There are food for thought messages from two brave men on newsoptimist.ca this week.
Read about North Battleford Mayor Ian Hamilton’s return to council after undergoing surgery for cancer.
Some might be more concerned about their own privacy than spreading the message of early detection, but Hamilton shows his courage by being up front about being treated for colon cancer. He says the surgery he underwent is expected to rid his body of the cancer, He says early detection was the key and urges everyone 50 to 74 to take the simple test that he says saved his life.
The FIT is simple and easy to come by. I received one in the mail at one point and foolishly discarding it thinking, “I’m OK. I don’t need to do this.” After hearing a radio interview, in which a Saskatchewan doctor involved in the mail out program described the dismal rate of return of the tests and their importance in early detection of colon cancer, I asked my doctor for another kit. I took the test, dropped it off at the lab and a few weeks later received a letter with negative results. Whew!
But I’ll take the test again. There isn’t a history of cancer in my family, but I fit the age bracket for the TIF test. It’s one way to keep track of the state of my health.
The other brave man is Brian Zinchuk. You may have noticed the absence of Zichhuk’s weekly From the Top of the Pile offerings over the past few weeks. That’s because on the weekend a couple of weeks ago we received an email saying his sister had committed suicide.
I worked with this man for many years and remember him speaking with admiration of his sister and her accomplishments. The story you will read in his column this week will make your heart ache and your eyes tear up, but the important message there is a truly powerful one.
Not all of us could put into words the sorrow, regret and, yes, anger he is experiencing. He says writing is part of his coping strategy, but as you will read, the hurt is deep and abiding.
It is my hope that anyone out there who thinks life is no longer worth living will take his message to heart. There are people out there who care, maybe even a huge, overflowing hall.
