Maddie And Emmy
The following is a short story that I wrote for another project earlier this year, a tribute to my daughters, my reason for being.
Maddie And Emmy
By Paul Edelman, Jr.
As a thirty-five-year survivor of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, some would think that my greatest achievement is simply surviving. Living as a cancer survivor for thirty-five years is indeed a significant milestone, surpassing the well-known five-year mark told to cancer patients, when they can consider themselves “cured” of their cancer. However, I consider my greatest achievements to be my two daughters, Madison and Emmalie, the most important parts of my survivorship.
At the age of twenty-two, one of my main concerns was how cancer would impact fatherhood. Once I had completed both radiation and chemotherapy treatments, it was discovered that chemotherapy left me unable to have biological children, which devastated me. I had always dreamed of becoming a father and had to seek other ways to make that dream possible. Fertility treatments via artificial insemination and in vitro were unsuccessful. My only remaining hope was adoption to help me achieve my life’s greatest purpose, fatherhood.
Maddie and Emmy were born thirteen and fifteen years after the time when I first started my treatments. But it was halfway through my recovery survivorship, they witnessed my first health issue caused by late side effects from radiation and chemotherapy administered eighteen years earlier. In 2008, when they were five and three years old, I nearly died from a severe cardiac event, nicknamed for its lethality, a “widow maker” blockage to my heart. I will never forget the bone-chilling words that my cardiologist said to me, “it was not a question of ‘if’ you were going to die, but ‘when.’” I underwent an emergency double bypass to save my life. Three days later, my daughters were brought into the hospital, shocked to see my condition, yet relieved that I was going to be okay. I survived this first of many health complications caused by my treatments. The one constant has been my daughters, my inspiration through each health crisis faced during my survivorship.
Cancer survivors generally do not want their experience with cancer or any subsequent health issues to define them. What holds significant importance are moments like hearing “I love you Dad” from their children and witnessing their growth over the years.
Balancing my medical appointments and parent-teacher conferences was a challenge. My daughters remember good times with me from birthdays, holidays, amusement parks, and vacations. Despite all my health issues, I made sure I witnessed each of their high school graduations. Today, they are both in college, which seemed unimaginable to me thirty-five years ago.
My daughters are aware of my successful battle against cancer and openly discuss it. Because they were not there during my treatments, they did not witness all the medical challenges I faced at that time. However, as adults, I make sure they are fully informed and involved about my ongoing health concerns. Their support and presence provide me with motivation and purpose, inspiring me to look forward to each new day as a significant milestone and the many more events in their lives that I will get to witness.
Paul's Heart 