Cancer Anniversary

Two years ago, Leroy Severs began a blog (and for a while, a podcast) on NPR entitled, "My Cancer."

He was going through his battle. Reading his blog during Ma's battle... well, let's just say it was therapeutic. But the podcasts stopped. And my visits to his online blog dwindled (it was therapeutic for me dealing with my mom's battle... not so much for her loss).

Today, his podcast reappeared.

I launched the file with great hope.

Foolish.

Or as Leroy himself puts it:

For some reason, I felt optimistic.

I was wrong.

My last scans showed that my cancer has exploded. New tumors in my brain, liver, lungs, bones. Well, you get the idea.

Hearing his voice, still fairly lively, but now so much more fatigued, saying those words... well, it was like being hit with a ton of bricks.

The words that followed were of no more comfort:

So I've been going through the process of, quote, getting my affairs in order. Doing all the paperwork, all the legal things you need to do.

No one really knows what the next step will be ... how my disease will play out. But we know it's serious.

I had radiation on my brain and my pelvis for pain relief. That's about all I can do. From here on, we're gong to be worried about comfort, about relieving the worst side effects.

It hurts. Two years ago, we left for Maui, knowing that my mom had cancer. That vacation was filled with risk-taking... it might well have been all about denying the inevitable.

But it WAS inevitable, a fact.

So too is Leroy's sign off:

I've learned something far more important, too. No matter what happens, we're all in this together.

None of us walk this road alone.

True.

Good Luck, Leroy. May you feel our presence with every step.