Michael's Reverse Bucket List
January  2026

In December 1998, I got engaged to my girlfriend when I was 39. 10 days later my right hip socket collapsed and I was diagnosed with stage 3 Multiple Myeloma. My doctor gave me 3 months to live without any treatments.

Since then I have:

  1. Collected 1420/month from social security
  2. Collected $2100/month from private disability insurance
  3. Maintained a higher WBC during chemo then was expected (3.0)
  4. Married a woman 10 years younger with a Masters in Chemistry
  5. Turned 40 with family and friends
  6. Rented a house on the Pacific coast in Mendocino for our honeymoon
  7. Collected more stem cells in one day than the nurse had ever seen (6 billion)
  8. Survived an autogolous PBSCT (bone marrow transplant) at Stanford
  9. Survived both pneumonia and RSV
  10. Grew a new hip socket above my broken one, which the doctor said was impossible
  11. After 1 1/2 years in wheelchair, I learned to walk on the self-healed hip
  12. Had a total hip replacement to fix the 1 1/2 inch leg offset
  13. Learned to walk yet again on the new hip
  14. Bought my first house with a view of the SF bay area
  15. Returned to working full-time
  16. Built a large custom kitchen in the new house
  17. Gave speech to 300 agents about disability insurance in MN
  18. Toured 9 countries in Europe over 4 weeks, walked the streets of Pompeii
  19. Lost 40 lbs. on the South Beach Diet (to 146)
  20. Cruised the Panama Canal, for Christmas and New Year’s
  21. Helmet dived in Aruba
  22. Had Lasik in both eyes (monovision)
  23. Returned to my oncologist, after a 5 year absence
  24. Saw George Michael in concert seated at the center of the 6th row
  25. Had a son, became a father
  26. Took family vacation to Cancun
  27. Took family vacation to Oahu and Maui
  28. Built a 900 sq. ft. custom addition on top of my home with earthquake upgrades and full sprinkler system
  29. 2 1/2 y/o boy on the swing says "Daddy!". My 2 1/2 y/o son replies "We both have Daddys, Daddy!" The other father asked what month my son was born.
  30. Turned 50 with a big party with an SNL costume theme
  31. Had a blonde, blue-eyed daughter
  32. Obtained 500K Life Insurance with a standard rating
  33. Climbed the Great Wall in China, walked the Forbidden Temple
  34. Celebrated Chinese New Year’s in Beijing, China
  35. Upgraded the Life Insurance to 600K with a preferred rating
  36. Rode a 140-year-old irrigation canal in Kauai on an inner-tube
  37. Took the whole family to Disneyland for 3 days
  38. Attended Mickey's Halloween party, in full costume
  39. Visited the San Diego Zoo, Sea World and Legoland
  40. Saw Prince in concert from an executive box
  41. Had my best year ever in my consulting business
  42. Attended the SF Giants Fan Fest the same year they won the World Series
  43. Joined Coppola Winery just to use their swimming pool with the kids
  44. Met with a private doctor to improve my health, not just maintain it
  45. Survived a head-on car crash with my whole family aboard with minimal injuries
  46. Hired a live-in Au Pair to take care of my kids full-time
  47. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge with both my kids
  48. While coaching my son's single A Little League team, he made an unassisted triple play in practice 
  49. Spoke to over 1000 at Stanford Hospital about life experiences
  50. Rode a swamp boat in New Orleans
  51. Ate beignets at Café du Monte and ate dinner at The Commander’s Palace
  52. Took the family to New York and saw Times Square and the Museum of Natural History
  53. Watched a New York Mets game from a catered luxury box at Citi Field
  54. Enjoyed a carriage ride in central park and boated to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty
  55. Drove the family to Philadelphia and saw the liberty bell and Rocky Statue
  56. Drove to Washington D.C., toured the Smithsonian, saw the White House and Lincoln Memorial
  57. Celebrated my son’s First Communion with a party at the house with a live band
  58. Another 3 days at Disneyland, entered at 7 am near the front of the crowd on Main St
  59. Got my first puppy, at 11 weeks.  Now a 94 lb lap dog (Diamond)
  60. Watch my 9 year old son hit his first grand slam 
  61. Flew the family to Michigan to attend our au pair’s wedding and I walked her down the aisle
