The Walk Beside

What could have been, but for some mysterious reasons, didn’t be.

Posted on July 17th, 2007 by Cam.
Categories: Let's talk.

Firstly, I would like to say that I have been overwhelmed by people’s generosity, support and care since all this has come about. It has really made me think about the times that I have been pretty nonchalant about the needs of others where I could have stopped to help or encourage. I cannot express my gratitude enough.

I am going to describe some events that have been going on over the last year that now make some sense to me- they sure didn’t make sense while they were happening.

A brief run-down on the weekend though. The biopsy that was scheduled for today was postponed for numerous reasons. I had a chat today with the specialist who has decided to perform the procedure in his living room if I drop around with a carton on Wednesday. He will be using the first four stubbies as sedative and the remainder will be used as an ice pack to reduce the swelling afterwards. Honestly though, it is a relatively straight forward procedure taking a sample of the cytoma in my sternum at his rooms. I had the same procedure a few weeks ago when they actually found the cancer and it went pretty well.

Lib’s mum Ann has been over for the last week and leaves tomorrow. It has been so valuable for us to have her here and we are looking forward to her return with dad Gordon in about a month. My sister and brother-in-law are arriving next week so we are really looking forward to that also.

As I mentioned, so many things have happened over the last year that, for one reason or another, just didn’t work out. Here’s the rundown:

1. We had planned to do major renovations to the house in Mundaring. The plans were approved and the siteworks were scheduled. For some reason, when I went to call a builder, I ended up calling an Estate Agent to look at houses. If we had of gone through with the extensions, we would have been about a quarter of the way through before I started losing strength in my arms.
2. I decided to take this first semster off teaching. I intended to get a part time job in education but nothing seemed to be working out. During the middle of all this confusion as to what to do, I started to get sore.
3. After spending some time in China at the end of last year, I was working out some possibilities to take a group of students over for a trip. That trip would have been on right now.
4. I had recently been accepted to do an English teaching course for Non-English-Speaking-Background students. I had paid the deposit but for some reason, just wasn’t feeling right about it. I ended up pulling out before the substantial balance was due. I would be still be in the course right now if I had of continued, but would have had to pull out, losing my qualification and my payment.
5. At the beginning of the year, my family business in silver had come up for sale. I heard about it from my friend’s dad and at by the end of the week, I had bought it. I wasn’t quite sure how it fit into the scheme of things, but now it gives me work that is flexible and relatively non-physical. If I get tired, I can come home.
6. I found a workshop/office to rent smack-bang in the city. It is a 12 minute walk from my house, and since I can’t drive much, it is a perfect location. Not only that, but Guennadi has just signed to rent offices on the floor above. This guy has been huge for me during this time (and for the last 15 years), and now we can drop in on each other in less time than it takes for a coffee to brew.
7. Mum and Dad finish work in two weeks. This has been planned for 6 months, and now their plans are fluid enough to be around for support (as per usual).
8. We had planned to be in Colombia this December and Argentina for a good chunk next year. We hadn’t booked the tickets when we found out but had planned to do it about the time of diagnosis.
9. Libs had taken on a management position a few months ago. The staff she works with have been absolutely fabulous with their support. It seems that if she had of been in the same role prior to this one, it may have been logistically more complicated to take time off.
10. Lib’s parents also have recently finished up in their long-term positions in Melbourne, allowing Ann to be here this week and Gordon to come over in the near future.
11. The house that we moved to down in the city is very close to the main hospitals I am hanging out at. A gall-stones throw away, really.
12. The Mundaring house sold within a few days during a quiet selling period a few months ago. Releasing this mortgage has ensured we able to survive during this time, and if it came to it, not have to go through a selling/moving process while all this is going on.
13. I was initially diagnosed with arthritis. If I hadn’t gone under a CT scan for a particular procedure for arthritis, the cancer may not have been picked up until much later. And as the specialist for arthritis knew my current specialist well, he was able to get me the first appointment with him the very next day.

There are others that have come to mind over the last two weeks, but difficult to remember at 1:16am.

So anyway, go figure. I have never really got into the mindset that “all things happen for a reason”. Sometimes I think things just happen. Whatever your thoughts, we feel pretty lucky/fortunate/blessed/flukey (circle whatever you want) to be in this situation given the circumstances.

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