Never deny the power of a second chance, I tell myself. As often as I can.
I get a daily do-over, another opportunity to embrace life, family and friends. What a gift — however long it lasts.
It took awhile, this second chance. Medical staff held out little hope at one point. But my recovery continues. The colon cancer has stopped, physiotherapy goes on. And some health staff had even used a nickname I had long forgotten from childhood: Miracle Whipp.
But let me start at the beginning. A diagnosis of colon cancer from a routine colonoscopy led to two surgeries in the fall and winter of 2013. A cascade of critical complications followed the second surgery, which was actually a success.
I spent nine long months in hospital to untangle the many health issues that had developed, and to overcome complications from being sedated and immobile for so long.
Discharged from hospital, I remain on the mend and under warranty, getting refurbished. Out-patient physiotherapy takes place, along with monitoring tests and scans. I’ve received so much radiation I’m sure I’ll eventually point north, glow in the dark and scare children and dogs.
Windsor Star reporter Ted Whipp is seen in his home in Windsor on Monday, March 12, 2015. Whipp survived a recent battle with cancer and complications and is now enjoying a second shot at life. (TYLER BROWNBRIDGE/The Windsor Star)
On that ride home after the initial diagnosis and lying in hospital months later, I felt I wasn’t worthy of cancer. Everyone I knew, read and heard about who had cancer seemed so noble and courageous.
They were called warriors. Fighters. Survivors. Until they weren’t, and then they were known forever more as brave soldiers in their fight.
Me? A lazy slacker prone to bad puns, sappy sentiments and someone more talk than walk. So I wondered about this so-called fight with something I couldn’t touch, see, smell or feel.
Cancer loomed like a shadow, creeping into view with each blood test, tissue scan, medical appointment.
Thankfully, fate slapped sense into all this muddling early on. “How can I handle this?” I was wondering as I met with a close friend. I’d be away for awhile, I told him. Doctors were optimistic, so no problem.
“But exactly what are you going to do? How are you going to handle this? What’s your approach?” he wanted to know, demanding specifics.
“Well, I think I’ve worked out how to get my head around this,” I replied. “I tell myself to keep one thing straight: Nothing else matters besides health and family. They are the only priorities.”
No brain space allowed for anything else; nothing. Definitely no big-picture questions, like what happens later, what will I do, will I be able to do it?
“Repeat after me,” I keep telling myself. “Don’t worry or think about things that would resolve themselves, somehow, when the bridges can be seen more clearly.”
“Well, good for you,” my friend said. He handed me one of those rubbery wrist bands that look like they’re branding you for some good cause. This one said simply F#@K CANCER.
Windsor Star reporter Ted Whipp is seen in his home in Windsor on Monday, March 12, 2015. Whipp survived a recent battle with cancer and complications and is now enjoying a second shot at life. (TYLER BROWNBRIDGE/The Windsor Star)
Months later, on the mend and with the colon cancer stopped in its tracks, I still wear it as a touchstone, a reminder of perspective. Health and family, that’s all you got.
I still wonder about the months in hospital, the horrible torment my family endured. Such memories and thoughts poke through in physiotherapy sessions, during more medical appointments and all the efforts to get better, to regain what can be recovered.
Most often, I think of the power of a second chance and the joy it brings. Every day.
However it arrived, however it happened, who knows? Doctors don’t know specifically what triggered complications after my successful surgery. They also can’t explain why I woke up two months later.
But a second chance arrived. It’s a gift I can use any way I want and for all it’s worth.
So many may be jaded by someone who gets a second chance and blows it. But you know, life isn’t easy. Sometimes it can take a do-over — or three — to get it right. Who knows how many times it may take one person or another?
All I know is I smile a goofy grin for no apparent reason. I thank anyone for anything and everything, no matter how trivial and sometimes way too much. But why not? Saying thanks can help each one of us. I can talk; my chatterbox voice is back. Sadly for some, I know, my lousy puns have returned.
As the genius physicist Stephen Hawking says: While there is life, there is hope.
And, I might presume to add, a second chance is worth having and hoping for. For you, for anyone.
Ted Whipp remains on leave from The Windsor Star. March is designated colon cancer awareness month. Please book an appointment for a colonoscopy.
Find Windsor Star on Facebook
