My name is Edward Jones. I am a husband and father of two beautiful girls. My wife and I have been married for ten years. I thought my life was complete and nothing in this world could take away my happiness. That is, until I met with my doctor.
At the end of 2006, I went to my doctor because I had a lump in my stomach. They took tests and told me it was just an infection and put me on antibiotics. Then a couple of months ago the lump returned. I went back to the doctor and expected it to be the same. They took the tests again and discovered it wasn't an infection, but that I had stomach cancer. They said it had always been there and that I had an infection around it.
It turns out it's incurable and that I do not have particularly long left. I'm on treatment, which is increasing my life span, but I still only have ten to fifteen years no matter what I do. Without treatment I would only have around five years.
I try not to let my emotions show around my two girls but sometimes I can’t help it. I get so angry because I don't know why I was the one to get this cancer. I can’t help but cry when I think about the things I will be missing. I will not see them dance at their prom or see them graduate from high school. I will not even get the chance to give them away at their wedding.
Leaving my wife scares me everyday. I know she is being strong but she hides her feelings so well. She always said, “We will live for today and not tomorrow.” I don’t know what I would do without her strength. If my health keeps up, I plan on taking my girls to Disney World. It is important that I create these wonderful memories now. It will give them something to hold on to when I am gone.
I still keep doing the things I enjoy. I watch hockey on Saturday night, I golf on Sunday afternoons and I take my wife on a date every Thursday night. I am holding on and doing okay for now but ask me in ten years and my story might change.
My advice to people is that if you have a lump or your family has a history of cancer like mine, go to your doctor and get it checked. It might not just save your life but your family’s life as well. Maybe God has a plan for me and maybe he doesn't but if I ever get the chance to ask him, I will ask him, why?
Monday, March 26, 2007
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
God Give Me Patience
I wake up every morning at the same time. My body and mind have become accustomed to it. The time you ask, it is 7:00am. I wake up at 7:00am because that is the time I have to get up in order to catch the bus to school.
I hate riding the bus. It's slow and it's usually nauseating. I think that most of the contagious diseases I've had in the last three years were acquired from riding the number 80 Sackville bus. There is no other option for me but to take the bus to school. My parents will not give me a car because I can not afford one. However, they are probably right.
I have to leave my apartment an hour early everyday just to make it to class on time. By car, this drive to school would only take me fifteen minutes. As soon as I step onto the bus I rapidly develop a headache. I can’t stand the motion of the bus. Up and down, up and down. It feels like I will throw up at any given moment. The motion sickness never fails. The condensed smell of cigarette smoke, perfume, food and God knows what else makes me choke.
As the bus begins to get packed I begin sweating under layers and layers of clothes. I have to dress this way because it is very cold waiting outside for a bus. They are never on time. I am now at the halfway mark and only 30 more minutes until I get to school.
The bus is not a happy place for me because I do not like to be so close to people I do not know. The thought of someone smelly and gross sitting next to me, makes me ill. As someone takes a seat next to me, I find myself jammed against the window. I can’t even move an itch because there is barley enough room for me to breathe. I am now starting to get very uneasy and I try not to scream at the person next to me because all I want them to do is move out of my way.
To make my bus ride to school even better, there are always crying babies on the bus. I say to myself, “That is why I am NEVER having children.” The crying is just enough for me to want to get off at the next stop and walk to school. It drives me insane.
Just as the bus comes to the Bedford Highway, I thank God for allowing me to get through this morning without saying or doing something I will regret later. I pull the cord to get off in front of the Mount and I wish the bus driver a wonderful day. Just as I start to think that the worst is over, I remember that in about three hours, I will have to go through the same thing all over again. God give me patience.
I hate riding the bus. It's slow and it's usually nauseating. I think that most of the contagious diseases I've had in the last three years were acquired from riding the number 80 Sackville bus. There is no other option for me but to take the bus to school. My parents will not give me a car because I can not afford one. However, they are probably right.
I have to leave my apartment an hour early everyday just to make it to class on time. By car, this drive to school would only take me fifteen minutes. As soon as I step onto the bus I rapidly develop a headache. I can’t stand the motion of the bus. Up and down, up and down. It feels like I will throw up at any given moment. The motion sickness never fails. The condensed smell of cigarette smoke, perfume, food and God knows what else makes me choke.
As the bus begins to get packed I begin sweating under layers and layers of clothes. I have to dress this way because it is very cold waiting outside for a bus. They are never on time. I am now at the halfway mark and only 30 more minutes until I get to school.
The bus is not a happy place for me because I do not like to be so close to people I do not know. The thought of someone smelly and gross sitting next to me, makes me ill. As someone takes a seat next to me, I find myself jammed against the window. I can’t even move an itch because there is barley enough room for me to breathe. I am now starting to get very uneasy and I try not to scream at the person next to me because all I want them to do is move out of my way.
To make my bus ride to school even better, there are always crying babies on the bus. I say to myself, “That is why I am NEVER having children.” The crying is just enough for me to want to get off at the next stop and walk to school. It drives me insane.
Just as the bus comes to the Bedford Highway, I thank God for allowing me to get through this morning without saying or doing something I will regret later. I pull the cord to get off in front of the Mount and I wish the bus driver a wonderful day. Just as I start to think that the worst is over, I remember that in about three hours, I will have to go through the same thing all over again. God give me patience.
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