On the Road to Wellville (…well Pittsburgh)

 

In just a little while I will have to hit the road for a few days. I’m going back to Pittsburgh for a few doctor appointments and tests at Hillman Cancer Center.   This is now a regular part of my life. 

This time a year ago I was in the early stages of   chemo treatment.  Several weeks before that I had been diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.  I was fortunate – colon cancer is the easiest to treat.

I have been clear now for several months, but I go for regular scans to make certain I am still cancer free. 

Cancer treatments have come a long way in the past few years… and the breakthroughs that are being made are encouraging. I even read a few months ago that some scientists had found the Achilles Heal for some forms of cancer…

While I don’t think most people still speak in hushed tones about the “C-word”, it is still surreal and sobering to the families who are impacted. 

And there seem to be few people who are not affected in one way or another by cancer. I know our family had been.  Just six weeks before I was diagnosed, my wife’s father passed away due to complications with his treatment for a rare lymphoma. (He had been in remission for a few years before a recurrence.)  And my sisters daughter, Grace, was found to have a massive Wilms’ Tumor before she was one year old.  (She is now doing great! And she’s the poster child for Children’s Cancer Foundation in Delaware.) 

I found that perspective is vitally important, to both the one with cancer and to those around us.  A couple things I think I will always remember, that I want to pass on for anyone facing cancer – either as the patient, or as a friend or family member of someone with cancer: 

My father in law used to say “Be as nasty to your cancer as your cancer is to you.”  I found this to be good advice.   

Basketball coach, Jim Valvano, gave a powerful speech, reminding us that cancer can take life, but it cannot take your mind, and cannot touch your soul. (See the V Foundation)

But even more profound, perhaps, is an article by David Powlinson & John Piper titled Don’t Waste Your Cancer offers a wonderful eternal perspective.   

I’m gonna’ hit the road now.  Any prayers you offer that I remain cancer free are greatly appreciated…

Grace & Peace to you, in Christ Jesus…