Unexpected News

Friday, August 2nd, 2019. This is the day that changed my life path forever. What started as a simple appointment to determine the cause of my persistent heartburn symptoms turned into a life altering discovery that has led me on this new journey called cancer treatment.

For the past few months I have had increasing issues with eating solid foods. I would start to burp, hiccup and in some cases vomit my food. It started only happening on a few occasion but soon started to happen at almost every meal. I went to my family doctor to let him know. I was concerned because I had just had my annual physical and nothing seemed to come up. My family was also  beginning to worry as most dinners, I was running to the washroom and throwing up.

It was time to go to the doctor. At my appointment, my doctor weighed me and I had lost 15 pounds in three weeks. He immediately ordered an endoscopy for me. Within three days I got the appointment. Again, I was not too concerned at the time, as I thought it was my heartburn acting up again.

In the preparation room, getting  prepped for the procedure, I could hear the male nurse talk with other patients that were in recovery. He was telling one of them that they could go home now. He was telling them that the doctor only speaks with patients if there is a concern.

I knew something was wrong when that same nurse, after I had awoke from the anesthesia, told me that the doctor wanted to speak with me. He took me to the doctors office to wait. It seemed like forever, but a few minutes later, Michelle was brought into the room. She looked as puzzled as me as to why we were called into the office.  We had no idea about the news we were about to receive.

It didn't take long for us to hear the bad news. The doctor walked into the room, with a very concerned look on his face, sat down and immediately indicated that during the procedure he had noticed a large tumour had formed on my esophagus. He had then stated that it was almost completely blocking it. He was having difficulties going beyond it as it was so large. He felt that it was cancer, he took a biopsy sample of the tissue, and referred us to a specialist.   I was told that I would need to begin a liquid diet from that moment on as no solid foods would be able to get through. This was the cause of my ongoing burps, hiccups and vomiting.

It was that quick and that blunt. No pre-warning. We were in complete shock. What did he just say? Michelle was also at a loss for words. We couldn't believe what we were hearing. What? How? Why?

Devastation. Doubt. Shock. Tears. These were the first emotions and actions that followed. As we left the doctors office and crossed the street to get a cup of coffee to try to process this news, we hugged, cried and look at each other in complete disbelief. How could this be happening? When did this start? What did I do wrong?

The purpose of this blog will be to help share my own personal cancer journey with others. It is important to note that each person's journey is as unique as the person themselves. These are my experiences, my emotions, my thoughts. This is my cancer journey.

Richard