August 11, 2007: My Father’s Death (July 25, 07)

It’s almost a month since I last blogged and I have now had 12 radiation treatments. The first one was on July 22 and since then, the formalities, the procedure itself, and all other aspects of this treatment have become a way of life.

En route to the hospital on July 25, the day of my fourth treatment, I received a phone call from my nephew Jonathan to say that my father had been taken to hospital and that his death appeared to be imminent. As I was at the beginning stage of my treatment, Dr. Sarid agreed that I could travel to England for the funeral.

My relationship with my father was complex and the effect of his death has increased the turmoil that cancer introduced into my life. However, this blog is not the place to examine the implications of his death on my life other than to say that with the passing of my father, I am the sole survivor of the family I grew up in, the one that provided security for me as a child. This fact adds to my general sense of precariousness now that I too, like my siblings, am a victim of cancer.