The Fight (Republished)

Chapter 10: Remission

I've never been happier writing about a dream that I had, even if it involved skeletons and the grim reaper. The joke is on him this time, I'm on my way to being one hundred percent cancer free. Yup, you read that right, not pulling your leg either. I don't know how, or why exactly, but I'm not going to question the miracle.

When my wife saw me last, she had brought the kids and then my parents and her mom had visited shortly after. I don't recall much from those visits, but if I never believed in living for something, I do now. Strength doesn't always come from within, but from those around you who are dependent on you. My family still needed me and when they visited me, thinking that it would be the last time they would get to see me, my soul, my heart and my body all clicked back in to high gear. My body started working with the treatment again and the cancer is so small now that it barely comes up on any scans.

Needless to say, things are looking up for me once again. My situation looked awfully grim for a while and I don't blame my wife for not coming as often as she did. When she saw me for what she thought was the final time, I slowly fought back over those last few weeks the doctor gave me to live. Now, I'm back to eating a raw, vegetable diet that includes nuts and even some fruits. My wife visits me once a week to drop off food, tells me how much she misses me and reminds me of our approaching fifteenth wedding anniversary. The kids are excited and also getting extremely antsy at home, so I told her to do her best to keep them calm.

It's not all smiles and laughter though. I still had to have a bit of surgery to remove some damaged sections of my colon and so I will be monitored for a little while longer as I recover in the hospital. Being in much higher spirits is great though. I'm eating again, nearly cancer free and I'm on the road to recovery, which will lead me back home to my beautiful family.

After all that has transpired, I've proven - somehow, with a bit of faith - that my journey is far from over. I'm not finished here and neither is my writing. I will push every day to create more and more stimulating work for those who wish to read it. My story of adversity will surely be a hot topic for a while, but it's not something I wish to dwell on for very long. I wish to move forward with new projects and continue to push myself to be a better writer. I don't just do it for myself because I'm passionate about it, I do it for those of you who enjoy reading what I write. Whether it be from personal experience, or complete fiction, some people just can't get enough. They are able to relate to some of my work and the rest allows them to escape to a world that does not exist, yet comes alive in their mind when they read the words on the page.

Love may simply be enough and be the answer to a lot of problems, but you will always need people around you who love you. Those who support you and need you in their life, blossom and push harder knowing that you return that support by loving them back. It's a never ending circle, a figure eight of infinite love. Medicine might be the weapon that breaks the armour of cancer, but it is love that keeps the heart beating.