Beating Cancer: Monthly Check Ups and the numbers game

I love sharing good news.  Especially when it comes to Andy’s health and beating cancer.

The oncologist believes that there is no active cancer, and while he is on a monthly appointment schedule that one blood marker is behaving itself and there is no reason to think something is still brewing.  Cue the choir of angels singing.

It has meant we are all sleeping better.  And we aren’t going to tests, appointments, scans, follow ups etc. on a weekly basis.  The kids don’t talk about when daddy was sick anymore.  They don’t worry when we leave.

We are enjoying time together while he continues to recover.  Realizing we’ve lost so many months is countered by our sheer desire to live in the now and for tomorrow, realizing how blessed we really our.

He is still tired at times, and as appointments approach we are overcome with moments of anxiety, but they are fleeting.  His hair has come back.  His eyebrows first, then his facial hair which seems darker.  The hair on his head has fully returned but is different.  Instead of black, it’s more of a dark charcoal and instead of thick, it’s soft like a baby kitten.  He’s still smiling.  A lot.

It’s a very strange feeling, as we come back into the light and celebrate kicking cancer in the balls.  Part of me remains so cautious.  Perhaps far too aware how quickly things can change.

But we don’t spend our moments in worry or panic or ‘what ifs’.  We spend them in the now.  Happy to look to the future, together. 

It’s been a rough journey, there’s no denying it.  Times when tears, stress and the unknown would have curled us into a ball.  But those moments were fewer than expected.  They were also made easier by so many friends and family who supported us in so many ways (comfort, food, babysitting, housecleaning etc). 

We also had amazing support from healthcare professionals.  Our family doctor.  His surgeon.  His oncologist (who called us at home to give us good news results so we’d have a good weekend!), the nurses and staff at the Cancer Centre that made his treatment days easier. 

We owe all of those people a world of thanks.

And now, he is on the brink of being able to say that he has beat cancer. 

It’s time we say thanks.  It’s time we give back.

So I’m going to be volunteering with the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. 

I’ll be blogging for them once and a while at their blog and also will be participating in and recruiting for the Do It For Dad Walk on Father’s Day (a perfect family morning and a perfect way to celebrate Andy’s health). 

I don’t usually blog super personal things on this blog.  In fact, I still haven’t written my children’s names or posted pictures of their faces.  But thank you for reading along as I shared this journey.  I know it’s not over.  He will always have the cancer shadow but will be a survivor. 

We survived.

Want to get involved?

a) Make sure your spouse goes for an annual physical.  And if at any time during the year something changes in his health or body, go see your doctor.

b) If you are in Ottawa, consider signing up for the Do it for Dad Walk/Run.  It’s on Father’s Day.  Celebrate daddy’s health by giving back to a wonderful organization.   (And if you sign up please let me know! But I’ll be talking more about this in the future!)