Mortal Musings: Waiting for Dawn

For many of us, cancer is an inescapable reality. It is estimated that one in two people will be affected by the disease during their life. Mortal Musings: Waiting for Dawn is a moving, thought-provoking and intensely personal account of one man's journey.

In October 2016 my indigestion turned out to be cancer. A few days later, the news got worse when it was discovered my cancer was not only rare and incurable, but it was Stage IV and I likely had only a few months to live. A death sentence like that naturally makes you think about your own mortality and what lies beyond. But I was not about to give in to the inevitable. I refused to believe in a no-win scenario.

People say it is always darkest before the dawn, so I set about waiting for the sunrise. Being impatient, I did everything I could to hurry it along.

Mortal Musings is about my fight -- physically, mentally and spiritually. It is about hope, faith and denial, how the cancer impacted my life and the lives of those around me, my treatments and the emotional struggle I endured. But it also delves into speculation about what lies ahead, beyond this mortal coil. That I am still here, three years later, is a miracle. That I am now cancer free is even more amazing. As Jimmy Valvano said, "don't give up, don't ever give up." And I didn't.

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"A must-read for anyone affected by this life-changing disease." – Bethan White, Fade

"A powerful testimony of how all of us must accept our own mortality." – Richard Denham, Arthur: Shadow of a God