Seven Amazing Experiences Since Surviving Cancer

This coming May officially marks seven years as a cancer survivor, since the date is noted from the date of the official diagnosis. For me, the diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma was made in late May, 2002, but in reality, since an X-Ray detected a large mass in the center of my chest in late April, I clearly had cancer in April, March, February, or perhaps even January. So I would guess that right about now marks seven years as a survivor.

Thus, I thought I would write some posts, one every week or so for a while, noting seven things that could not have occurred in my life had I not been fortunate enough to survive. If you are doing Team in Training, or a similar cause, or you are donating to the fight against cancer, you are helping others like me create their own memories that would not have happened otherwise. Thank you!

For my first of these "seven year posts", I will write about seven amazing experiences I have had since surviving cancer. It is very difficult to pick only seven, and even tougher to rank them, so I am presenting them in chronological order.

1. Returning to work – This first one may seem odd, but when one has been too ill to work for six months, and living on 60% of their income as disability, this is a very big deal. Don’t get me wrong – a lot of folks don’t have a job or disability, and I was very fortunate to have 60% of my income coming in. But in any event, it felt great to go back to work to my job at the time with Computer Resource Team, Inc. They treated me very well during my entire diagnosis and illness, even though I am sure it affected their bottom line. Going back to work let me feel like I was helping the company out by billing revenue again, and also was a huge step in living a normal life again.

2. Climbing Mount Tumbledown – My story about this is posted here on my hiking blog, so I won’t elaborate. But in August 2003, hiking this Maine mountain with Mary and great friends was my statement that I was not only a survivor, but I had returned to health. A year before this day, I was lying in a hospital room, incredibly sick, and now, I was standing on top of a mountain! And as a bonus, we got to celebrate the Big Five-O for one of our best friends!

3. Going to the World War II Memorial – My step-dad, Stuart, was a proud WWII vet, and even though he was getting too weak to walk a lot, it meant so much to take him to this memorial to his, and his comrades, incredible sacrifices during this horrific war. There was not a dry eye in our group – me, Mary, my sister Ann, Stuart’s friend Anne, and Stuart's daughter Joy – when Stuart turned and saluted the section of the memorial dedicated to Buna in New Guinea, where he served. And it was so touching to see other old veterans come up to him and engage in conversations – like long lost comrades being reunited with a common bond.


4. Anchorage Marathon for Team in Training – Just a week or two after the experience with the WWII Memorial, I headed off to the Land of the Midnight Sun to do my first ever marathon on June 18, 2005. It was exactly 3 years, two weeks, and two days after I had started chemotherapy. Reaching that finish line, 26.2 miles from the start, as a cancer survivor was a feeling of joy that I don’t think I can adequately describe. Here is a link to a story about it that I wrote for one of the TNT newsletters. It was perhaps the proudest day of my life!

5. Trip to Glacier, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone National Parks – When I had cancer, we had to cancel a planned trip to Yellowstone. So when we went there in September 2005 for two weeks, it was a wonderful feeling to see places I had wanted to see all my life. We hiked all over, saw incredible scenery, and amazing wildlife. Among the later were grizzly bear, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, black bear, mule deer, bison, elk, and grey wolves. This probably goes down as my favorite vacation ever.

Bearhat Mountain in Glacier National Park

Where the Buffalo Roam - Yellowstone

Impressive Mountains - The Grand Tetons! So named by very lonely French fur trappers, as the name in French means "The Large Breasts"!

6. Being Present at the Birth of my Granddaughter – In November, 2006, Mary and I were present when our granddaughter was born. Have you ever experienced love at first sight? Well, I did when that little girl popped into the world early that morning. I got to hold her on the day of her birth. Even though she lives far away, I hope to be a big influence on her life, and am so grateful to have survived to know her.


7. Family Reunion at the Beach – My brothers and sisters and I have been scattered to the winds since we grew up. So even though we all get along, not once in about 40 years had the five us been in one place at the same time. There were several times when four of us could get together, but never five. This changed in September 2008 when we had a family reunion at Virginia Beach. A great time was had by all, and great memories created for all who were present – about 20 of us in total.

These are just seven of many wonderful moments in my life that I would not have had were I not fortunate enough to be a cancer survivor. In my next "seven things" post, I will discuss seven great TNT memories.