During the fall of 2008 after a colonoscopy examination, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The surgeon who performed the colonoscopy advised surgery. In January of 2009, I underwent laparoscopic colon resection surgery. It was an interesting holiday season since at the time my mom was also diagnosed with stomachache cancer and also went under the knife. Don’t worry this is not a depressing story, as both of us have recovered fully. On September 27, 2016, my oncologist at Sunnybrook told me that I was cured.
I will spare you the gory details of numerous medical procedures, but suffice it to say that it was a journey. Not one through hell but a mental and physical trek filled with enlightenments. The experience has taught me the true value of family and friends. In addition to the special support from my immediate family, the accommodation from my employer and heartfelt support from my coworkers were all critically important through the recovery period of first the surgery and then chemo-radio therapy. I am also grateful for our Canadian healthcare system, and the people making it all work. The operation performed at the old Humber River Hospital and the FOLFOX chemo drug was offered as standard care by OHIP, and the treatment and monitoring services that I received at Sunnybrook was second to none.
This experience has also provided me an important perspective. Everything pales in comparison to the value of life. It also taught me that your life is not solely yours, and you have an important responsibility to your spouse, kids, parents, and others who have an emotional investment in you. This journey showed me how lucky I was surrounded by caring family and friends. My recovery from cancer has fueled me with tremendous willpower and courage. The ordeal is now an anchor of hope and comparison when I am confronted with emotional hardships or difficult situations at work. All things both physical and mental are now simply easier.
I use my new found willpower to ride my bike further than my pre-cancer days. I have more energy at work. I am more tempered when it comes to emotional issues. I hope to be more caring and understanding to others who may be going through similar hardships. So cancer to me is a blessing in disguise, it has forced me on a journey which molded me into a better person around the people that I love and value.
“The more the body suffers, the more the spirit flowers.”
— from “St. Simeon Stylites, a fifth-century ascetic who lived for decades atop a pillar in the Syrian desert” an Excerpt From: Roy F. Baumeister. “Willpower.” Penguin Group USA, Inc.