So, as I post this, I reach the 1 year point since the day I heard the words "You have Cancer". It was the follow up appt from my surprise surgery that Sherry and I had flown to Edmonton for the day to see the Doc. Looking back on that day, I did what most people would probably do after being told that news - I went over to Cycle Works Edmonton and looked at motorcycles to buy. Called my mom from the parking lot of the motorcycle dealer to tell her the news.
As I type this, I am sitting at home in the aftermath of my 4th TURBT (Trans Urethral Resection - Bladder Tumour) almost a week away from getting the catheter removed. Not much has changed in that regard, the staff at Misericordia hospital remember me from past visits, so my check in process goes amazingly fast and I completely hate the catheter. Which is surprising as I have had them in for almost a cumulative total of over 3 weeks once this one is removed, so you think I would be used to it by now. I guess that I can be mostly happy with the fact that I am completely unconcious when it is installed.
I look back at the last year with a fair bit of bewilderment - the year has gone quickly, I have actually seen substantial changes in many things, yet I feel that I haven't accomplished much. Since I started this blog, I had some ideas about what I would talk about, and the formats I would use - of course, I haven't really accomplished that yet either.
In the year that I have had cancer, I have met a number of people that I can draw inspiration from. I have talked about them briefly in this blog, as they have an enthusiasm that I hope to achieve. Colin still wants to run triathlons, and Steve is building his off grid cabin on the lake, while finding a way to build a business that he can run from that cabin.
Looking forward, I want to make a commitment of what I want to include in the coming months as I do this blog. Here is my specific list(in no particular order):
- write about the military medical process that I am in the middle of. The reason for this is that there are many news stories about people being released, and the problems with Veterans Affairs where the press may not understand the process that they are writing about. But I will write about how I see my place in it, and what I see as the impacts.
- now that I am in more of a happy place, write the stories about last summers complete and utter disaster that we will term "the move from hell". There are some interesting side notes to the stories that let us highlight some friends that do great things, and the new friends we meet.
- make videos about what I am doing now, what things I am volunteering for - and why.
- make videos that talk about the development of my future plans, what can I do, what should I do, and what can I do about it to make it happen.
Step 1 of this process - start the draft blog posts by writing notes in the blogger dashboard, that should be easy. Now that I have learned more about the blogspot stuff, and how I can get some of these online tools to work better for me.
Step 2 will be to finish writing up the bylaws of a non-profit society that will be part of one of my big volunteering events this summer. Then write the notes that will form the vlog that I will make about it.
Step 3 will be to start making some notes about where I want my life to think about going. I have said before that I took all the future plans we had, and erased them. I need to have something to look forward to in order to focus my efforts, I just need to make sure that things are realistic.
Anyway, I can't type too much at once. The laptop on my lap interferes with the drainage and plumbing of my catheter.... but you probably didn't want to know that.....
More soon, thanks for taking the time to read... please spread the word about this to those that don't know I am doing this.
Rob
As I type this, I am sitting at home in the aftermath of my 4th TURBT (Trans Urethral Resection - Bladder Tumour) almost a week away from getting the catheter removed. Not much has changed in that regard, the staff at Misericordia hospital remember me from past visits, so my check in process goes amazingly fast and I completely hate the catheter. Which is surprising as I have had them in for almost a cumulative total of over 3 weeks once this one is removed, so you think I would be used to it by now. I guess that I can be mostly happy with the fact that I am completely unconcious when it is installed.
I look back at the last year with a fair bit of bewilderment - the year has gone quickly, I have actually seen substantial changes in many things, yet I feel that I haven't accomplished much. Since I started this blog, I had some ideas about what I would talk about, and the formats I would use - of course, I haven't really accomplished that yet either.
In the year that I have had cancer, I have met a number of people that I can draw inspiration from. I have talked about them briefly in this blog, as they have an enthusiasm that I hope to achieve. Colin still wants to run triathlons, and Steve is building his off grid cabin on the lake, while finding a way to build a business that he can run from that cabin.
Looking forward, I want to make a commitment of what I want to include in the coming months as I do this blog. Here is my specific list(in no particular order):
- write about the military medical process that I am in the middle of. The reason for this is that there are many news stories about people being released, and the problems with Veterans Affairs where the press may not understand the process that they are writing about. But I will write about how I see my place in it, and what I see as the impacts.
- now that I am in more of a happy place, write the stories about last summers complete and utter disaster that we will term "the move from hell". There are some interesting side notes to the stories that let us highlight some friends that do great things, and the new friends we meet.
- make videos about what I am doing now, what things I am volunteering for - and why.
- make videos that talk about the development of my future plans, what can I do, what should I do, and what can I do about it to make it happen.
Step 1 of this process - start the draft blog posts by writing notes in the blogger dashboard, that should be easy. Now that I have learned more about the blogspot stuff, and how I can get some of these online tools to work better for me.
Step 2 will be to finish writing up the bylaws of a non-profit society that will be part of one of my big volunteering events this summer. Then write the notes that will form the vlog that I will make about it.
Step 3 will be to start making some notes about where I want my life to think about going. I have said before that I took all the future plans we had, and erased them. I need to have something to look forward to in order to focus my efforts, I just need to make sure that things are realistic.
Anyway, I can't type too much at once. The laptop on my lap interferes with the drainage and plumbing of my catheter.... but you probably didn't want to know that.....
More soon, thanks for taking the time to read... please spread the word about this to those that don't know I am doing this.
Rob
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