It has been a while....a lot has happened.

Where do I start?

Firstly I will say that a teacher at our daughters school pulled me aside to say, ‘I have been waiting months for the next blog update……’ Well here it is and sorry for my delay.

Since the blog entry a lot as happened, it has been an interesting few months. I am currently having a well overdue break from teaching…..after 19 years of teaching I have never had a break. Most teachers usually take long service leave at some point in their teaching career……my time is now. I am currently on Long Service Leave from school. It is for Term 3 only….with school holidays book ending the Term, it equates to about 14 weeks leave. I am enjoying my time off, being a dad….doing school and kinder runs. This is so much fun…..spending time with the girls to and from school or kinder. Going to assemblies, speaking with the girls teachers….it is great to be on the other side of the fence. Spending time with Zahlia and her day time activities of gymnastics, swimming and ballet.

ZAHLIA

Let’s not forget my lovely, amazing wife…..yes I know she’ll be sick of me hanging around for 14 weeks….but we have Friday’s to spend time together having lunch dates and general time without children…..it is a rarity to have ‘date time’ with Lisa.

Yes, I am getting some riding in also……you could call me a ‘semi procyclist’ I have had some rides that have been during the day…..this is apparently called ‘Pro Cycling Hours’. It hasn’t happened often, as the weather has been very ordinary.

As most of you will know, I love family and celebrating milestones…..it was Kalita's (our middle) 6^th Birthday last month. She has grown up so much and loved her ‘cooking party’…..it is no surprise that Lisa did an amazing cake and preparation for the event.

A milestone I really wanted to reach in this journey is always to see our girls grow up and move through life with enjoyment and I am not letting Cancer get in the way of this. But a personal goal I wanted to reach was turning 40 and yes this has been ticked off. Most people think turning 40 is a drag and something of a dramatic experience…..for me it was an achievement. I am so happy to have turned 40……knowing that in 2012 I was not that healthy and Cancer had the better of me. It was clear during those months of late 2012 it was going to be a battle to reach Christmas. Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special....obviously thanks so much to Lisa and the girls for a great day and the cake. 

A month after my birthday, Lisa and I had a reality check once again…..I found a lump in my groin area. When you have Melanoma and a lump appears you freak out and think the worst. I called my oncologist and we met to discuss what it might be….for his reassurance and ours. I had a biopsy that morning and they found a second lump…..my anxiety was heightened after this.

After the biopsy I had a set of CT scans. The following day I had PET scan just to lay it all out and eliminate/determine what the lumps might be. Our follow up appointment wasn't until the Wednesday, three days from the day of the biopsy. My scanaxiety was at an all time high as was Lisa she was a mess.

All we could think of was that it all was happening again and we were heading down the path of ‘hospitals, tests, scans and surgeries’.

Physically I was feeling great….Riding around 220km a week…..no night sweats or dropping weight…..it was all positive from this aspect.

‘C’ Day for results:

Lisa and I headed to the clinic, worried and working out what would be the outcome……this is the thing cancer and Melanoma do to people…..it takes your ‘Control’ of all things away and makes you realise that the cancer beast ‘Challenges’ you. Well the news was great….the two lumps where cysts that are not related to melanoma…..Disease free and time to keep moving forward… ‘Connecting’ with loved ones and life again.

To hear the words there is nothing wrong or worth worrying about was a relief. It has just reminded us that Cancer/Melanoma still has a hold of us somehow and that being vigilant is very important as well as maintaining your physical health.

During my time off I am planning to do some Professional Learning with Apple and spread my wings and knowledge with integrating Technology into education even more. Taking this back to Term 4 and beyond.

I have also been very happy and impressed with my AFL team the Hawks. They have been playing great footy and sitting in the top 4 of the AFL ladder. Just recently Matty and I headed to the MCG to watch the Hawks V Tigers.....I was confident and Matty being a Tigers supporter was also confident. There can only by one winner and this night was owned by the Tigers. I was not happy.

The next month is looking busy with conferences to attend, family time and training for my next big event….I have entered my first cycling race in a while. I am planning to race in September the 140km Amy Granfondo in Lorne. I am really looking forward to achieving this in all I have done.

It will also be exciting to see the two older girls compete in their gymnastic display events coming up in August. They have been training hard and are very excited. In September Kalita and Zahlia will be performing in their Dancer concerts. Yes very busy times ahead….wouldn’t change this for the world.

I am also talking about my Cancer Journey at two different events…..one is at my good friends school for a Father’s Day event. The other is in Sydney to at a corporate event hosted by Toyota.

These are the positive aspects that occur from being diagnosed with Melanoma!

This clip below is a snippet of the Tour De Cure documentary that will air in January 2016.

 

Registrations for 2016’s TDC ride have opened if you are interested in joining the group head to this link Tour De Cure 2016. I am very motivated to ride it again in 2016……time will tell.

