Act on your dream!

July 5, 2010 Issue #10

Written by John L. Dilbeck, http://www.AYearFromNow.com
Copyright © 2010 John L. Dilbeck, All rights reserved.

A word from the editor...

I want to thank you, again, for subscribing to Act On Your Dream!, and it is a pleasure to send you this issue. I hope you find it interesting and informative.

This is going to be a very different newsletter and will be about me and the struggles I've faced over the last year. I'm not trying to elicit your sympathy, but I do want to keep you informed of what's happening and why I have not been publishing this newsletter more often.

The next issue will feature three women from South Carolina and some of the reasons I have come to like and admire them.

I wish you and your family the very best,

What Is Your Dream?

What do you truly want to accomplish with your life?
What are you doing to make your dream come true?

What can you achieve in as little as a year from now?

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From the desk of John L. Dilbeck

Famous quotes

Articles

John Dilbeck - Making progress slowly
New Act On Your Dream page on Facebook

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Act On Your Dream! is published by: John L. Dilbeck, Dilbeck Marketing, Murphy, NC 28906

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From the desk of John L. Dilbeck

Famous quotes

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
-- Thomas Edison

"The biggest mistake people make in life is not making a living at doing what they most enjoy."
-- Malcolm S. Forbes (1919-1990)

"Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve."
-- Napoleon Hill in his all-time best selling book, Think and Grow Rich

Articles

Making progress slowly

by John Dilbeck

One again, I am not trying to elicit your sympathy. I just want to update you on why I haven't been doing much with my websites nor publishing this newsletter more often.

I have a vision in my head of having regular monthly newsletters where I can present stories about others, maybe YOU, who have a dream and are working diligently towards making it real. I want to do what I can to help as many people reach their goals and share the stories of their success with as many people as possible. That's one of the dreams that keeps me going, even when times are rough.

So far, I have not been able to achieve that dream, but I'm not ready to give up.

I told you last time about the years of caring for my mother and how difficult that was. I was happy to have the opportunity to help her when she needed it.

I told you how my health had been declining and how I wasn't able to do very much work on making my dreams real.

I got progressively sicker since last summer and moved in with my daughter in January, 2010. Some days I was barely able to get out of bed and sit in a chair.

It all came to a head in March, when I wasn't able to get out of bed at all.

My son-in-law and grandson each took me by one arm and helped me to their car. They, along with my daughter, took me to the emergency room.

If I had been living alone at the time, I don't think I would be alive today.

I was diagnosed with severe anemia and was hospitalized. They gave me seven units of blood and my head started to clear a bit.

In trying to determine the cause of my illness, they did some ultrasound and CT scans and found the underlying cause: colon cancer.

On April 1, (yep, April Fools Day) I underwent surgery to resect my intestines. About half of my large intestine and part of my small intestine was removed. While doing the surgery, my surgeon found a large gall stone (my daughter has called it my gall boulder) and removed my gall bladder, too. I was in the hospital for a little over a week and I've been slowly getting better and stronger ever since.

My cancer was found after it had grown to an eight-pound tumor. That's pretty advanced. My surgeon told me I was very lucky that the tumor was one large mass that he successfully removed, rather than being spread all over my abdomen.

Since then, I've seen an oncologist and we're taking care of other issues before beginning chemotherpy. A PET scan showed large lumps in both of my thyroid glands and I had them biopsied last month. Fortunately, all three lumps were diagnosed as benign.

The CT and PET scans showed a tumor in my liver that had grown quite a bit between March and May, and my new oncological surgeon presented my case to a group of cancer specialists in Asheville last month. As a result, I had a liver biopsy last Friday and expect to get the results from it tomorrow.

(I'm sure I learned where a liver was located back in 10th grade biology, but I didn't remember. After the doctor pushed those needles into my liver to do the biopsy, I know exactly where it is located, now!)

We're expecting the results to show that my colon cancer has spread to my liver, and if that is so, then I'm already scheduled to have radio frequency ablation of the tumor next Monday and I'll probably be spending a day or two in the hospital following the procedure.

After that, we'll proceed with the chemotherapy.

I am in a battle for my life with a cancer that wants to win as much as I do, but there's going to be only one winner! I intend to win this war and kick that cancer's butt. I have a team of medical specialists doing what they've trained for all their lives and a very supportive network of family and friends who are with me 100% on this journey. We're calling this whole group "Team Dilbeck" and we're working together to win this war.

Now, I know a lot of people aren't comfortable with the warfare analogy for cancer treatment, but I am. I intend to win this war and be around for several more years.

I still have a dream to help you achieve your dream and I still want to build the best marketing system in Murphy, NC. So, I'm not even considering giving up and I fully intend to be the winner.

In May, I purchased a nice travel trailer and I'm now living next door to my daughter and her family, where my new home (I'm calling it Castle Dragon) is parked on their property. It's great living next to them and being able to see them on a regular basis.

I'm very lucky to have a daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids who are helping me fight this battle. They've done a lot to help me get moved in to my new home, transport me to doctors appointments and trips to the several hospitals where I've had procedures, and have been an inspiration for me during one of the worst times of my life.

So, now you know why I've been scarce and haven't been doing very much work on my websites or helping you act on your dream, lately. That's going to change, eventually.

I'm hoping this will be the last newsletter where I focus on myself and I'm looking forward -- very much -- to focusing on you.

I have been interacting with my friends on my Facebook page and it has been my window to the world on days when I wasn't able to get outside into the real world. If you're on Facebook, you're invited to drop by www.facebook.com/johndilbeck and we can be friends.

New Act On Your Dream! page on Facebook

Up until recently, we had an Act On Your Dream Forum, but I closed it a couple of months ago.

This morning, I created a brand new Act On Your Dream! page on Facebook, and I invite you to come and participate there.

Share your dreams and goals. Discuss the obstacles you've encountered and what you're doing to overcome them.

Tell us about your successes and maybe you'll be helping others with similar dreams.

Do you know of other resources such as books and websites that offer good information about achieving dreams, setting goals, overcoming obstacles, self-improvement, and other similar topics? Please share them with us and I look forward to linking to them from my various sites, as appropriate.

I really hope we can find ways to encourage and help each other as we work to make our dreams real.

What about your dream?

What do you want to accomplish with your life? Some people have big dreams and some people have smaller dreams. Some are difficult and some are easy. No matter what you want to accomplish, don't ever give up.

Imagine what you want. See it in your mind. Make plans on how you can make it real, and then act on your dream!

What can we do to help each other make our dreams real?

Act on your dream!

I welcome your comments, suggestions, and critiques.

Please make your comments about anything in this newsletter in the Discussions section of our Act On Your Dream! page on Facebook. I look forward to seeing you there.

I intend to accomplish my definite chief aim and make my dream a reality. I want to see you do the same.

If you believe you can, you can.

Act on your dream!