The "C" Word....

March 20, 2013 ~ As many of you know, my family is my world. I am extremely lucky to have an amazing mom and dad, sister, husband, brother-in-law and nephew to support all the crazy things I do in life and love me unconditionally.  Mom officially retired from Cornerstone National Insurance on February 1, 2013 and dad officially retired from Professional Contractors and Engineers on February 22, 2013. Dad turned 62 years old on February 23, 2013. Although they were a little nervous about retiring because it was different then what they have always done they were ready to enjoy this next chapter in life.

Mom and dad are both so lucky to have an amazing group of friends. They treat everyone as a person and feel that you treat others as you want to be treated. They have instilled those qualities in my sister and I throughout life. When you meet mom and dad you have met some of the kindest, most sincere people who would do anything for anyone. I love these people for being so genuine.

We just found out this afternoon that dad has Stage 1 Prostrate Cancer.... yep it's the "c" word. The best part of this is that it's treatable and because they caught it so early he will have surgery and be done. No chemo and no radiation which is great news! Dad is going to talk to the surgeon on Friday March 22, 2013 to see what the plan is.

I will be honest, I wasn't ready to hear this news. I guess I felt like mom and dad were really starting to enjoy their new chapter in life and with this news so soon after their retirement. I guess you are never really ready to hear this news but I am so thankful this can be taken care of and dad will be on the road to recovery. Dad was really looking forward to riding his Harley this Spring/Summer and depending on what the surgeon says he may be able wait on surgery or wait on the motorcycle rides. Either way this is just a minor bump in the road and we, as a family, will get through this.

Cancer is just too common anymore.... or maybe it's always been common and we just have better technology to find it..... I'm thankful they found it early and that my dad goes to the doctor regularly for check ups.  

(Side note: of course I am very lucky to have tons of other family members such as aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces including great friends that also support anything I do and encourage me to push myself harder and never give up....but this post is about my immediate family)

Update as of Friday March 22, 2013: Dad will have surgery next month. They don't want to mess around with this and allow it to spread and dad is good with this. Looks like he will have a late start on motorcycle rides but when he's all healed up look out.... he'll be burning up the blacktop! (I honestly couldn't imagine the doctors allowing him to wait but dad is hard headed... wonder where I get that??)