Tuesday, February 5, 2008

5 years cancer free!!!!

Five years ago today, my hubby went in for a colonoscopy. The results......CANCER. He had been having off and on again problems since his mission, which we attributed to parasites. When the problems became constant, we had him checked out. We were still completely shocked by the results. He was only 30! How on earth could he have cancer?

I remember calling my Mom and asking which she wanted to hear first: the good news, the bad news, or the really bad news. I don't even remember what the good news and the bad news was. All we could think about was the really bad news. It placed a dark cloud over our lives for the next 8 months.

On February 26th my hubby went in for surgery. The doctor removed 14 inches of his colon, including the golf ball sized cancerous tumor. They also checked his lymph system to see if the cancer had spread. It had! Our next shock would be finding out that he had to do chemotherapy for the next six months.

My hubby is such a trooper. He is amazing. He was so sick and tired for those 6 months, yet he still went to work and took care of our family. Our neighbors would remark that they couldn't wait to see what he could do when he didn't have cancer because he still did so much when he did. Not all days were like that though. After his chemotherapy treatments he would be so sick and nauseated that he would often come home early from work (this is so not like him...he was always the kid in elementary school with the perfect attendance.) and he would go to bed at 8:00p.m. with the baby and our other kids. He developed horrible sores in his mouth. During his cancer treatments they had him suck on ice to try and prevent these sores, but it didn't help much. He still had them. He still can't stand ice because of this. Food lost it's flavor and things smelled differently to him. Luckily with his kind of chemotherapy, he never had to lose his hair, so hardly anyone knew that he was even going through it.

He was so strong through the whole thing. He received some wonderful blessings that gave us great encouragement and hope. Even then, we still wondered if he would be alright and if our lives would ever be normal again. He only ever broke down once. It broke my heart to see him suffering so much, but still he carried on.

I can't believe it has been 5 years since we found out about his cancer. It is still a dark shadow in the back of our minds, and I still pray everyday that it won't come back. I don't know if he is "officially" in remission now, or if that point will come in October since that is when he finished his chemo.

I am still so thankful everyday that he is still here and that he is healthy again. You never really realize how important these things really are until they are almost taken from you. Here's to hoping he is cancer-free forever!

8 comments:

  1. Wow. Just wow. I got chills reading that. You two are so strong. I am still so impressed by your strength and fortitude. Today in my prayers I will ask for the same thing for you. Cancer free forever.

    (((((HUGS)))))

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  2. I'm going to ditto Sue on this one. Wow. I can't imagine. Yay for cancer free!!

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  3. Wow that is amazing! I hope he is cancer free!!

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  4. You have such wonderful and spiritual stories. They are very inspiring. I don't know if I could handle things as well as you two did through that time. You are in my prayers.

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  5. I'm also going to ditto blackeyedsue--that is an amazing story of strength and courage. This is a fantastic milestone--here's to cancer-free forever!!

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  6. I have always been amazed and grateful that you were able to survive that time. You are both a great example. I sincerely hope that is a trial you will never have to relive!

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  7. I have always been amazed and grateful that you were able to survive that time. You are both a great example. I sincerely hope that is a trial you will never have to relive!

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  8. You are both very strong. That is a lot to go through.
    I'm happy for the cancer-free 5 years and am praying for many more.

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