Day 1

I forgot to mention one person - probably the most important cast member of all: Dr. O'Reilly from Sloane-Kettering. She's the Captain - the Director - the Driver of the Oberle Express. She'll be steering us through this process.

We met her on Thursday.

Her voice is soft and the lilt of her brogue makes even the most difficult of phrases easier on the ears. Phrases like, "sneaky, aggressive cancer," and "cannot be eradicated," somehow didn't sound catastrophic when she said them.

She did not sugar coat the truth, but she also did not drop us into a pit of despair.

She made sure we knew that in some cases, adenocarcinoma can be controlled with chemotherapy.

That she would not let the treatment of the disease become more of a burden than the disease itself.

That she would help us to keep the Dad we know and love doing the things he knows and loves.

That chemotherapy and a good quality of life, complete with part-time work (focused on the days farthest from his intravenous chemo days), is very much so a possibility for him, especially because Dad is a relatively fit, healthy, active man. I say "relatively" because he's a bit on the thin side right now and... well... not to point to the elephant in the room but he does have cancer after all. Cancer and the cover of Men's Fitness don't exactly go hand-in-hand.

So today is Day 1. Dad started his chemotherapy this morning. The pills have to be taken with meals, which is ironic because the inability to stomach food is what brought us to Sloane-Kettering in the first place. Nevertheless, I know Dad will do what he needs to do to poison the cancer, and I know that the rest of Team Oberle will do whatever we need to do to outsmart, outflank and overpower this enemy.

Once more into the breach! Charge!!!