REMEMBER TO HUG YOUR LOVED ONE'S.

Two birthdays and a Tour.....

Many of you have sent lovely messages on Facebook asking where my latest blog is; well it has been a very positive and busy month. All is well with me and I have scans in a week. But feel great, very fit and healthy at the moment. Obviously scanaxiety will kick in with scans in a week…..and this is something that I can’t seem to avoid.

As I have always said celebrations with family and seeing my girls grow up is the most precious time for me. In the past month we have had two of our girls birthdays. Ariella turned 8 and enjoyed her mermaid party. This was held at a local pool the girls had a splashing time! 

Ariella and her Best friend share the same birthday month.

Lisa and Ariella with the amazing cake.

Zahlia our youngest and full of energy child, celebrated her fourth birthday in May. The theme was ‘Doctor McStuffins’. My mum came dressed as Dr. McStuffins. Zahlia like her, older sister loved her party too. Lisa did, as she always does, did an unbelievable job making the cake and keeping the theme going.

My mum and Zahlia (Dr. McSuffins)

The girls and their cousin

Kalita our middle child will have her birthday next month. It never seems to stop….but I will never complain….seeing them grow up and develop into wonderful young children.

Kalita in the middle

As for rest of the time in the past month it has been eventful here's what happened…..:

Lisa, the girls and I headed to Adelaide, on 22^nd April to begin the Tour de Cure ride that I had raised $39,000 for and trained hard for to be in the best level of fitness I could be in.  Thanks to those who donated and supported my fundraising. To my mate Matty, for training with me over the past three months.

We drove over on the 21^st April and had a pleasant comfortable drive.  As you can see the girls watched a few DVD’s along the way. (Thank Goodness for blue tooth headphones)

Departing Melbourne

The gear and ready to go. 

Tiny Motel Room night one. 

DVD with headphones....God send.

Relaxed. 

Lisa and the girls. Lisa stopped here when she was about the Ariella's age with her Cabbage Patch Doll. 
Hence the photo above. 

We stopped in Nhill for an over night sleep…..it was the smallest hotel room ever. The photo will give more detail.

We arrived in Adelaide the next day…..I collected my gear and met the TDC crew I was about to ride with for the next 9 days.

With 120+ riders and 40-support crew we all left on Adelaide Oval to Victor Harbour for Day One (24th April).

Peloton Roll out. 

I won’t outline each day…..but the first two days we had horrendous weather, rain, sleet, wind, very cold and dangerous conditions.

Lisa and the girls followed the group all the way from day one to day eight in the warmth and comfort of the car. It was great to have them on board.  They enjoyed mixing with the riders and had an amazing time….Lisa probably had the hardest job of all of us involved on the tour…..packing each day and driving with the girls to cheering spots or lunch stops etc. It was so great to see the family at these spots to give us a cheer and smile.

Channel 7 followed the full tour and with Mark Beretta and James Tobin (members of the Ch:7 Sunrise Show) on board gave us a very fantastic exposure on the media front, (there will be a documentary of the Tour aired at the end of the year)…I’ll keep you posted.

Lisa and the girls met many people along the Tour and one person they bonded with was Alicia from Channel 7 Media. She was so warm and welcoming, giving the girls as much attention as she could when she could. The camera and sound crew were also amazing.

Each town we stopped at we had a community dinner with and donated $10000 to a cancer group or organisation in that particular town. It was so humbling to see how the money fundraised went to so many significant areas of cancer.

Small World...went to school with Jamie's younger brother

Tour De Cure has been up and running for the past 9 years, one of the days the riders and support crew were lucky enough to receive a lovely blue jersey to acknowledge the remarkable efforts the TDC organisation have accomplished over this time. The jersey was labelled with ‘13 break throughs for Cancer, Funded 200 cancer projects’.

I met some phenomenal people all with different stories to be on this tour. All of whom I found inspiring and very generous of their time.

Overall the ride was probably the best thing I have ever done in all I have completed in my sporting triumphs and personally the best thing to have done, besides my family.

To achieve this ride of 9 days, 1340km and over 3500m of climbing was something I cannot begin to explain to people……almost three years ago I was unable to walk, talk and function like a normal person. Three brain tumors, bowel tumors and the unknown of where to from here. Life was looking grim….my ultimate goal back in 2012 was not to ride, but was to just live, see my girls grow up and enjoy them. Now two and half years on……I completed a huge feat….and raised money for cancer with the help of others. To achieve this with my family on board was probably the major accomplishment of all.

There have been many highlights that have been locked in my memory bank from this Tour. The best aspect, which had me in tears was arriving into Albert Park to my family.  

I made many connections with like-minded people (cyclists and support crew)

This movie will only give you a small snippet in to what has been the best thing to happen from being diagnosed with cancer-melanoma……Positive things can occur from having cancer.

 

REMEMBER TO HUG YOUR LOVED ONE'S