Let’s Chat: Thankful for this chance

By LINDA TOOTH on October 2, 2024.

I recently saw a quote on Google Images that felt like a sucker punch to the gut.

It says “A cancer diagnosis changes you forever. You always remember the moment it came.”

I remember vividly the day they told us he had cancer. It is something you never forget.

I was the one who fell apart when he told me it would be okay. The journey we began that day has been bumpy and scary and I am not sure every relationship would have made it through. I remember thinking if I lose him, how will I carry on? We have a family wedding next year and we have plans.

Procedures from colonoscopies, a sigmoidoscopy, biopsy on his kidney, surgery to remove his left kidney and 2-3 feet of his intestine, he has had it all. The two weeks after his major surgery were probably the hardest for both of us. He lost 23 pounds in those two weeks due to the ice-chip diet he was on. He was on an epidural that was finally removed a few days after surgery. Then it was finding the right pain medication while trying to monitor his blood sugars and blood pressure and have his already prescribed medication compensate for the weight loss.

Meanwhile, I was leaving him in Calgary for periods and returning home to take care of things here. That was probably the hardest for me. I would talk to him regularly but it still was not the same as seeing him and hoping for progress.

Two weeks after surgery, I was able to bring him home.

I remember that drive from Calgary to Redcliff. It was the longest journey of my life.

I kept looking at him in visible discomfort from the seat belt thinking, “am I going to be taking him to the hospital when we get home?” He persevered and each day has been an improvement for him. He is out walking daily and his food intake, though not what it was pre-surgery, is better each day.

At our age, we are talking about retirement. When do we want to collect our CPP and what would it look like for us with pensions? Will we be traveling and not spending winters here? Believe me when I say I have given retirement a lot of thought.

Cancer knows no age and maybe this was a sign that our retirement plans will look different to what we originally thought.

I am so happy to report that the lymph nodes taken from his intestine and kidney areas came back as non-cancerous. He has been told by the urologist that he has an 86 per cent chance that the cancer will not come back.

We feel that is a pretty good percentage.

Regular colonoscopies and CT scans of the areas in question will be a part of his life. We can live with that as it beats the alternative.

Remember everyone, cancer knows no age and we need to take our health seriously. We get one shot at this life.