On the day that my brother finished Chemo, I cried.
August 24th, 2012. The day he called me and told me that he had cancer in his head. His voice sounded so optimisitc. "Hey Sis"...was all I can remember aside from "Well, they found a mass in my head and they are saying it is cancer". From that sentence on I could not do anything but cry.
January 25th, 2013. The day my brother finished all his treatment. Again, all I could do was cry. His voice sounded tried. 7 weeks of radiation with three 8 hour treatments of concurrent chemo. Three weeks off then three 5 day hospitalizations for nonstop chemo. The cancer can not be found on the surface of his membrane, and we are praying for results that there is no cancer left underneath the membrane.
A lot took place between these dates. A lot of worry, prayer, crying, stress, break downs, lack of sleep, pacing. My brother took on and endured a dragon, although he called it the rock. He stared the dragon in the eye daily and although he had no strength, he chose to continue on and to fight. I have to admit, I was not thinking he would. I guess my pessimism is more prevalent than I thought. But he, with literally every ounce of energy he had, no matter how little it was, he fought. Now he may think he did not have a choice, but we all do. And he may think it was no big deal, but to us it is. No matter how ouchy and grouchy he was, he continued to fight. He is not one to really talk, but I know he was probably scared shitless. We all were.
January 26th 2013. A new chapter for my brother begins. A chapter that I hope is filled with second chances, with dreams come true, with fun to be had and energy to do it with. But most of all I hope this chapter is filled with continued remission and healing. We all tend to get caught up in daily living and forget how complicated we make things. I pray that as the days go on, my brothers life becomes less complicated. That he can now see how loved he is. To believe how life can be triumphant. And just for today, I hope my brother can sit back and relax and no longer worry about having to slay the dragon anymore.
