The year 2020 will surely go down in our personal history books as the year that wasn't. Wasn't what? Wasn't a good year for most of the world. Sure, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer for the most part. But, that seems to be the trend and has been for the last several years. But, don't worry. This is not going to be a political statement. It's simply a commentary on how I view it.
Today is, in fact, another anniversary for me. One year ago today I spent the entire day on an operating table at the Winchester (VA) Medical Center having half of my stomach and three-quarters of my esophagus removed. The surgery was the third and final course of treatment for the cancer fireball that struck me down on August 18, 2019.
I found out some time after the first two courses of treatment, chemotherapy and radiation, that my survival prospects were quite a bit less than optimal. As a matter of fact, just a couple weeks before I had the surgery I asked my surgeon point-blank, what my survival chances were if I opted out of having the surgery. He replied, just as point-blank. NONE!
So, here I am, one year later, a very different person physically, psychologically and emotionally. The dream team of cancer specialists who worked on me destroyed the cancer and removed all the damage it had done to my body. I am, as of the latest round of CT scans one month ago, cancer-free.
Those of you who have followed my progress since I was stricken, know I've been through quite a course of treatment. And, I'm still recovering from the ordeal. But, believe me, despite how bad the overall year of 2020 was for me, with respect to my medical crisis, I am one happy camper (no pun intended) to be writing this article today.
