Change of Course

Three weeks after my last post, the charming world I had known came crashing down when my 56-year old father was diagnosed with lung cancer. And not just any lung cancer. Stage IV non small cell adenocarcinoma that had already metastasized to several of his bones by the time they caught it. Dad had been suffering from lingering upper respiratory problems for months but no one ever suspected this because he wasn't a smoker and never had been. Chest x-rays were clear, it turns out because the tumor was hiding behind his trachea and couldn't be seen on a chest film.

The bad news is that statistically the five-year survival rate is less than 2%, and that radiologists seem to have missed a couple of spots that were there all along (a frightening thought!). The good news is that Dad's oncologist is trying to defy the odds. His philosophy is that the only statistic that matters is individual - your survival rate is 100% or it is 0%, and he is encouraging us all to fight hard. Given all the negatives, Dad is in wonderful health and great shape and because he never smoked, his chances are better overall. The other week he met an 88-year old survivor of six years with the same kind of cancer. So there is hope. After three rounds of chemo and radiation to some of the scarier spots on his spine and in his femur, all of the tumors are shrinking gradually. Dad is skinny and bald, save for a soft tuft he calls his "peach fuzz", and fatigues easily. But he is still working half-time, and he is still the same silly Dad we all grew up with.

But this means "People Are Crazy" will no longer be filled with rants and raves about the state of our world today. I'm even considering changing the name of this blog, if I can figure out how. What matters is here at my parent's house, where I sit after coming home to CA to participate in the Relay for Life. What matters is family and friendships. There will always be crazy people and there will always be something to bitch about, but all that seems so much less significant. I'm even looking for nursing jobs out here for when I graduate next December. North Carolina has been home for 8 years, but my real home will always be here.

Our parents are headed to Hawaii in June to celebrate their 30-year wedding anniversary. We're all going to Santa Catalina Island in August for a family vacation. Life is good. So it's time to tell our story...