his career if he had. But you understand, this is why so many people are stopping to ask, “How’s Bruce doing?”
He shared with me last Friday that he’s understandably tired, as a result of weaning off a steroid meant to reduce post-surgery swelling in his brain…and as a result of his campaign for school board at Jonathan Alder school district. And Bruce is as relentless about campaigning as he is about topics that others would look at and say, “No thanks.”
He is scheduled to begin chemo and radiation treatments on November 6, and we’ve talked together about that…a lot! He’s also pursuing a diet and dietary supplements that are designed to support his immune system, that literally – if you understand homeopathic medicine – aids the body in healing itself. Like everything else he does, Bruce is as thorough in preparation for recovery as he is his pursuit of a good story.
If you would like to reach out to him, he shares his thoughts regularly on his social media accounts – Facebook and Twitter – and I know he would welcome your words of support. You can also read Bruce while he’s away from his daily posts at Press Pros on his website, www.BruceHooley.com.
In the meantime, we, like Bruce, have a Good Hope regarding his condition and hoped-for recovery. He will tell you that he is in the hands of the Great Physician. And there are none better.