pole2poleandback-blog

2013

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 07:13:04 +0100

Christmas has come and gone so has 2012. For many this last year was a year of hardship and for others it was a year of tragedy. Fortunately my father was saved for us through the year although his cancer spread through his body. 2013 will be a year where the Drive planning must be completed and the execution will start.
But during this year many will be diagnosed with some form of cancer. It is up to the individual to get tested and this will determine if we will celebrate you being a survivor or we will honor you as one of the victims.
It is not up to the family to encourage you to go to the doctor if your body tells you something is wrong, it is up to you as an individual to make the decision as only you can feel what your body is telling you.
That persistent little pain might be nothing or it might be something that can be treated. If you leave it to long, your family might have to deal with your demise just because you did not listen.
I sincerely hope that you will listen to your body and act accordingly.

Prostate Cancer December Journal

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:03:20 +0100

Today is the 23rd of December 2012. It has now been 15 months since my father was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. It has been a difficult period in the lives of every family member since the news of the Prostate cancer. The doctors gave my father initially 3 months and last Christmas he showed no sign of deterioration. He kept on doing his thing and nobody that saw him would have said that he has terminal cancer.
That was a year ago, but unfortunately in the last couple of weeks, his health has taken a downward spiral. The doctors suspect that the cancer has spread throughout his body and he is getting weaker at a rapid rate. His skeleton has started giving problems and it is very difficult for him to walk. His memory is busy going and he is no constantly on medication that assist with the pain that he is experiencing.The family is very concerned with the rapid rate of deterioration of his health, but he has been given a year longer than was predicted.
My brother is moving closer to help with the support function as my mothers health is also not good at all. So the fact that my brother is also moving closer relieve some of the psychological pressure from me as we will both now share the burden of both parents. He is staying with them for a couple of days to ensure that there is somebody permanently with them over this festive season.
I would like to thank him for his help and his support for this project that is fast approaching. Without his help, the planning for the drive would stagnate due to me spending so much time at my parents house.
I would also like to take this time to wish all the supporters of the drive a merry Christmas and for those that do not celebrate Christmas, I would like to wish you peace and health during this period. The new year will bring new challenges to us all and I believe it will be a great year for all.

Holidays and Cancer

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 04:37:50 +0100

In many countries December is a time when the schools are finished for the year and it is holiday time. You and your family prepare to go away for the break and everything is being prepared. Dad takes the car in for a service, mom make sure the shopping is done, the children just attempt to get some rest in after a long year at school.
Once everything is packed in the car, clothes, toys, children, mom and dad, the journey can begin to a destination pre-planned.
Along the route to the destination something happens to the car. Agh, a breakdown. But dad had the car checked before the journey and still something happened to delay the journey. But because dad had the car serviced before time, the delay is short and the breakdown minor.
Cancer can hit at any time of your life, does not matter how prepared you are. If you do not have regular checks done, the cancer can catch you off guard and postpone your journey.Some will reach their destinations while some journeys will be cut short.
Just remember, just because it is holiday time, cancer does not take holidays and carry on with the work destroying lives.

Another pebble in the road.

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 03:58:36 +0100

Good day,
Last night I received another rejection letter relating to the Drive. I was hoping that Toyota SA would be the sponsor for the support vehicles, but alas, it was not meant to be. After waiting weeks and even months for some sort of reply from the company's representative, the mail came as quite a disappointment.
The main problem now is the start of a new search for a sponsor for the support vehicles that would be able to cover the terrain and the temperature fluctuations that these vehicles would need to endure.
I just hope that we can get the vehicles sorted out rather sooner than later.
I just hope that after the drive Toyota SA would realize the opportunity for publicity that they lost. No ill feelings are being held against them.
Well the good part is that Toyota SA at least decided to give me an answer unlike some other companies that I have been waiting months for an answer.
Keep it healthy.

The cancer patient and the family.

