How I Dealt with My Cancer Relapse: A Journey of Caregiving, Mindset and Support

By Kevin Lee

This sequel, which was supposed to be written and published only after at least five years of remission from my August 2017 treatment, has been unfortunately brought forward due to a series of events that came up after just about 2.5 years into my remission journey.

A recent routine scan in April 2020 revealed concerns resulting in a major operation required to remove malignant lymph nodes.

It also restarted my remission journey all over again, which means 2025 (instead of 2022) is now the new target year to aim for as far as a five-year remission period is concerned.

The book also talks about the challenges encountered after the last chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment in August 2017 until April 2020, whereby I had to undergo in terms of diet adjustment as well as physical activity.

It is again hoped that the details shared here will help the reader (patient and caregiver, as well as everyone else) to handle the challenges ahead with faith and hope as well as confidence and encouragement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781716512124

Kevin Lee

KEVIN LEE is originally from the small town of Sturgis, Saskatchewan in Canada. He struck out for a career in radio right out of high school. It was on those long ‘overnight’ shifts that he began to work on his writing ‘urge’ when there wasn’t really a whole lot to do. He found that he really enjoyed putting his imagination down on paper and kept working at it while at home during his days off. One idea always turned into another and before he knew it, several short stories were done! He thought of taking it one step further and proceeded to give writing a novel a go! The process turned out to be long and tiring at times, but at the same time quite enjoyable! He found himself writing certain passages, taking a day off and then coming back to it and adding further to the developing story. Before he knew it, his first draft of a novel was done! He always had an interest in science fiction and fantasy with J.R.R. Tolkien and Terry Brooks being a couple of his favourite authors. It was from them that he found the inspiration to create his own ‘work’ and attempt to keep anyone who would read his material hooked as they had hooked him. The result was a couple of different ideas that eventually evolved into TRIO – Book One – ‘H*E*R*O*E*S’. It came together piece by piece until what you will soon read came to be. As the ‘TRIO’ and company continue on their travels in Book One the hope is that you will become as attached to the characters and their adventures as he did writing about them. You can look forward to reading further adventures in the not too distant future. Enjoy! Drop in on Kevin Lee’s website anytime to see what’s going on in the TRIO world and for all updates on the books, TRIO merchandise you can purchase, photo’s, various links and more! www.kevinleeauthor.ca

Book preview

Author’s Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the following listed below:

The Holy Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit), for their love and presence in my life;

My wife Gladys for being my main pillar of strength and life-time partner; and

Everyone else who has been praying endlessly for Gladys and me!

What is the book about?

This sequel, which was supposed to be written and published only after at least five years of remission from my August 2017 treatment, has unfortunately been brought forward due to a series of events that occurred after just about 2.5 years into my remission journey. A recent routine scan in April 2020 had revealed concerns resulting in a major surgery required to remove some malignant lymph nodes. This meant an extra recovery journey, which sets the remission one back to the starting point all over again. The book also talks about the challenges encountered during the period between the last chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment in August 2017 to the present, whereby I had to undergo diet adjustment as well as amendments to all physical activities. It is again hoped that the details shared here will help the reader (patient and caregiver, as well as everyone else) to handle the challenges ahead with confidence as well as with hope.

More about the Author

Kevin is a teacher, trainer, counsellor, mentor as well as founder of T.E.A.C.H. Enterprises (https://www.teachenterprises.biz/home), created to train individuals (and groups) who will be empowered to act with commitment and help others thereafter. His mission, value and vision in life are to help others to discover their talents and develop their potential, hence his tagline on various social media platform profiles – Creating Awareness to Discover Talent, and Drawing Aspiration to Develop Potential!

Chapter 1

This book picks up from where I completed my first book on cancer, Our Journey with Cancer (A Story about Faith, Hope and Love), back in early 2018. Since then, the routine life for me had revolved around regular visits to one of four doctors throughout the year for periodical checks and scans just to ensure that recovery was (and still is) well on track and to monitor the possibility of a potential relapse.

The 4 four doctors included a Medical Oncologist, a Radiation Oncologist, an Otorhinolaryngologist (Ear, Nose & Throat) and a Dentist. In the first year after my chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, my 2018 calendar was filled with either monthly, quarterly or half-yearly visits to the respective specialists listed above.

My progress towards remission after treatment was filled with lots of challenges both physically and psychologically. Eating was a constant struggle because I no longer salivated like a normal human being given the fact that the part where the radiotherapy had focused on was very near my saliva glands, and as a result keeping my mouth and throat moist (especially when sleeping at night) became an issue until I found something that could generate ‘artificial’ saliva for me during my sleeping hours.

Getting back to my