Chapter 2
For the rest of Halloween 2013 I spent in shock and I was terrified. Naturally, I had the expected woe is me and feeling sorry for myself. I was also angry because I had spent my life for the most part living a very healthy lifestyle.
I tried to eat healthy and I did not drink or smoke. I was extremely fit, playing ice hockey in the winters and cycling a thousand plus miles in the summer. I also hit the gym three times a week year round.
So how the fuck could I have cancer?
Most importantly I could not remember any relative dying from cancer. My mother died in 2009 from complications due to Parkinson’s disease and my father died at age forty-nine in 1981 from a heart attack.
Heart issues had been my major health concern for the previous thirty plus years. I knew that my potential hereditary heart problems were a major strike against me healthwise. The heart issues on my father’s side having killed him, an uncle and my grandfather are what scared me the most. That was my number one reason for choosing to live a healthy lifestyle.
So yes, I was angry that I was the first to be diagnosed with cancer. Fuck’n pissed if you want to know the truth.
I don’t remember doing much crying on that day. I figured there would be lots of time for crying on my deathbed and on that day my deathbed felt very close like it was in the next room. I phoned my daughter Stephanie and some close friends to let them all know.
They were all stunned and very upset.
I also called my distant brother Patrick in the States whom I had not spoken to since our mother’s death in 2009. It was mostly as a courtesy. I told him that he might want to consider having a colonoscopy seeing he was now fifty years old and his big brother was just diagnosed with rectal cancer.
I tried to eat healthy and I did not drink or smoke. I was extremely fit, playing ice hockey in the winters and cycling a thousand plus miles in the summer. I also hit the gym three times a week year round.
So how the fuck could I have cancer?
Most importantly I could not remember any relative dying from cancer. My mother died in 2009 from complications due to Parkinson’s disease and my father died at age forty-nine in 1981 from a heart attack.
Heart issues had been my major health concern for the previous thirty plus years. I knew that my potential hereditary heart problems were a major strike against me healthwise. The heart issues on my father’s side having killed him, an uncle and my grandfather are what scared me the most. That was my number one reason for choosing to live a healthy lifestyle.
So yes, I was angry that I was the first to be diagnosed with cancer. Fuck’n pissed if you want to know the truth.
I don’t remember doing much crying on that day. I figured there would be lots of time for crying on my deathbed and on that day my deathbed felt very close like it was in the next room. I phoned my daughter Stephanie and some close friends to let them all know.
They were all stunned and very upset.
I also called my distant brother Patrick in the States whom I had not spoken to since our mother’s death in 2009. It was mostly as a courtesy. I told him that he might want to consider having a colonoscopy seeing he was now fifty years old and his big brother was just diagnosed with rectal cancer.
He told me he had already had one and it was all clear.
Dr. G. who had performed my colonoscopy sat with us in the dimly lit cafeteria. Naturally we had many questions and he took the time to answer every single one. He was drawing diagrams and explaining exactly what I could expect going forward.
Although, right now the CT scan was of utmost importance since it would show if the cancer had spread to any other organs. Colorectal cancer usually spreads to the liver and lungs first.
If the scan showed any spread it would bump me up into a stage IV, the most serious stage with higher mortality rates. My tumour was the size of a tennis ball and was isolated in the rectum. I was also told a colostomy definitely would be in my future after I had the surgery.
Two things that I do remember most about my chat with Dr. G, who would now become my surgeon. One, I was in for a very tough year ahead. And two, I was going to have a big operation.
Our chat was so overwhelming and there was so much information to process. Dr. G assured me of a potentially good outcome so long as the cancer had not spread. First and foremost we needed to get the CT scan done and preferably today.
I have not spoken to him again since.
For me Halloween 2013 sure lived up to its billing that year, it was a very scary day to say the least. I was drained, exhausted and I went to bed early that night.
Friday November 1st was an even colder, damp and windy day as Sherry and I headed back to the hospital for my CT scan. I had never had a CT scan before in my life so I did not know what to expect. About a half-hour before my 9 am scheduled scan the power in the hospital had switched over to generators. Most of the town of Bracebridge had no power due to the high winds.
For me Halloween 2013 sure lived up to its billing that year, it was a very scary day to say the least. I was drained, exhausted and I went to bed early that night.
Friday November 1st was an even colder, damp and windy day as Sherry and I headed back to the hospital for my CT scan. I had never had a CT scan before in my life so I did not know what to expect. About a half-hour before my 9 am scheduled scan the power in the hospital had switched over to generators. Most of the town of Bracebridge had no power due to the high winds.
Since CT scans need a lot of hydro to operate, I was told I was most likely going to have to wait until the following week for my scan.
Dr. G. who had performed my colonoscopy sat with us in the dimly lit cafeteria. Naturally we had many questions and he took the time to answer every single one. He was drawing diagrams and explaining exactly what I could expect going forward.
Although, right now the CT scan was of utmost importance since it would show if the cancer had spread to any other organs. Colorectal cancer usually spreads to the liver and lungs first.
If the scan showed any spread it would bump me up into a stage IV, the most serious stage with higher mortality rates. My tumour was the size of a tennis ball and was isolated in the rectum. I was also told a colostomy definitely would be in my future after I had the surgery.
Two things that I do remember most about my chat with Dr. G, who would now become my surgeon. One, I was in for a very tough year ahead. And two, I was going to have a big operation.
Our chat was so overwhelming and there was so much information to process. Dr. G assured me of a potentially good outcome so long as the cancer had not spread. First and foremost we needed to get the CT scan done and preferably today.
At about 10 am the hospital's power came back on.
I had already drank the contrast liquid when I first arrived. I was ready once the hospital’s hydro booted up to full power which was needed to operate the scanning machine. Thirty minutes later I had my scan, got dressed and waited for the results.
Dr. G informed me that the results were good, there was no spread. I remember high-fiving him and he was a bit bewildered by my gesture. He assured me this was the best possible news for any newly diagnosed cancer patient.
He wanted to see me back in his office in a couple weeks to map out my journey for the upcoming year.
I still did not comprehend the magnitude of what the coming year would entail. But for now the day after the worst day of my life, things were already looking up as Sherry and I left the hospital.
I had already drank the contrast liquid when I first arrived. I was ready once the hospital’s hydro booted up to full power which was needed to operate the scanning machine. Thirty minutes later I had my scan, got dressed and waited for the results.
Dr. G informed me that the results were good, there was no spread. I remember high-fiving him and he was a bit bewildered by my gesture. He assured me this was the best possible news for any newly diagnosed cancer patient.
He wanted to see me back in his office in a couple weeks to map out my journey for the upcoming year.
I still did not comprehend the magnitude of what the coming year would entail. But for now the day after the worst day of my life, things were already looking up as Sherry and I left the hospital.