Cancerversaries

Cancer will etch a few dates into your mind.
Likely forever.    

I like to call them "Cancerversaries".

Much like questions about - what you were doing on 9/11?  You remember some things forever.

I  celebrated one of my first (1 year since diagnosis) with a friend named Colin.  I had celebrated his first Cancerversary with him too.  He can celebrate no more, and now November 20th, is forever on my calendar.

26 January is a Cancerversary for me.  It marks the final BCG treatment in 2018.  The end of a journey that started with my first BCG treatment on 22 August 2014.

Some of my other dates - 
April 24th - first surgery
May 14th - told it was Cancer

Part of the Cancer journey is to "ring the bell".   Some of the Cancer clinics have a "Bell of Hope" that people can ring when they are done their treatments. I didn't know much about this, and when told about it by a friend, I thought he was yanking my chain.  But that day, he showed why he is such a great friend to come and see me ring that bell.  My wife took a video (it almost came off the wall)




Ringing the bell has multiple meanings in my military culture.  Everything from recognizing a dignitary or accomplishment, to admitting defeat.  Not sure what I thought about having a bell associated with a Cancerversary.

But, even the guy giving me the BCG told me about the bell, my wife said I was ringing the bell, and my friend brought me muffins (Mike Birbiglia joke ).  So, I rang the bell.



Well,
thanks for reading this far.  I am still working on a bunch of topic for future blogs related to my rebuilding of a new life, now that medical retirement is approaching, and I need to turn a corner. I have a number of lessons to share, and many I still need to learn.

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