Trying Not to Die with Deb Krier

While it's difficult to track how many people with cancer do not seek treatment, the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) conducted a study a few years ago that indicated about 9.2% of patients receive no first course of treatment.

This could be for many reasons, including fear or disbelief in traditional or corporate medicine, alternative treatments that stay off the statistics, or they just say “fuck it” and decide to enjoy the time they have left the best they can.

But what if you’re diagnosed with cancer and seeing an oncologist just doesn’t fit into your plan?

This was Deb Krier.

Deb was raised in a small town as the only child of a father who worked most of the time and was uninvolved to the point that he was vaguely aware the family had a bank account, and a mother who was the secretary at the local doctor’s office. Their marriage may have been what we today call a “female-led relationship” – her mother ran everything and insisted on making every decision.

This brought out two traits in Deb – it made her a perfectionist and perhaps a bit of a control freak, and it also made her very independent and insistent on having control over her own life.

She went to college, started a business, and in her 30s got married. They lived in Denver until her husband got transferred to Atlanta. Because they don’t have kids and otherwise are independent people, the move wasn’t that hard. They planted stakes in Atlanta and things went on. Hell, everything seemed fine.

But FINE is a 4-Letter Word.

A routine mammogram revealed something, but it was minor and easily treatable. Since it didn’t seem urgent, Deb didn’t exactly rush to the oncologist – actually, it wasn’t until months later, once the cancer had spread and things got serious, that she began treatment.

The journey through cancer has taught Deb many lessons, including the importance of delegation in her business, how to assert her autonomy and retain her choice as she goes through treatment, and a long quest through which she has discovered a new meaning and definition for the concept of death.

For a while, her mother moved in to help with care, which led to arguments because Deb, her mother, and her husband fought over who was in charge. It was a huge deal just to persuade her mother to leave when she was no longer needed.

So, how is Deb doing? How did this inspire her to create her venture, Trying Not to Die, which works with cancer patients showing them how to LIVE?

We’re about to find out.

Deb’s hype song is “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten.

Resources:

• Deb Krier’s website: https://tryingnottodie.live/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahkrier/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1465660477225232

Also check out our episode, Replacing Fine with F*ck Off! with P.J. Roscoe which includes a theme related to something Deb and I discussed.

Invitation from Lori:

Now, let me mention that in my special guide, 5 Easy Ways to Start Living the Sabbatical Life, you can discover, step-by-step, how you can stop settling for “fine” and look at your life with a fresh set of eyes. Even if, like many people in today’s high-speed world, you’re not in a position to take a month or year-long sabbatical.

You know how you normally hear the disclaimer “Don’t try this at home!” In this case, you CAN try this at home. And not just “try,” DO. <