Six years ago this month, while standing in a hospital waiting room with my mother-in-law and my two young daughters nearby, I began having a hard time breathing. My wife Katie’s surgery for ovarian cancer had gone beyond three hours. I knew that normally it shouldn’t have taken that long and I started imagining something had gone wrong. Before too long, the surgeon entered the waiting room and walked toward me. “Katie has ovarian cancer and it has spread. I’m sorry,” he told me. Today, six years later, Katie is cancer free and her doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center told us they believe it is highly unlikely that she would have a recurrence at this point.
That season in our lives changed me in expected and unexpected ways, including how I view organizations and the workplace. I wrote an essay about it entitled Alone No Longer that was published as an Amazon Short. Each year around the anniversary of Katie’s surgery, I offer a free download of Alone No Longer at this link. I hope you’ll take the time to download and read it, then reflect on its application to your life. The essay has been especially popular with people who want to know how they can help family members or friends with a serious illness. If you know of someone who might benefit from reading Alone No Longer, please pass it along with my best wishes.
