Refocus

Every once in a while events conspire to change focus, change priorities and force reexamination of the natural order of things.

Earlier this spring, while I was still on "sabbatical" from full-time employment I got a call at home from my mother. In her usual direct way, the conversation went something like this:

Mom: "Hi".

Me: "Hi".

Mom: "Are you sitting down?"

Me: "Yes".

Mom: "I have cancer".

As you might expect, that can be a bit of a conversation stopper. She explained that she had been feeling sluggish and tired for most of the winter, and after a vacation trip with the family and grandkids in which she just couldn't keep her energy level up she decided to go to the doctor.

Bad news indicator #1: my mother decided to go to the doctor. She is the strongest, most self-sufficient woman I've ever met, and the fact that she went of her own free will to the doctor was bad news enough.

Bad news indicator #2: when the doctor's office calls you back the next day and refers you to the "specialists" downtown. Also, never a good sign. Either they can't diagnose the problem, or the problem is too large for the regular family doctor to address. Neither is good.

So, my mother has spent the summer undergoing radiation treatment and chemotherapy for squamous metastatic carcinoma (Fair warning: there are some nasty pictures in this link). My mother is a woman who loves to cook and regularly makes giant meals for the family, the grandchildren and as many relatives as she can fit in the house. In fact last year she moved out of her "no-maintenance" condo into an aged, fully detached house which had two selling points.

1) A dining room big enough to fit seventeen people (all kids, spouses and grandchildren).
2) An inground swimming pool - the grandchild magnet.

Now, the cooking, eating and family visits are paused. Eight weeks of daily blasting of one form of treatment or another has her in a place now where three sips of diet cola, kept down, is a success.

A while back, for those who may have been following along, I mentioned that I might be interested in tacking on an end of season marathon. Well, now I have a cause and a goal - the Toronto Marathon, October 19. One of the principal charitable partner of the Toronto Marathon is the Princess Margaret Hospital, a place where I've spent several days this summer with my mother, so there's a natural confluence of events here.

So here's the goal - to raise $2000 for the Head and Neck Cancer Team of the Princess Margaret Hospital. The link to the page is here. As an added incentive (inspired some time back by Darren) I'm also going to run a raffle alongside this, with all proceeds going to the charity, of course. For every $10 donated, you get to guess my finishing time in the marathon (without going over of course). Closest finishing time will receive a genuine piece of Toronto Marathon swag, exact identity of which as yet to be determined, and all shipping and handling to be covered by me.

It's now on.

Peace.