Leuk is not me

You know, we’re not so different from those who don’t have cancer. We’re different in that we have this crazy disease, but we’re regular people. We’re people who thought this could never happen. But it did.

We’re not special because we have cancer. We’re special because of who we are.

There’s seven billion people on Earth. (There were three billion when I grew up in the 1960’s!) I believe we are each here for a purpose. Mine is my family – my wife, my adult children, my grandchildren, my siblings. And I’m here to help others when I can.

There is a purpose to every step we take on this planet.

Whether you have cancer or just the common cold, your disease is not who you are.

I think we choose who we are living for. We can live for life, or live for the cancer. Leuk may be churning away in our blood steam, bone marrow, and God knows where else, but we don’t have to focus on that. We don’t have to make this a day for cancer.

For today, at least, Leuk is in the background and I’m in the foreground. That’s what matters. I’m not going to worry about my future, not worry about the leukemia, I’m just going to think about today.

I have a unique thing called cancer. But I have other things that are unique too. I have my wife and family. I have unique talents. There’s a lot besides Leuk in my life. As the weeks and months and years progress, Leuk will become a larger part of my life. But he’s not the reason I’m here.

He will never be the point of my life.