A 'tumour diary' written by a BBC journalist stricken with brain cancer, has come to an end, after its author became too sick to continue with the journal.
Hundreds of thousands of people have followed the twists and turns in the life of BBC science and technology writer Ivan Noble, who launched the blog after he was diagnosed with cancer in August 2002.
He movingly described his odyssey of chemotherapy and brain surgery, his marriage, the birth of a baby son last year, and a surge of hope - quickly dashed - that the brain tumour was in retreat.
But in a final posting (above) on Thursday, Mr Noble wrote: 'This is my last diary. I have written it ahead of time because I knew there would be a point when I was not well enough to continue.
'That time has now come.'
BBC Online (news.bbc.co.uk) said yesterday that the 'tumour diary' was read by 100,000 people per day on average.
There had been 300,000 visitors on the day of the final posting, and many of the visitors had left messages of goodwill and support for Mr Noble.
This is an amazing testament to the power of personal publishing technology. The technology allows people to share in and understand another's plight in a way previously impossible. 100,000 people went through the ups and downs of Ivan's illness. They learned from him. They gained compassion. Which bred tolerance. That made the world a better place.
When I began writing about having a brain tumour, I did not really know why.
That personal style of journalism was never something I was particularly attracted to or interested in reading myself.
To me this points to a human need to share with the tribe. Humans grew up with other people throughout evolution. But current societies have so mastered the art of perception that we're often discouraged from sharing things that make us appear weak, or less than perfect. I think that Ivan felt this deep-seated natural desire to connect with people and saw blogging as a way to do so.
The regular feedback from dozens and dozens of people every time I have written has been wonderful, especially in real times of crisis.
Yep. When I've posted some health issues to the site I've gotten feedback. Like the time Dixon shared something with me after I posted. Made me feel connected.
If you imagine the millions of people out there with blogs it's easy to see that there are some amazing life stories being documented. Sometimes the tricky part is finding them. Sometimes people start their stories but don't continue because they don't quickly gain a readership. I feel that all of these stories are important. In part for the writer. In part for the reader.
It's also refreshing to see this sort of personal blogging having an effect. All too often professional topic blogging is focused on. To me the real stories are the ones that happen away from work.
I'd like to thank Ivan for sharing his journey with us. With more people sharing like Ivan the world will be a much better place.
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