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 05:37:15 +0100

From personal experience, dealing with the patient can be at times easy and at times very difficult. In the beginning when we as a family were informed that my father was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer, it was quite a shock to us. As with any bad news, the family had to deal with it as a unit and not as individuals. The only person that had a harder time than the rest of the family was the patient as it is his life that is being cut short and it is him that will go through the pain and suffering.
As the realization set in with the members of the family that it was not going to happen overnight and that the cancer is a process, every body started to handle the patient differently.
The patient also had to accept the finality of things and had to get his mindset right to deal with the inevitable. The patient has been informed that he is close to his expiry date and that must be a bitter thing to deal with. He has to deal with emotions that I can not even imagine and he is taking it a day at a time.
The family dealt with the patient a lot differently yesterday a lot differently than they did just after the diagnoses. Accepting that the patient is on a path that there is no return, like all of us except we just don't know when, made us adapt a notion that we will all be there when the pain start to take over, when the emotions get the better of him, when he is in need to have something done when he is not able anymore, when he just need someone els to talk to other than his wife, my mother.
Life started to change as the way that my father's health started to deteriorate, although he is currently still mobile and can do his own thing when so required. My parents moved into a pensioners village close to my home where there is a frail care facility and this came as a relief to all including the patient. Now he knows that whatever happens, my mother is taken care of and that she is with others of her own generation, she has the care available should she need it, and they are close to the children as all are within 1 hours drive of the home.
These days I visit almost every day with my parents, but I can see the changes in his health and pain on a daily basis. I can see now a year and a bit after the diagnoses that he has accepted the finality of things but he still battles with some issues. We , as a family are his support structure and that is one of the most important factors that the patient need when he is down.

Fund raising for the project

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 05:29:32 +0100

Morning all, This is a part of a project that I hate the most, asking for money from strangers. But, what it comes down to is that without the strangers contribution to the project, there will be no success in the project as the Drive would take 10 to 20 times as long to complete than the planned 12 months. It is frustrating for me as I am not use to ask for money and don't really know how to do it. But, every day is a learning day for me through the project.
I have learned so much about people and companies over the last 11 months while planning this Cancer Awareness Drive 2014. I have learned that most people have been scammed so many times that when a legitimate project comes their way asking for support and contribution, the first thing most would do is delete the message. Some would read the message and then delete it. Very few would actually have the guts to open the web link that would be with the message to see what the project is all about in fear that it might be a virus of some sort or another.
Then there are the one or two that would actually page through the site and make contact. It is these one or two that can make the world of difference to a project like this. They can assist in various ways by spreading the message that is intended or they can become part of the project or lastly they can contribute funds or resources that is vital to the completion of a project of this scale.
The main problem of raising funds and sponsorship for a project like the drive is that, if a well known person approach a company or other people, these companies and people would be very willing to get their names attached to the project. The problem comes in, I am not rich, well known entertainer or business man approaching them, I am an ordinary person that ask for their assistance and contributions. For this reason they do not want to see the project for what it is, they see a person of no importance that is there with a proposal and it is very easy just to show him the door.
It is for this reason that I find it very difficult to get access to the right people to help me make a difference in the lives of other people.
Are you willing to contribute to the message and not the person?

Being diagnosed with Cancer

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 05:00:39 +0100

As you all know by now, the drive is about early detection of cancer in the body and that my father was diagnosed with cancer too late for the doctors to do anything for him.
It has been a difficult time this last year to see him getting so frail and the cancer consuming him bit by bit every day. It has affected the whole family and in a way the whole family is sick just like my father.
Just after being diagnosed with the fatal prostate cancer, the family did not know really how to deal with my fathers illness. But with time and by talking with a lot of people that has either been through cancer themselves or lost family because of cancer, the family has learned to accept the fact that we are going to lose m father to the cancer and it is just a matter of time before it will happen.
The only difference between my father and the rest of the family is that he has been informed about his expiry date where the rest of us do not know it at all and think that we will live forever and a day.
My father have the time to get all his affairs in order so that nothing is left to chance once he has left this earth. With the rest of the family, anything can happen tomorrow and there will be incomplete things that will need to be resolved by the family after the member has left the earth.
The message that us as a family have learned, live every day as if it is your last day on earth and ensure that your affairs are in order so that if something happen to any member of the family, there is no problems afterwards.
All must have a healthy day and be prepared as you do not know your expiry date.

Time is getting closer

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:26:12 +0100

The start of the drive is only 421 days away and the battle is being forged ahead. This weekend I spoke to an entertainer called Emo Adams and he is very keen to ensure that this awareness drive happens. Negotiations with other sponsors is ongoing but nothing is set in concrete yet. I have been having an uphill battle getting to the right people in most of the companies to ensure that the meetings do not need to be repeated a couple of times to ensure that the decision makers hear about the project.
As soon as I have the permission to place their logos on the site, it will be done and then it is set in concrete that they are either a sponsor or a service provider for the drive.
There might be a small change in the calender as one of the service and supporters of the drive have a massive function on at the same time that we need to get to the South Pole, but I believe that the change would be a minor one.
I am busy running out of finances to get the drive planning done as there are very few donors to the drive. Maybe I am doing something wrong in promoting donations to the drive. I would appreciate any and all assistance that I can get regarding the boosting of donations towards the drive as the donation funds can not be touched and only the interest earned on the investment account can be utilized for the planning.Oh, what to do?

