Health-It's really all you have

With my recent diagnosis of bladder cancer I've had more time to think than I need. That brain works overtime, especially with me.
   I can't help but think of all I need to do, all I didn't do, things I would like to do, and the do's I did that I would do differently!
   When I walked into my urologists office I felt fit as a fiddle. In a few minutes that would change. After a urine test was examined the doctor came into the room to say they found blood in my urine.
   What does that mean, I asked. Bladder cancer was the quick, cold reply. You could have knocked me over with a feather. It's been the foremost prominent thought on my mind ever since.
   Lab results after successful removal of the malignant tumor report that I was cancer free. All that was needed was three month follow ups for bladder exams. To most people that would have been great news.
   It hasn't set that way with me. Sure I'm glad there isn't any more and that it hasn't progressed but a part of me can't understand why I have it at all. Medical people claim even though I haven't smoked in over 30 years, the smoking I did do has done the damage.
   Thinking about it a bit more this is a bit like wishing the putt went in the first time or the fly had landed in a better spot. I just wish it was better.
   Still, all around me, there are examples to me of what I should be thankful for. My neighbor has similar cancer but more advanced. He's facing bladder removal, a pouch or other method for elimination. I look at him and see he's a basket case. Nothing I say can improve his mood or give him a tiny bit of hope. Reminds me of me.
   But I've taken step. I'll be calling Gilda's Club in Royal Oak to find out about support groups for this type of cancer.
   I'm trying to keep and stay busy to keep my mind occupied. With the help of my very supportive wife, Pat and good friend Bill Semion, I'm beginning to see that I don't have it all bad. There are many others far worse off.
   Then there that is the old bug called depression that isn't shy about entering into these situations. It doesn't creep in, it throws the door wide open and announces, here I am. So that's a battle on another front I'll take on.
   And with the help of positive people like my wife, Bill, Larry Jackson and Jack Ferguson along with the rest of my family, it's starting to look a little brighter.