As Time Goes By

So far, for me, post prostate cancer treatment  has been uneventful. This is a good thing. However, I still do not go a day without thinking about my journey on the path with prostate cancer. Hopefully as time goes by, I will think less about it. But for now it is a constant reminder of my mortality. A New Testament writer once wrote "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." A recent example of this for me was that my high school class celebrated our 40th reunion in August of 2010. I was unable to attend, but through FaceBook and email I was able to join in vicariously through my fellow classmates who were there. It has been fun reconnecting with many of them. But that four year period of my high school days is just a blip on the radar. Yet I wonder how many from our class are on a similar journey with cancer as part of their timeline.

Just this month I had my annual physical which, thankfully, was also uneventful. Again, this is a good thing. As time has been going by since my treatment, more proton treatment centers have opened with more still on the way. Yet it surprises me how many people are still not aware of this cancer attacker. I'm sure in some people's mind it conjures up visions of the crew of the Enterprise firing photon torpedoes at the Klingons. In some ways this is good analogy.  After all protons are a powerful weapon in fighting cancer efficiently. They are very effective at delivering the payload at the intended target whether it be the prostate gland or some other menacing tumor dwelling within our own earthly vessel.

Star Trek's opening line "to boldly go to where no man has gone before" can also apply to the future not just space travel. So far human travel into the future is fictional and no one I am aware of has been there. I did not see "tomorrow" as one of the options on the sundial. However, even though I do not know what tomorrow holds, I do know who holds tomorrow.