Having visited my Dad in Florida while he was recovering and witnessing his sadness (although he really did try his best to hide it) made me want to do something special for him. Something to show him all the things he had here to fight for. I wanted to turn my Dad’s fight switch on because even with everything we had been through I was still Daddy’s little girl, and a girl always needs her father.
When I got home from my trip I got an idea, but I knew I’d have to work fast because he was coming home soon. I grabbed a few of our family photo albums and started to scan them all onto our slow as a snail computer. If he wouldn’t listen to us, maybe I could show him what was right in front of him this whole time.
Dad came back from Florida around his birthday and he, my Mom and I all went out to dinner. I was brimming with excitement and nerves for what I was going to give him.
I made him a book, and I couldn’t have been more excited/nervous to show it to him. I needed this to work. I needed him to see what we all saw for him… a future.
Deep down I needed this book to give him hope and show him he was strong enough to beat cancer.
It had to work. I needed something to jolt his brain.
When it came time to give him the book and it was in his hands all I could do was watch as he flipped through the pages.
It was almost instant; within a few pages, tears started to roll down my Dad’s face. A man who never showed many emotions, especially in a public place.
He loved the book, and he promised to fight. All I needed was to see the look in his eyes to know that he truly meant it. He was here, present, and sober. Yet scared and anxious. But the important part was he was here and he decided to fight and he saw how much we all really cared.
My Dad had to have part of his lung removed, and undergo radiation treatment. He went on a strict keto diet as sugar feeds cancer, and he was dedicated! I have never seen this level of dedication before.
If anyone of you has tried the keto diet you know how hard it is to actually reach “Ketosis”. He had it down, not only would he reach ketosis, when he recovered enough from the surgery he went right back to working out. He was strong, he lost weight and good weight loss not bad loss of weight. That man had it in him the whole damn time!
Which just shows how powerful our brains can be. If you put yourself in a mentally good place, good things can happen!
I also know that with not drinking you usually focus your energy elsewhere and for my dad that was the gym. He loved it, and he had never looked better.
I’ve never seen such an extraordinary comeback.
And guess what?….. He kicked the SHIT out of that cancer.
“Your body can stand almost anything. It’s your mind that you have to convince.”- Unknown Author