GALWAY– All people have different things that inspire them, whether it is the first snowfall or an inanimate object, a note or a stuff animal. For other people it could be a person, famous or a loved one.

I am inspired by my father. He has been through so much with cancer for the past three years and has stayed strong through the whole process. When I first found out I was devastated. I just started crying right away. It made it worse because when he got cancer he was only forty-two. His mom ended up getting cancer when she was forty-two as well but ended up dying on Valentine’s Day from the cancer. Then what made it even more worse was that when he went to the hospital, the doctors tried putting him in room 214 but my dad refused to be put in that room. I personally did not think that he was going to make it from the condition he was in after the surgery. They took his whole kidney out. I tried staying as strong as I could for him. I would pray every night that he would get better. I would try to stay strong so he didn’t know I was nervous about the situation. I told him that if he was to ever get cancer again in his good kidney that I would give mine to him. I thought that would be the least I could do for him after everything he has done for me.

After he got kidney cancer and took his kidney out, he had to go through a lot of chemotherapy. After all the time and pain the cancer came back in his bladder. The doctors burned it off the first time without putting my dad to sleep or at least numbing up the area first. But after awhile the cancer came back again, so the doctors scraped the cancer right off of the bladder. He thought that the cancer might be back, so he went to the doctor’s to get the cancer checked out and they said the bladder looked good and he was cancer free. He still worries though that it might come back somewhere else. He hasn’t slept a whole night since he got cancer the first time in his kidney.

He never once felt bad for himself. When I was watching Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture, it made me think of my dad. Randy and my dad are similar in a way because Randy always put work or his family first and never wanted anyone to feel bad for him. That is exactly how my dad is. He always puts me and my brother before his illness. He wants to know he can support us, and he’s not able to work. Before all this happened he made a lot of money at his job making parts for NASA which is why its so hard for him now. My father says he isn’t used to not working because he has worked since he was thirteen. He says the worse part is having so much time on his hands.

My dad has accomplished many things during this process. My dad never got a chance to finish high school, so he is getting his high school diploma through a program called Penn Foster. He is almost done with that and then he is going to get a job at this company called Owens Corning Fiberglass. He is very excited and I am happy for him. He does so much for everybody, I think it is about time something goes well for him.

I am very proud of my dad for not giving up through this entire process with cancer and that he is finally getting his high school diploma like he always wanted, but never had the chance. He said that there were times he felt like giving up, but he couldn’t, he had to stay strong for not only me and my brother, but our whole family. I can’t wait for him to be better and things are back to the way they were before he got cancer the first time. During all of this, he hasn’t asked for anything except for long foot massages. He doesn’t want any help or for people to feel bad for him.

My dad jokes a lot about having cancer and I just laugh. One of the jokes he says when he is in pain is that his tumor is acting up. He knows that cancer is a serious thing, but that is his way of coping. I can’t wait for my dad to get better. I am very thankful for having my dad and I let him know that everyday.