Adapting, Adjusting and Moving Forward
Cancer didn’t just change our medical plans.
It changed our life plans.
Before diagnosis, Sue and I imagined retirement unfolding very differently.
Travel.
Adventure.
Time together.
A long-awaited anniversary trip.
The freedom to finally enjoy some of the things we had worked toward for decades.
Then cancer entered the picture.
Plans were canceled.
Timelines changed.
Priorities shifted.
For a while, it was easy to think about what cancer had taken.
And some of those losses are real.
Pretending otherwise doesn’t make them disappear.
But somewhere along the way, we began asking a different question:
What is still possible?
That question changed something.
The retirement dream wasn’t necessarily gone.
Maybe it was being rewritten.
The adventure wasn’t over.
Maybe the road had simply changed.
I’ve learned that adapting is not the same thing as surrendering.
Sometimes adapting is one of the strongest things you can do.
It means acknowledging reality without allowing reality to define every part of your life.
There are still things we want to do.
Places we want to see.
People we want to spend time with.
Stories we want to tell.
And yes, there are still medical appointments, blood tests and uncertainties woven into those plans.
Every few months, PSA testing can feel like someone presses pause on the future while you wait for a number.
I’ve described it as learning to live in 90-day chapters.
But I don’t want those 90 days to become merely waiting rooms between blood tests.
I want them to contain life.
Dinner with family.
A sunset.
A conversation.
A road trip.
A laugh with Sue.
Something that has absolutely nothing to do with cancer.
Because the goal cannot simply be surviving long enough for the next test.
The goal has to include living between them.
Cancer changed our plans.
It didn’t get to steal our purpose.
And so, the journey shifted.
But the adventure continues.