Two Years Ago

It was two years ago this past Monday that I stepped through doors of the radiation center at MD Anderson in Houston to start six weeks of treatment.  The mask had been fitted, I had eaten at every favor resturant and had really not slept well that night.  My wife and yes even my two kids walked in with me as we were determined to descarify what I was about to start.  The tech's even showed my two kids the room and machine that would help make Daddy better.  They really helped to make it much easier for my kids.  

I laid down on the table and they clipped me in mask and all.  Turned on the music and slowly the door shut and we were off to the races.  I remember counting the clicks and hums of the machine. I remember not opening my eys for some stupid reason. It was over faster then I thought and was out the door to go the Houston Rodeo. Nothing including cancer was going to stop me from going to the rodeo with my kids!

I will never forget that first day althoght the rest of them kind of blend together like those ice cream/ensure mild shakes I would down three to four times a day even when I just did not want to take another drink of that stuff! That might have something to do with the fact that I never needed a feeding tube during my treatment. Now as I look back I am thankful for every person who greeted me at the door of MD Anderson, every person who parked our car, every tech that assisted me onto the table and continued to encouraged with the countdown to ringing that bell. Tihe increible doctor doctor MD/PhD who formulated my treatement and told me each week that my prognosis was excellent. The nutritionist who told me to eat, eat, and then eat somemore.  And the head MD of my team who told me to remember and do only FOUR things...it is treatable, it is curiable, to eat and to take my medicine. 

It is less then six weeks till I reach my targetted and important two year anniversary of having no evidence of disease and I still look over my shoulder and think could "it" come back, then I hear my daughter laugh and see my son sing in the high school choir and for a moment (which is getting longer and longer) I forget about "it" and give thanks for another day!