Tuesday at work was fine until the late afternoon. Few of the newer residents testing limits but it goes with the territory. In the evening, I went with my wife and sister to a healing mass at the local Catholic church that we belong. It was long after a tiring day at work, but still refreshing. The mass was good and the chorus were talented. Although raised Catholic and continue to attend mass, I consider myself more spiritual than religious. Throughout my treatments, I attended Reike healing sessions and actually became a Reike master myself. Between my faith, healing session, love of my family and friends, I managed to deal with all the surgeries and chemo treatments with remarkable endurance.

Today, I took off time from work. I had my follow up appointment with the radiologist. My brother came over in the morning and we had breakfast at the local diner. He stayed at my house until my wife arrived from work (worked half a day). Then she and I left to New Brunswick for the appointment.

The blood work was fine which means my liver dealt with the ablation well. No chemo! (for now, anyway) The next set of scans will be done in 3 months. Although all this sounds great, please understand what it means to me. For couple of months, I get to pretend everything is back to normal and fool myself not to worry. But, then I have to get the scans and wait couple of weeks to be told if the cancer is back or if I am still cancer-free.

The percentage of surviving past 5 years at stage 4 for colon cancer is 12%. December 23rd will be 3 years since all this started and December 30th when diagnosed with cancer. Sometimes it feels easier to deal with the treatments than dealing with the anxiety of waiting to see if I beat it. At least with the treatments, I feel that something is being accomplished. Bryan is a sophomore and all I want is to be there for him for those difficult teenage years. I will continue to pray, have hope and have trust in God that all be well.