Reflecting on the life of 'Last Lecture' professor Randy Pausch

Although we all knew it would happen sooner or (less likely) later, it made it no less shocking to me when I heard that Dr. Randy Pausch had died last week at the young age of 47, after a two-year struggle with pancreas cancer. He did an admirable thing when he was diagnosed with a metastatic recurrence – he quit work, spent time with his kids and did the things in life he really wanted to do, after devoting (by his own admission) a huge chunk of his life to work. He traveled, he spoke in front of Congress; he co-wrote a heart-warming book; he played with professional football players; and he gave his famous "Last Lecture" at Carnegie-Mellon, which he called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." He described it as a lecture not for the students, but for his three children.

Through his illness, from what I was able to read online and in print, there was no (admittedly well-deserved) pity party. He was funny and lovable and energetic. He taught me how it is possible to live well with cancer, and to live focusing on the living, not on the dying. I know he was a strong voice for other patients, particularly pancreas cancer patients, and his death will be hard for many.

Pancreas cancer is a particularly cruel cancer, one that takes lives so quickly and effectively. Those best poised to advocate for this cancer don't live long enough to make a change. This is a call to arms for new ways of thinking, totally novel treatments, and thinking outside the chemotherapy box. As I reflect on an amazing professor and dad and husband, and as wonderful as I think the last two years of his life have been, I am sure he would have traded them for 20 more mundane years with his family.