My hero called me today to check on me because I had surgery last week. I won't go into the details of my situation right now, but the reason I am writing this is that he is going in for a PET scan tomorrow which will show whether or not his tumor has shrunk. HIS tumor, but he is worried about me.
For those of you who have followed my very sporadic blogs, you know that I am talking about Dave Andersen, who is my hero. He works for my husband at Delta Air Lines as a mechanic. He loves his job. He loves his wife. He loves his kids. He loves his grandchild and has another one on the way.
Prior to my breast cancer diagnosis last year, he was given the news that he had esophageal cancer. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation. That was followed by surgery to remove the esophagus. It was a long hard climb, but things improved for him. As it did for me, but my ordeal was minor compared to what he was going through. He was there for me every step of the way, even though he was in worse shape than I was. If he wasn't calling me directly to see how I was doing, he called Mark to ask about me.
After six months, he recuperated enough to go back to work. He lives for work, his family and his friends. But recently he lost his voice. He thought it was just a common case of laryngitis and that things were fine. It turns out there was a lymph node that had grown and was pressing against his vocal cords. He had more chemo then radiation and then a procedure to insert Teflon in an attempt to free up his vocal cord (don't ask me, but the medical profession must know what they are doing). His voice slowly returned and now he is going to be waiting on pins and needles for the test results.
But he still called me to see how I was doing.
I would like everyone to do whatever it is they do in a time like this:
Pray, send good thoughts, love, hugs, vibes.
He deserves the best news ever. Not only a shrinkage, but an obliteration.
