January 24, 2014
Well the decision has been made after a lot of thought and conversation. Today is my last day of work for at least 4 months. With the support of my great family and my work I decided the time was perfect for me to take the time off. It's going to be a strange transition. For 30 years I have been getting up every morning and going to work..not now. This will not be like a 2 week holiday. Now the only thing I have to do is keep the "honey do" list from getting out of control. This transition marks the beginning of another section in this new life we lead.
Throughout the last few weeks it has become quite apparent that not only have our lives changed but the outlook in general has changed. The little things don't seem so large...most daily chores we have no control over so don't even try. Don't sweat the small stuff....its all small stuff.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
JANUARY 13, 2014
This is my first day back to work after the holidays. It would be another day where I would have to tell my co workers and my supervisor that I had cancer and what that may mean for them. They were of course shocked by the news but very supportive. There was a new course starting on Jan 20 and I was going to teach come hell or high water. I wanted to be part of it, to teach, to interact with students. All the things I have grown to enjoy.
During this week, I had several medical appointments and had to have someone fill in for me. Through conversations with my co workers and more importantly my wife the idea of taking some time away from work for me. To relax.
This is my first day back to work after the holidays. It would be another day where I would have to tell my co workers and my supervisor that I had cancer and what that may mean for them. They were of course shocked by the news but very supportive. There was a new course starting on Jan 20 and I was going to teach come hell or high water. I wanted to be part of it, to teach, to interact with students. All the things I have grown to enjoy.
During this week, I had several medical appointments and had to have someone fill in for me. Through conversations with my co workers and more importantly my wife the idea of taking some time away from work for me. To relax.
January 9
This was the second day of chemo treatments. This one was extremely uneventful and very short, thankfully. This was the end of the first round and still not sure and terrified how the coming days would transpire. Turns out the anticipated side effects are minor in nature. Just some fatigue. This lasted for about 5 to 6 days and then really it was back to normal. Felling good.....actually feeling great.
This was the second day of chemo treatments. This one was extremely uneventful and very short, thankfully. This was the end of the first round and still not sure and terrified how the coming days would transpire. Turns out the anticipated side effects are minor in nature. Just some fatigue. This lasted for about 5 to 6 days and then really it was back to normal. Felling good.....actually feeling great.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Jan 8, 2014 First go!!!
And so it all begins. The first of many chemotherapy treatments to come. this is where the rubber hit the road so to speak. The fight was about to begin in a big way. While I wanted to get things started, I think part of me was still in a state of denial, maybe it wasn't true, maybe there was a mistake. There would be no mistake. The drive to the hospital had to be the longest most traffic congested drive of my life. Where just a month ago I would have been calm, with a "nothing I can do about it" attitude, this morning I was extremely on edge. I didn't want to be late for fear of losing my appointment time..I wanted to get this started.
This would turn into a very long day. We arrived at the chemo floor and was quickly shown to our chair. Did I mention that truthfully I still could not believe this was happening. The staff there was fantastic, after some routine checks, and medications the first course of two treatments was started and the fight was on. For the most part everything went well.
This is also the first time that I made the news public through a vague post on facebook, The response was over whelming. Well wishes from friends and from across the country. This was truly a release, the heavy weight we had been carrying throughout Dec was off and it felt great.
This was also the night that I decided I would attend our weekly fire department training night and tel my family at the firehall what was happening. It was hard to tell but necessary. I knew that if I was to receive support and understanding from anyone it would be from these guy and girls. They are a great bunch and I am proud to be part of them.
This day ended looking forward to the short treatment tomorrow.
This would turn into a very long day. We arrived at the chemo floor and was quickly shown to our chair. Did I mention that truthfully I still could not believe this was happening. The staff there was fantastic, after some routine checks, and medications the first course of two treatments was started and the fight was on. For the most part everything went well.
This is also the first time that I made the news public through a vague post on facebook, The response was over whelming. Well wishes from friends and from across the country. This was truly a release, the heavy weight we had been carrying throughout Dec was off and it felt great.
This was also the night that I decided I would attend our weekly fire department training night and tel my family at the firehall what was happening. It was hard to tell but necessary. I knew that if I was to receive support and understanding from anyone it would be from these guy and girls. They are a great bunch and I am proud to be part of them.
This day ended looking forward to the short treatment tomorrow.
Dec 18, 2013 In the beginning!
Through this blog I will attempt to pass on as much information about my battle with cancer as I can possibly convey with text. While it is titled My Cancer Journey, it is by no means all mine, I have a beautiful family to fight for , my wife and daughter. From them will come the inspiration and strength that I will require to carry on the fight.
This is the day mine and my family's lives changed forever. This is the day I was officially handed my diagnoses of cancer. Cancer...a word that strikes fear into everyone, and we were no different, we tried to listen to the explanations of type , treatments, and the big plan to try and beat this monster. There was no way to take it all in, there was so much information, paperwork, and facility tours.
We couldn't believe it, was this really happening to our family? Was it a bad dream? It was neither, it was our new reality. Emotions were high, tears were shed, and for quite a bit there was nothing but silence. Silence because of not knowing what say. Just alone with our own thoughts.
This was exactly a week before Christmas, we decided to keep this information from everyone except for immediate family so we didn't have to deliver news such as this to close friends directly before Christmas.
Christmas for us this year was not the usual, yes of course there was Christmas trees, lights and lots of presents, it was a little low keyed. There were more important things to think about, basically what was to come. How our lives would change. The unknowns.
This is the day mine and my family's lives changed forever. This is the day I was officially handed my diagnoses of cancer. Cancer...a word that strikes fear into everyone, and we were no different, we tried to listen to the explanations of type , treatments, and the big plan to try and beat this monster. There was no way to take it all in, there was so much information, paperwork, and facility tours.
We couldn't believe it, was this really happening to our family? Was it a bad dream? It was neither, it was our new reality. Emotions were high, tears were shed, and for quite a bit there was nothing but silence. Silence because of not knowing what say. Just alone with our own thoughts.
This was exactly a week before Christmas, we decided to keep this information from everyone except for immediate family so we didn't have to deliver news such as this to close friends directly before Christmas.
Christmas for us this year was not the usual, yes of course there was Christmas trees, lights and lots of presents, it was a little low keyed. There were more important things to think about, basically what was to come. How our lives would change. The unknowns.
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