Thanksgiving - five years
Regular readers of my blog will know that Thanksgiving is a special time for me.
Five years ago, I was giving thanks that a relatively routine surgery discovered and removed a cancerous growth - a tumor.
Last week, I visited the doctor to find out the results of my latest check-up.
Normal.
I've never been so pleased to be normal in my life, because this now means that I am at a significantly greater risk of catching a new cancer than I am of getting a recurrence or continuation of the cancer I had in 2002.
For all intents and purposes, then, I am as done with cancer as the next guy.
My one piece of advice: go see your doctor. Any time anything feels different from normal, go ask your doctor. And if you're a guy aged between 25 and 35, check yourself - or get someone else to check you - on a regular basis to make sure nothing's growing that shouldn't be.
And if you can do one thing for me, please elect officials who see affordable health-care as a basic human right, rather than the nose of the communist camel. Medical bills, plus the rising cost of individual health insurance were the chief reasons why I had to give up my dream of working for myself at home, and raising my child.
Even if you feel that you can't do that, send a donation to a cancer organisation that you trust - American Cancer Society, LiveStrong, Susan G Komen, whatever, it doesn't matter to me, because my treatment is complete.
Thank you.