Our Battle with Cancer: A Memoir

By Joe Claerhout

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In 1997, Joe was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer. The first diagnosis was a simple removal of the affected area. Little did Joe know that a reoccurrence in 2013 was about to take his life for a turn in a different direction. His journey has been a long road with many obstacles to overcome. His wife, Suzie, was also diagnosed with cancer in 2009, with a reoccurrence in 2016. When cancer hit both him and his wife, they did everything they could to try to beat it. Unfortunately, Suzie lost her battle with this devastating disease in September of 2017. This story of incredible love and loss is a reflection on Joe and Suzie's life before, during, and after cancer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781642991048

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Our Battle with Cancer

Joe Claerhout

Copyright © 2018 Joe Claerhout

All rights reserved

First Edition

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc

Meadville, PA

First originally published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64299-103-1 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64299-104-8 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

To my loving wife of forty-three years, whom I have shared this remarkable journey with.

Joe and Suzie in Phoenix before church

Chapter 1

These are the life and times of Suzie and my battle with cancer. I’m hoping I can help people facing this disease by seeing what we did wrong right. This is also a tribute to my wife.

Picture from son Bill’s wedding

I am going to start by calling the farm years from the fall of 1972 to 1999. Suzie and I met on a blind date arranged by one of my best friends, although it wasn’t really a blind date to me. I checked her out at a football game; she was a cheerleader. When I saw her, I wanted to date her; she was beautiful. We were married in the fall of 1974. These years were full of good and bad times. The bad was the flood 1986 and my cancer in 1997. These things I know were hard on her as she was also working on the farm and raising our family. She never once said she was unhappy. Looking back at those days and the long hours I worked, I wish I could have a do-over. I would have paid more attention to my kids and wife. So what I would like to pass on is thank God for every minute you have with your spouse and treat them well as you never know when you may lose them.

Suzie, with son baby Bill, Joe and Nephew Scott

These are the years from 1999 to current. These were some of the best years of our life even with our cancers, and we were transitioning from the greenhouse and farm to a bike shop, full-time crop insurance, and the race track. Through these years, I had much more time to spend with her. We were great partners working together, and it showed. She played a huge part. The