Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, laugh easy, keep it simple, ride often, ride free and never regret anything that makes you smile.
My Story..... April 2017 my partner of 23 years appeared to be losing weight especially on her bum....(don't judge me I'm a bum type of guy)....she had been complaining of feeling unwell after drinking milkshakes for the previous couple of years and we put it down to lactose or dairy intolerance. Anyway, the weight loss was noticeable so we arranged a GP appointment.
The decision was to send her for an ultrasound. The results came back as probable diverticulitis (with some cysts on the liver). Her GP was not satisfied and scheduled a MRI scan, but before the appointment my partner fell ill and ended up in hospital for a couple of days where the doctors though diverticulitis was to blame.
May 2017 - the MRI scan date came, scan was done and we were told results would take about 10 days. That same afternoon we got a call to see the GP
as soon as possible. I sat in the waiting room and told my partner to go in, but the GP said both of us were to go in....(shit..... bad news). We were told that she had a tumor obstructing her bowel and there were smaller tumors in her liver and lungs....there it was...stage 4 with metastasized tumors.
June 2017 - Bowel surgery. We were told it was palliative surgery (used mainly to reduce pain for patients) and they would just take the bowel tumor as there was no point taking lymph nodes. We were told 12 months with treatment 6 months without so...
August 2017 - Chemo started. Three rounds seemed to be working, after fourth round we were told no it's not working and did we want to try a different chemo....we decided to give it a go.....
December 2017 - New chemo trialled. After the first course her blood tests revealed no white blood cells and it wasn't working....we made the decision to stop treatment.
January 2018 - We saw Bryan Adams in concert at New Plymouth....she got the chance to meet her idol back stage and he told her how courageous she was.....it was our final concert together. Fitting really as our first concert was Bryan Adams at Wembley in July 1996.
She asked me what I wanted....obviously I couldn't say "you healthy". She was never a fan of motorbikes but she loved horses and Native Americans and the old west....I decided I wanted an Indian motorcycle so we viewed one together and I took delivery in March 2018.
Two weeks later in April 2018 she became my Guardian Angel and rides with me all the time.
Live for today, tomorrow is not guaranteed. Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, laugh easy, keep it simple, ride often, ride free and never regret anything that makes you smile.
If you or a loved one are going through cancer, please reach out for help. There are people to talk to and organisations that can help.
Please start with your local Cancer Society to see what resources are there for you. Or if you just need an ear to listen or company to sit with, come and join us on a ride.
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