Cancer and Opportunity

Well here we go again, I did start a post while away on vacation down in Florida but between a terrible wi-fi signal and a poor charging cable the blog I had created, well disappeared. Once again it’s been too long since I have attempted to entertain you, my readers…if there’s any left after this latest hiatus. I’ve done a lot of thinking over the last few months of how to continue my writing and telling my story, to keep it relatable, inspiring and most of all powerful. Today would mark close to three years ago that I was told I would require surgery to remove an “abnormal growth”.

In the past three years life has changed considerably, not only health wise, but in so many other ways my employment (I no longer work), location (living back in my childhood hometown), the way I now attempt to look at life and the way I attempt to manage time. There is a massive list I could go down here, but lists really aren’t my thing. I find them boring to read so I’ll spare you. The life I attempt to live now is nothing like I ever imagined a very short three years ago when worrying about money, house chores and retirement was top of the priority list. Now I won’t lie and say I don’t fall back into the trap of worrying about money(who doesn’t), but I feel I do a far better job then I used to. We also have done the best to maintain a low cost lifestyle and therefore less stressful and easier to maintain. The flip side is my wife has bought a business that for a short time here over the last few months took up a lot of our free time to create her vision (I could use that as an excuse why I haven’t been writing, but I won’t there’s always time) and now with the updates mainly done it’s time to get back into that groove and habits I had started to create in some of my earlier posts.

With November upon us let me point out sarcastically that it’s my favourite month, camping season comes to an end, the days are shorter, it’s much colder, there’s really no holiday, except Remembrance Day and oh ya I get to go twice this month for shots. It’s when that 28 day gap falls in the same month, ugh! I’m not whining about this month mind you as it also provides me with the chance to get back in my exercise routine, read more often, start planning routes for next years camping trips and hike during less then favourable conditions ( I like a challenge). Like I’ve always said no TIME wasted and hey throw in the odd Netflix bing watching night, what’s not to love.

November also marks a very important to me and others that struggle with nueroedocrine cancer, the 10th is world NETS days and with that, this year because of the documentary done on me, I will try to attach link on here but I’m not sure if it’s been uploaded to Youtube yet? I have been asked to speak that day at the Ipsen Pharmaceutical office in Mississauga, here in Ontario. I have a lot of people to thank in making this happen, namely Tracy(my wife), Terry Cully, who works for Ipsen and has become a friend and Jackie Herman, president of CNETS and the person who recommended me for this project…thank you!

As I sit here writing this post in the back of my head I’m trying to think of what to say or how this will go, the last time I spoke in public would’ve been my grade eight speech that we were all forced to do and if I remember correctly it didn’t go well…lol. I was an ass at that age. Now I know my story is an important one to tell and to bring knowledge and awareness about this disease is what part of this blog has been about. The other side of this will be my new outlook on life and what it really means and that journey will continue until I draw my last breath.

Once again fear comes into the story, tell me three years ago I’d be giving a public talk and laugh I’d and walk away. Cancer and fear has given me a door to step through and I don’t intend to take it lightly we all only get one chance to leave a mark in this world, I hope this is only the start of something I can make a focus on and help those who need help and those others who just want to understand what it’s like, the good and bad to see life through the eye’s of a cancer patients. This blog has been the start, but is far from being the ending.

Cheers,

Steve