The Writer in Me
Philip J. Gale
A lifelong collection of stories and articles
CHAPTER 5
THE BUMPY ROAD
My Journey with Cancer
"I once went on a car journey from Dubai into Oman on to the Persian Gulf. At the outset, the roads were smooth with new tarmac, but once we crossed the border into Oman, all that changed. The road narrowed to a two lane highway, and shortly after we entered mountain country. The road here was a single lane cart track, full of rocks, boulders, stones, pot-holes and dust – plenty of dust. Although the scenery was spectacular with many views to see, caves in the rocks where people lived or stored equipment and food for their goats, patches of green grass and a few small ponds, it was sometimes difficult to concentrate on the pleasures because of the teeth-chattering, bumpy ride we began to experience. This is much like my cancer journey. It has been a very bumpy ride and I have seen life unfolding all around me, but I’ve not been able to fully enjoy or participate in it as I’ve so often been distracted by all the challenges presented to me along the way. Each patient with Multiple Myeloma goes on a slightly different journey, but here is mine, bumps and all."
Phil Gale
Excerpt from Multiple Myeloma-My Story
Multiple Myeloma - My Story
Multiple Myeloma-My Story brings you a candid and, at times utterly raw insight into what Phil suffered through for four long years. It was incredibly important for him to share this with the world in order to provide a heads up to people who, in particular, are suffering with his type of cancer (cancer of the bone marrow.) But, it will be enlightening for any reader, as we all know someone who has battled cancer, and tragically it continues to be one of the most unforgiving and relentless diseases on the planet today.
Throughout his cancer journey, Phil held the highest degree of respect and gratitude for the amazing staff and volunteers of the BC Cancer Clinics in both Victoria and Vancouver. Their kindness and compassion was absolutely heart-warming.
A Caregiver's Journey
As primary caregiver to my husband for four years while he battled Multiple Myeloma (more commonly known as bone marrow cancer,) I wrote this article in the early days just following our two months stay in Vancouver as he underwent a bone marrow transplant in the summer of 2015, at Vancouver General Hospital. My journey, and his, was about to get even more complex in the years to come, but I decided to let this article stand as it addresses some of the fundamental challenges I faced in those first six months. It is honest and is biased to my point of view as a caregiver, to help those who are in a similar role, but, as such does not shed any light on the ordeal that my late husband went through during the course of his illness. He speaks to that in great depth in his own words, within his article “Multiple Myeloma-My Story.”
