Happy Birthday Dad!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
By: Cory Prokop

After enduring his second cancer surgery in three years, my Dad faced and overcame more in one year than most of us will ever have to face in our entire lifetimes.

Well, it’s March 25th and I recently signed up to participate in the Relay for Life to raise money for cancer research. March 25th also has additional meaning for me...it's my Dad's birthday. Being able to celebrate another birthday with my Dad isn't something that we were 100% sure we would be able to do a year ago. He had recently gone through his second surgery to remove a tumour resulting from a recurrence of bowel cancer. The surgery was followed by an intense chemo and radiation therapy that really took its toll on him, both physically and mentally. He wasn't too far into his treatments when he began to have heart problems. Only a short number of months after the cancer surgery he endured open heart by-pass surgery. This type of surgery is relatively routine in today's day and age, but for someone who is in the midst of chemo and radiation treatments and whose body hasn't fully healed from a previous surgery - the heart surgery and recovery can be pretty dicey. Through his great strength and perseverance, and many prayers, he successfully recovered from the heart surgery. To top things off, he underwent back surgery in late December to remove bone fragments resulting from degenerating discs in his lower back.
Obviously, the fact that we are here today celebrating another birthday with my Dad means that he persevered and, not only beat his cancer for the second time, but also overcame more in one year than most of us will have to endure in an entire lifetime. It was a pretty easy decision when my Dad approached me to participate in this year's Relay for Life as part of his team. Every day that I have with my Dad is special and I will cherish them all. Happy Birthday Dad!