Has your battle with the beast changed your personality?

The idea for this thread came from remembering some of the more confrontational exchanges between some of our forum members that have occurred in threads in the past. I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about, and who the folks were who were involved.

It's true that some people are just naturally "assertive" (shall we call it that?) in that way, while maybe others have become a bit rougher around the edges simply because of all that they have been through.

Personality change, if it happens, is not necessarily a bad thing. Just getting older by itself can lead to it. But it's useful to know if it really is happening (or already has), especially if we weren't aware that it was doing so.

The poll above pretty much speaks for itself. This is clearly a highly individualized matter, with some of us seeing our personalities definitely changed by this experience, while others of us are just moving right along as we always have.

BTW, I think our forum sisters might be in an especially good position to comment on this one, since they see their men from a more objective viewpoint than we guys ever see ourselves. Ladies, have any of you noticed changes in your man's personality during all this? (Please answer the poll as if you were your man speaking).

Actually, though, the poll questions above could just as well be put to everyone here, guys and girls, since this experience affects all of us so deeply.

So, are you your same old self, or after all you've been through, is somebody else with a different personality now looking back at you in the mirror?

basically I am the same guy but I've got a lot less tolerance for people who waste my time.

I'm pretty much the same with one big exception--my wallet is open much more than before. I've been tight and frugal my whole life and after my diagnosis I decided WHY? I have no debt-- house and cars paid for, son graduated from college debt free, have a great retirement plan so that my take home pay is actually more than it was working. My new philosophy is going to be if there is any money left when I die it is just poor planning on my part

Tom

I was recounting my issues to a fellow in his 70s. I told him about the 10 hospitals I visited and the 30 doctors who prodded and poked me over the last 14 months. He just laughed and said "Welcome to old age, mate; what you are describing is normal for people like me". For a moment there I thought You B*stard! The wisdom I got from this was, "life goes on, and its what you make of it", consequently, I've become a bit more accepting of things (good or bad), they are just things.

I am definitely more appreciative of my wife and my grown family. I appreciate each day so much more and don't feel pressure to produce more each day at work that I felt prior to the illness so I voted the positive more serene category. , James

I'm much more emotional now than before....by a factor of at least ten, more so when I'm alone.

GOP,
Sounds like a good philosophy. I still think long term as I am a very goal oriented type. I read a book some years ago titled "Die Broke". It proposes a philosophy similar to your and Tom's view. The author's tag line is "you should live to the fullest and if you do it right the last check will be to the undertaker... and it will bounce". The book is a light read and not sure I totally buy in but some form of it makes sense.

Don

My wife tells me I had a shorter temper when going through SRT but was back to normal afterwards.

I'm not sure how that fits on a Likert scale