In Sickness and in Health – moving forward in health

When I wrote this post last September, I couldn’t believe the words were being written by me.  My husband, diagnosed with testicular cancer, having gone through surgery and eventually chemo, was supposed to be healthy for the rest of our lives.

When I said ‘I do’ I meant it for a very long time.  The ‘in sickness and in health’ clause wasn’t supposed to be visited so early, just 6 years into our marriage.

But there we were, I was 30 with two children under 4 and he was 36, prepared for a lifetime with his family.

However, the diagnosis was testicular cancer came with incredible rates of cure.   Despite the disease spreading to his lungs, chemo would take care of it.

And through it all, we were hardly alone.  Friends and family who watched our children, prepared us food, visited or consoled us were a network of support that without I’m not sure how we could have done it.

My online community of support (Twitter friends, blog readers) were in the city, across the country and scattered around the world. Messages late at night when I was alone and scared were invaluable and virtual hugs were felt even if not physically.

Fast forward to today, when the oncologist said in very matter-of-fact terms that he is all clear, and while the first 2 years with this disease are critical, there is no sign of active cancer, no reason to think it should return.  He’s free.

It’s news we anticipated for the past few months, but until we actually hear it the dark clouds of ‘what if’ and ‘what could have been’ are hard to shake.  We’ve lived these past many months with love and happiness.  With togetherness and positive spirit.  We were buoyed by the love of so many around us throughout this entire thing.

And by the love we have for each other.  This is how I am supposed to feel about my future: hopeful.  And now I feel like I’ve been given that back.

We know how this story could have gone.  We are truly blessed and fortunate that we have come out the other side of something so terrible.  And we don’t take it lightly.  We love each other and appreciate every moment we have.

Thank you, dear readers, for your support over these past many months.

Thank you to my friends and family who may read this blog.  Moments of kindness that we have known will never be unforgotten.

Hug your loved ones tonight.  It’s worth it.

We will be celebrating each and every day for the rest of our lives forward.

Chemo, day 1 – last October. #kickcancerintheballs