GRATITUDE

Five years ago this week, surgeons at UC San Diego Medical Center and a robot named DaVinci removed my prostate gland and the cancer inside it. Looking back, I remember my eagerness to get the cancer out of my body and the relief I felt 10 days later when the final pathology indicated I would not need radiation or hormone therapy. Oh, and the other relief I felt was getting the Foley catheter taken out.

This was my third cancer--along with a nasty benign tumor--that I have had surgically removed, "resected" as the doctors say. In 1985 another cancerous gland was resected, my thyroid. In 1998, that benign but dangeroous tumor, a schwannoma, was sliced away from the cauda equina nerves in my spine. Fast forward to 2017 and out came a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, aka a GIST (soft g, get the gist of it?) cancer along with 10% of my stomach and a little piece of my liver. The liver did not have cancer but the great doctors, whom I love, wanted to make sure. 

Cancer truly sucks but I am one of the lucky ones. All of mine have been manageable and treatable. I am forever grateful to the gifted and brilliant doctors who take care of me. I am blessed with a loving family. And my wife, Jan, an extraordinary nurse and person makes sure I take care of myself and gives me perspective on all things including my adventures with the medical world. 

So with gratitude and faith I am here. I pray for those in need of healing and thank everyone who has helped me along the way.