We went through radiation, operations and my Dad confidently telling my 5 year old son he wasn't going to die. My son sitting at the side of his hospital bed said "Grandad are you going to die?" to which my Dad replied "no". And all that time my Dad suffered. He suffered through the operations, the radiation and the burden of not being weak or failing anyone in his life.
He suffered the radiation when he couldn't go to the bathroom because his insides were burning, he suffered the embarrassment of a catheter, he suffered the sadness of an inability to be intimate with my mother. And most importantly he faced the seriousness of the cancer- that he could die....
As fate would have it - he beat those odds...he beat the 10% chance he'd live a normal sort of life- because his cancer was so progressed. He beat the odds of being catheterized forever, and he beat the odds of a surgery not working.
With that- my Dad continues to live life to the fullest. Is he cancer free? No...is he living life and making the best of it...Yes....My Dad just spent a weekend on a road trip with his grandsons ( 22 and 19) and son heading to a Notre Dame football game...He has spent his life being involved...with his wife, his kids,and his grandsons.
If you ask my sons to describe him or talk about him...here are the soundbites...He loves me no matter what, He is always there, He is fun, He has never let me down, He's my Grandad....
Please support Movember...and know that it means something...my children still have their Grandad because we know more and more about treating prostrate cancer and we have doctors who are willing to do the best they can to make a difference.
Donate what you can....and share your story....
