My Unplanned Sabbatical

Post script

Quiet evening at home after a monumental week. Yesterday’s appointment with the oncologist confirmed all the earlier good news. We spent considerable more time talking about the results of the treatment and how the old body responded marvelously to the black bags.

I will now be scanned every 3 months for the next 2 years and then twice a year for a further 3 years. Then nothing structured. On my own.

I have been told to be careful as my immune system is not full strength. This should return to normal over the next 2 years. Apparently 20% of patients also suffer a dip approx 2 months post treatment as their immune system starts to kick in again and need to spend some time in hospital on antibiotics and antivirals. Increased chance of fever and infection so I need to be vigilant for a little while.

It was a strange feeling after the good Dr stopped talking and all my questions were exhausted. I sincerely thanked his team for all they had done. That sounded odd and simply not enough. How do you adequately express this gratitude? Not sure you ever can really. He accepted our thanks graciously replying “this is what I do”. Made me reflect on what I do and how insignificant that is in the grand scheme of things.

Then we left feeling fantastic, but a little strange nonetheless.

What compounded this feeling is that this last 9 months has been surreal at times. I was not sick, I felt great and I was told I had cancer. The cancer did not make me feel ill, the treatment did, now I am told its all gone. I feel the same. It’s like a cruel joke, buts it’s all true. I am ok with it but it’s a strange feeling.

I am starting to think about how I manage my return to work. Next week I will be at the partners conference in Qld and I will use this week discuss this and consider a framework that will work for all concerned. I have been promised about 270 beers so I will need to pace myself (and pass on a few).

So what of this blog?

I am not sure if or how it will continue. It’s been helpful to write, no doubt. It’s helpful to me to scan some of the older posts as well. I did that a bit today. Shit I was black some days.

The comments made by many of you have also been very helpful, humorous and supportive. Thank you.

The “stats” tell me that I made 192 posts, they were read 17,949 times (which blows me away a bit), over 37 countries viewed the blog and over 490 comments where left. Carmen, Karen and Sneza where the top 3 contributors (that ranking was for Lily)

The stats though don’t speak to how this open diary of sorts helped me collect my thoughts, share this experience with those interested and enabled me, in no small way, to cope with this time a little better.

To all the fathers out there, enjoy tomorrow. It will be sweet.