  62. Had a private tour of the Detroit Tigers Comerica Park
  63. Toured Henry Ford’s Museum and Greenfield Village, rode in a Model-T convertible
  64. Drove to Ontario, Canada and stayed next door to an indoor water park
  65. Took the over, under and behind tour of Niagara Falls
  66. Saw 4th of July and Canada Day fireworks over Niagara Falls
  67. Rented a luxury house with a pool in Napa with friends
  68. On a new colorectal cancer screening, I measured a risk factor of -9.2 on a scale of -10 to +10
  69. Rented a luxury house with a pool in Occidental, CA with friends
  70. Rented a timeshare in Scottsdale, AZ with access to the J.W. Marriott’s 3.5 acres of pools
  71. Started wearing one contact lens to reverse the lasik monovision
  72. Rented a house near Lake Tahoe, took a snowboarding lesson after an 18-year skiing break
  73. Watched 200lb cage fighting robots live at RoboGames with my son
  74. Watched my son’s AAA baseball team take the 2nd place trophy after a 6th place finish
  75. Traveled to Helsinki, Finland on business, celebrated May Day downtown at an outdoor bar
  76. Took a family vacation to Oahu, stayed in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel
  77. Watched 4th of July fireworks over the Disney Aulani Hotel from the Marriott Hotel room
  78. Exhibited my software automation utility at NI Week in Austin with my wife's help
  79. Celebrated my 18th wedding anniversary at Austin’s number 1 restaurant (Eddie V's)
  80. First time playing 18 holes of golf was with an LPGA professional in Scottsdale
  81. Enjoyed my father’s 90th birthday party at his home with the entire family
  82. Celebrated my daughter’s First Communion with a party at the house with a live band
  83. Long time customer who is my age asked me if I was in my late 30's
  84. Watched drone racing/fighting at the Maker Faire with my son
  85. Won a free pass to NI Week for an asynchronous, fault-tolerant, spinal implant tester design
  86. Returned to the timeshare in Scottsdale during the worst heat wave in decades (119°C)
  87. Slid down Slide Rock State Park, the #1 tourist attraction in Arizona
  88. Spent 2 weeks traveling Ireland and Scotland, kissed the Blarney Stone
  89. Celebrated 60 with a penthouse hotel in SF with a Foreigner/Def Leopard/Journey concert at ATT Park
  90. Watched my 12 y/o son score 15 of his team's 31 goals and take first place in BU14 AYSO Fall soccer
  91. Got back on snow skis after 20 years, skied all day with my 13 y/o son and never fell.
  92. Watched my 14 y/o son score 21 of his team's 38 points to win the 8th grade basketball title
  93. Watched my 14 y/o son score 4 of his teams 5 goals playing at San Mateo Football Club Soccer
  94. At 61 y/o, I secured a full-time, permenent employee position at a forture 1000 company with group health insurance
  95. Bought my dream car, 2020 AWD, performance Tesla Model Y with Full Self Driving
  96. Celebrated the 20th anniversary of my last treatment for cancer (Aredia in July 2000)
  97. Sold my father's home and estate during a pandemic
  98. Survived a COVID-19 infection while unvacinated with minimal symptoms
  99. Vacationed in Kona, Hawaii and snorked in the ocean at night and touched several Manta Rays
  100. Snorkeled with a turtle at 49 Black Sand Beach
  101. Vacationed in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia Spain, and Lisbon and Porto Portugal. Attended Easter mass at a church in Porto, Portugal
  102. Attended my son's High School Graduation
  103. Vacationed at a mansion on the coast of Syros, Greece with a private lagoon, open bar and a live-in service staff of 6
  104. Took a cruise to Alaska. Watched the glacier calve into Glacier bay.
  105. My Son and I Obtained Malteze citizenchip because my grandfather wass born there
  106. My Son moved to Malta and signed with a proffessional soccer team
  107. Celebrated the 25th anniversary of my last treatment for cancer (July 2025)
  108. Survived a seizure at home with my wife and son as I was heading to my car to drive to the bank
  109. Was sent home within 24 hours of open brain surgury to remove a cancerous tumor

There is no doubt that the years since my cancer diagnosis have been the best years of my life.

Michael Munroe, age 67
SF Bay Area