Journal entry by Daniel Heideman —
Today, Heidi and I had an outing to UT Southwestern for an education event on kidney cancer. One of the speakers was the oncologist who I saw last fall who encouraged me to increase my daily dosage of chemo. So far so good!
I was reminded of a couple things today. One concerned my cancer itself. Considering the stage of my cancer and when it was diagnosed, one of the oncologist said that people like me face a formidable foe. At lunch, I spoke to a lady who is staff at UT Southwestern whose topic was survivorship. I told her that I am currently in treatment and have been since 2019. She made a comment about when I would be done with treatment. My thought is that I don't see the end of treatment.
One of the oncologist played a video of a man who was diagnosed in 2008 and is on a therapy that was just approved in 2023. He talked about how his mortality has been facing him like never before and how he wants to continue living for his family as long as he can. This resonates a lot with me. My cancer has brought to my attention my own mortality in a way that I regularly wonder how many good working years that I might have, and when I might die and go home to be with the Lord. I imagine I think about this more often than those who are older than I am who don't have a disease that is constantly monitored for changes. The video made me think of Heidi and that I want to be here to take care of her for as long as possible. I also prepare in such a way that if the Lord doesn't heal me, that she will be able to carry on with a productive life being able to provide for herself. It also motivates me to use my time well. I share this because I think it helps to know what may be going through the thoughts of someone with chronic illness and disease. By the way, I believe that this is God's will for my life at this time. Today was a good reminder.
Heidi's education plan at work has been extended by a week. She has been making good progress and improvement. However, we don't know from week to week how long her job will last. She will meet with her manager again on Monday to review this past week after her overnight shift on Sunday. Her schedule will be three overnights from Sunday through Tuesday.
I was reminded of a couple things today. One concerned my cancer itself. Considering the stage of my cancer and when it was diagnosed, one of the oncologist said that people like me face a formidable foe. At lunch, I spoke to a lady who is staff at UT Southwestern whose topic was survivorship. I told her that I am currently in treatment and have been since 2019. She made a comment about when I would be done with treatment. My thought is that I don't see the end of treatment.
One of the oncologist played a video of a man who was diagnosed in 2008 and is on a therapy that was just approved in 2023. He talked about how his mortality has been facing him like never before and how he wants to continue living for his family as long as he can. This resonates a lot with me. My cancer has brought to my attention my own mortality in a way that I regularly wonder how many good working years that I might have, and when I might die and go home to be with the Lord. I imagine I think about this more often than those who are older than I am who don't have a disease that is constantly monitored for changes. The video made me think of Heidi and that I want to be here to take care of her for as long as possible. I also prepare in such a way that if the Lord doesn't heal me, that she will be able to carry on with a productive life being able to provide for herself. It also motivates me to use my time well. I share this because I think it helps to know what may be going through the thoughts of someone with chronic illness and disease. By the way, I believe that this is God's will for my life at this time. Today was a good reminder.
Heidi's education plan at work has been extended by a week. She has been making good progress and improvement. However, we don't know from week to week how long her job will last. She will meet with her manager again on Monday to review this past week after her overnight shift on Sunday. Her schedule will be three overnights from Sunday through Tuesday.
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