Say your say when the time is near.

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 08:24:19 +0100

Today, it might be my last birthday I spend with my father. I am hoping that the cancer will not take him out of our midst before the drive start in 2014, but the prognosis is a dire one.

I want to spend as much time with him as possible but it is not always possible. There is so much that we never had the chance to discuss, but due to the fact that I am aware that he is on his way, it actually gives us the opportunity to talk things out that have bothered us both for years that we avoided discussing all this time.

I know if my father pass away today, that we said what we needed to say to each other and there will not be this feeling of resentment about things being unsaid.

A small thing like a conversation that did not end well between two individuals, can ruin the way a person perceive life after the other person is gone. Guilt and resentment can play a big role in one’s life after the loss of a loved one.

For this reason I think it is best that any conversation between 2 people must have a definite conclusion and an end where if one party is never seen again, there will be no residual guilt felt years down the line.

Cancer at 22

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 04:33:44 +0100

Twenty-two years old. I could run a 5K in 21 minutes, sometimes without breaking a sweat. My bench press approached 300 pounds, as the ladies loved the broad chest and thick shoulders. I graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Political Science and History. I was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, on my way to flying on the E-3 Sentry. It all came so easily. Nothing could stop me.

However, on July 18, 2006, exactly two months after college graduation and one month after I entered the Air Force, something did stop me, fast and without warning. On that day, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer – a pure embryonal carcinoma in my right testicle. I knew right then my life would never be the same. A hotshot 22-year-old, no longer.

Within three weeks, my right testicle was surgically removed and an aggressive chemotherapy regimen found its way into my once healthy body. The stigma of being “half a man” and the side effects of chemotherapy seemed insurmountable. As if this wasn't enough, four days after the surgery, I was medically disqualified from my job in the Air Force and my childhood dreams of flying for my nation were shattered. It all seemed so bleak. Yet, as I soon learned, pain fades with time. And despite all the nightmares, through my cancer experience, I have found a higher purpose and meaning in life. I realized my true potential as a human being – my potential to help and serve others and to make this world a better place. There's a new desire, deep down in my soul, to get out there and help people and to serve those who haven’t been as lucky.

Crisis doesn't make the man, but rather reveals
the true character within.

I now know what its like to be down on your luck and to have your life torn apart. Because of this, I walk away from cancer a more compassionate and concerned person, more conscious and attentive to the pain and suffering of others. It takes significant events to help us change our ways, to throw out the preconceived notions that we always held so dear and to look at the world in a more compassionate and just way. Cancer forced me to find compassion, to reprioritize my life, to set out on a life of service for the right reasons, to seek justice at every turn and to work tirelessly for a better world.

I grew up fast in a short time, thanks to cancer. With this new perspective, I ask myself, “Will I help others to walk tall in the face of adversity, to stand up for justice, even if they stand alone? To fight the enemies of fear and hate? To treat people with endless compassion and love, to not hold prejudice against those considered ‘less fortunate?’ Will I help them look past materialism, selfishness and self-centeredness and to value faith and family above all else? Will I be able to teach them how to avoid the many mistakes that I made prior to cancer?” I sure hope so.

Crisis doesn’t make the man, but rather reveals the true character within. Cancer acted as the catalyst for my personal transformation, shaping my worldview in a way I could have never imagined. Cancer taught me more in five seconds than I learned in four years at Notre Dame or in six weeks of military boot camp, more in five seconds than in 22 years of “normal” life as a “normal” kid. The experience helped me to understand the fragility of this life that I always took for granted. It gave me a newfound appreciation for the sacredness of being alive, to breathe, to look your family in the eyes and to embrace those you love. Life itself became the highest good, my greatest gift.

To learn this lesson so early in life, although shocking, was truly a blessing in disguise. It allows me the opportunity to live a long life with a blessed perspective that most people don’t get until they are much older. In this sense, I am lucky to have had cancer. It drives me, knowing that I haven’t seen my best self yet. Thanks to cancer, my best self is yet to come. And I think you will find, once all the pain passes, that you too will feel just as blessed.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Lt. Koprowski currently serves as a Military Intelligence Officer at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. Click here for more of Mike’s story.

This article was published in Coping® with Cancer magazine, March/April 2007.