Illness - A family response

My family and I went to support the walkers at the Vancouver Weekend to end Breast Cancer this past weekend.

It brought back a lot of emotions from last year's walk. My partner Tracy is a breast cancer survivor. In 2007, at the age 34 she was diagnosed. Last year, 3 weeks before the walk marked Tracy's last chemo treatment. She walked the entire 60k but somehow managed to find the energy and strength to pass the finish line.

Something I have struggled with since Tracy was diagnosed is actually dealing with what we had to go through you. It was my coping mechanism of just doing what had to be done. I know now that by not allowing me to show my true concern and by not reaching out to my friends I am forced to deal. It is only recently that I have allowed myself to reflect on the loss of my Mom to ALS, Dad to a heart attack, the disappointment of unpreparedness and the effect that seeing my partner go through surgeries, chemo, etc. At the time, focusing on the positive, keeping routine for our young son and managing everyday life was all I could do.



Seeing the crowd of people all doing a walk in support of breast cancer was a very powerful experience for me. So many people have been touched by illness in their lives, either personally or indirectly. Some of us find it easy to reach out for help, others are not. I would be curious to know how others have learned from their experiences and how it has changed them.

From the experiences I have had, my purpose in my professional life is to help people be better prepared for the what ifs in life. We don't plan to get sick, or a family member to be diagnosed with an illness but what we can do is make sure that our plans include back-ups. Having a Will, having life insurance to protect your surviving family for when you die, protecting your income for illness and injury with critical illness insurance or disability insurance, long term care insurance to plan for health care in retirement. Finding out what is important to you, and your concerns needs to be high on the list of priorities. I have seen so many people who are in denial that anything can happen. I know from my personal experience that denial will only get you so far and you will be dealing with these, having these conversations sooner or later..... I think sooner is a better plan don't you?