Cancer could be so much worse

I had supper with a whole group of angels the other night. They all happened to be women, but in my experience angels are just as likely to be male as female. Have you ever met an angel? I bet you have, but you might not have realized it. Let me put some context around my statements. I am nominally a Roman Catholic, but I was raised to think critically rather than to rely on faith. That said, I still have a belief structure that aligns pretty well with the catechism of the church. I also admire and try to model the beliefs of other religions like Buddhism or Islam for example. "A good idea is independent of its source," according to a very capable doctor I worked with decades ago; I try to live my life according to any  principle or teaching that makes sense or brings me peace. So, with that in mind I want to share a joke/parable because it helps to explain how I wound up at the same table as a group of angels. So here it goes... A very devout, deeply religious man star...

I'm not the only one with cancer. It actually really  helps when I remember that. This feels deeply personal and there are times that I do forget and feel like I'm the only person that is going through this. Then I realize that - unfortunately -  a shocking number of Canadians are diagnosed with and in too many cases die from cancer every year . I know  that I'm not the only one going through this, even if I'm the only one who really knows what I'm  going through. I've told many people that this diagnosis is "life changing, not life ending". And while it's true that my life has changed irrevocably, there's another person whose life was changed by my diagnosis. In many ways, they  have cancer almost as much as I do. I'm talking about my wife. When I was diagnosed with cancer, her  life changed forever as well. Donna and I had been married for nearly 33 years when I got my diagnosis. Thirty-two years, seven months, and seventeen days, t...

Jaunty frog says "Ribbit." Ever seen a frog sitting on a lily pad on a pond? Okay - how about a cartoon  frog on a cartoon  lily pad? I bet you're hearing that frog singing "Hello My Baby", aren't you? Honestly, I'm not sure he was ever shown on a lily pad. Again, I digress. Lily pads. Once upon a long, long time ago I completed a certificate in project management. In one of my seminars the speaker showed a slide of a frog on a lily pad and explained that if a pond is too big for a frog to jump across in one go, they will hop from lily pad to lily pad until they get to the other side, breaking down an insurmountable task into a series of smaller tasks that are easier for them to achieve. "The same thing goes for projects; sometimes the whole concept is too big or the work involved is too great to do in one go. Just focus on the next lily pad. Jump there, get stabilized, and then set a new goal of the next  lily pad." He was a pre...

(WARNING: this blog post contains some detailed descriptions of anatomy that some may find disturbing. All the terms will be accurate and medically appropriate, but I understand if it's still not something you want to read about. If this applies to you - or even if it doesn't - I'd encourage you to check out my favourite web comic. If you read on from here, you've been warned.) *** Someone confessed to me last week that they were planning a brazen theft. They even explained how they were going to accomplish this bold heist. They will cut a small hole in the front wall of the establishment they intend to rob. They've cased the joint thoroughly (to use the metaphorical vernacular); they know every detail of the establishment, inside and out, down to the smallest detail. Their entry would be precise and planned, they would grab the target of the heist and go back out through the same point of entry they made. They would take their time. This would not be a q...

I wrote the following passage last weekend, intending to publish it. I was in a dark place, frightened of what I faced in the immediate future even if I was still optimistic about my long-term future. I felt exhausted and overwhelmed and like I had been coping with the fact that I have cancer for my entire life. I don't feel that way any more. For one thing, I have now met with my surgeon and have a surgical date. I will have my surgery (don't read ahead, but I will  have a separate blog post about that) in about two weeks. We have a solid plan and while the surgery will be significant I am confident that it is the right option for me. I've also had more time to reflect, more time to write my thoughts and feelings and get them out of my head where the echo can be overwhelming (and yes, I know how it sounds). I've started publishing this blog. I've spent more time with people that matter and laughed with my family and friends. I've gotten back to living a...

I have cancer. I have malignant colorectal cancer. I am 55 and I have malignant colorectal cancer. I am 55, so 10 year survival statistics only get me to 65. That's the way my mind worked when I got my results. It was too big, too significant to swallow all at once. "If you're going to eat an elephant, start with one ear!"; that's what someone I used to work with would say when tackling a big issue. I thought it was an odd metaphor then - I mean, is eating an elephant really so commonplace that it could help people understand how to tackle a difficult task? I still  think that it's an odd metaphor... but it is  appropriate. Having a diagnosis of malignant cancer is a lot like having to eat an elephant. It's too big to cope with all at once. I have cancer.  My mind kept swirling back to that. As hard as it was for me to grapple with it, I also knew that there were many, many  people I needed to tell. I sometimes think of the people in my life...

"I have your results." There's nothing elegant about collecting a FIT (Fecal Immunochemical Test) sample. You poop on a piece of paper and jab a plastic stick into it, then screw the stick back into the little plastic container that held the stick in the first place. You then keep the poop/stick/container combination in your fridge until you can take it into your local lab. In my case I handed it to a young woman who I'm  pretty  sure not only went to school with my son but came to his tenth birthday party and has therefore been in my house.  But I digress. My point is, the test isn't elegant. It's not even particularly accurate. False positive tests - where the test is above threshold but no colon cancer is present - happen often . Fairly simple and benign processes like hemorrhoids can trigger a positive result. That doesn't mean that the test is bad, just that it might be oversensitive. Think about it this way, it's likely better to refer mo...