I went to Tampa Florida with my Aunt, and our friend Nita, for a second opinion regarding her cancer. We met with a doctor who articulated her situation thoroughly and directly. He compassionately told us that she has a high risk Chronic Mylomonocytic Leukemia (CMML). She will need a bone marrow transplant as soon as possible (which takes several months to prepare for and find a good match). I asked how long she would live if she did nothing; and he said that she would make it probably a year.

While this news was scary and difficult to hear, we appreciated that the doctor was so honest. It has been a struggle to find relevant information and for our usual doctor to be so clear. People like us who ask such direct questions, prefer direct answers, or at least an educated guess. I believe it helps patients and their family prepare for, and make decisions about, their future.

After our appointment, we spent four days along the gulf coast scavenging for sea shells and soaking in the sunshine. It was a bitter sweet trip to say the least. We cried, laughed, talked, and lived in the moment. We spent a couple of days at the water park which was connected to our condo. The lazy river was mostly relaxing, except when I couldn’t help myself from pushing my aunt’s tube under the water falls—which she found only slightly less hysterical than me.

I cherished my time with her and I am once again reminded how important it is to live in the moment. One of the big differences with people who have been given a terminal diagnosis and the rest of us is that they know their days are numbered—where as we can still pretend that we have all the time in the world. I suppose it is why I like to work with people who have a life threatening illness—it forces me to face my own frailty. Tomorrow is not guaranteed or promised to any of us, so think about how you can live today with purpose and joy.