The Task Ahead of You is Never Greater than the Strength Within You

Two years ago I gained the courage to follow my dream of moving out of the city to a slower paced life a couple hours north.  It had been a long time in the making and I am sure Covid helped to fuel the speed of this process.  Many of you reading this blog cheered me on while I tackled my home renovation to create my "Cozy Acorn".   But, what many of you did not know, was that I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer weeks after putting the offer in on the new house.

The lead up to this devestating diagnosis unfolded 8 months prior just as the pandemic hit in March of 2020.  I went from one stressful moment to the next.  Demanding workload, homeschooling my daughter (which was not a positve experience for either of us), our company laying off team members, to me being the final one kicked to the curb.  All of this started to impact my mental and physical wellbeing. I recall that summer having difficulty swallowing, then in August I got shingles following by shortness of breath, my swallowing got worse and my eating suffered.  My body was trying to tell me something.

When I first met the thorasic surgeon, he told me I was "out of shape" and I should do some stairs.  REALLY!!  Would he suggest this to a man complaining of shortness of breath?  Finally, on Superbowl Sunday 2022, my girlfriend knocked on my door and dragged me to the emergency.

Going to emerg ended up being the best strategy to uncover what was impacting my health.  All the tests I would have had to wait weeks/months for were done within 6 hours of landing on a gurney.  The on-call surgeon came in and he said, "no wonder you are feeling out of breath. I am surprised you are still standing.  You have 1.5 litres of fluid on your lung".  

Mic Drop!