Firstly the awareness of my physical self was paramount in detecting something is not right. Not wasting any time in dwelling that this could be something insignificant and dilly dally or perhaps not facing the reality and rather staying in denial mode. I faced it square on the jaw and the speed that it took from detection to treatment was only 5 days. This confounds me sometimes - the light speed. I guess I had good advice from my brother Dr Azeem and Dr Kat. The other was the positive attitude I adopted. On the first day of chemo I took the camera and recorded the event, just like a tourist taking pictures at a new destination. It was in many ways exciting that I was going thro chemo and radiation. Well this was the mental preparation that I did to face the adversity...... treating it like a tourist visiting the "hospital" for the first time and getting excited and recording the events.. Another factor was the faith I had, that I will make it at the end. Luck was also on my side I guess as the staging was only 2 and the nodes were not affected. The rest was great family support and good friends who cared.
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| At the simulator after finishing my training. |
So what message do I have for anyone reading this blog and making the same journey as I. "NEVER GIVE UP HOPE...NEVER". Post treatment, keep yourself busy physically and mentally. I did gym & swimming every day from 9 am till 1 pm for 5 days a week for 6 weeks until the London Olympic 2012 came round and upset the routine. Mentally, I worked on preparing a CRM manual and developing training courses. So any thing to keep you busy is great advice. An idle mind is the devil's playground...so is the saying. One can so easily dwell in negative thinking and believe me, it doesn't take much effort. Play golf every day, yes every day !! Thank the Almighty for his mercy on me and giving me the courage to fight this dreaded stuff. Thank you all for reading and following me so far. Till another update, bye for now...Love to all Shakil
