Looking back one can find moments of joys and sorrows, moments of exhilaration and times of foreboding, moments of ecstasy followed by times of grief. That’s typical for any year, but 2017 was particularly noteworthy for those emotional swings. Here are a few of those encounters which are etched in my memory.
In April, I celebrated the ten year anniversary of my diagnosis with nasopharyngeal cancer. But within a few days, I was informed by dermatologist that a suspicious nodule removed from my inner left leg had tested positive for angiosarcoma. After requesting a second opinion, it was confirmed that the initial diagnosis was correct and I now faced a protocol that would include surgery to remove a larger swath of tissue from the offending area followed by six weeks (30 sessions) of radiation therapy. The first attempt of surgery was suspended after anesthesia was administered because the doctors encounter difficulty performing an intubation as a result of the traumatized and scarred oropharyngeal pathway from treatment 10:years prior.
After a second successful attempt at surgery, and before the radiation began, I received the sad news that my 95 year old mother was hospitalized. She had suffered a fall, which by itself appeared innocuous. However, accompanied by suspected pneumonia, she quickly declined and passed away on September 29. I postponed the start of my radiology treatment to travel to Tobago, where along with my siblings and scores of relatives and friends, we were privileged to pay tribute to our dear mother as she was laid to rest on October 8.
I completed my radiation therapy on November 29. It was also the day on which my wife, Nichole had surgery for a seriously torn rotator cuff and biceps muscle. We were both incapacitated for several weeks - she, painfully enduring the post-op pain, and I, hobbling with the raw deteriorating skin as a result of six weeks of radiation.
As we both improved, we received news that my now widowed, 99 year old Dad had experienced several falls. As his muscles wear weak and his sight fails, he finds it more difficult to keep his balance. But old habits and manly ways along with the tendency to suppress his desire to be active lends to the habit of perhaps taking too many risks that a 99 year old should avoid. The mild bruises and short hospital stays nonetheless, he carries on towards the landmark of one hundred years.
As Christmas approached, we received news that our older brother was admitted to the Scarborough General Hospital in our island home, Tobago. He had experienced several hospitalizations over the last few months and this time appeared ominous. The new year will begin with him clinging to life after being medivaced to the larger and better equipped San Fernando General Hospital on the larger sister island of Trinidad as he tenuously clings to life.
What a year! Despite the foreboding of Junior’s health, hope springs eternal and every day, every year, bears promises of love and laughter amid the pain, sorrow and hurts that are a natural part of living on this earth. I am grateful for a loving, caring wife, two devoted children, three wonderful grandchildren and blessings too numerous to count. I look forward to the Centennial celebration of our dad, Henry - his 100th birthday. What a celebration that would be! “For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:”
Ecclesiastes 3:1 NET
http://bible.com/107/ecc.3.1.net
Love and blessings, always!
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