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“Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

1/29/2012

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_ If this were a normal week, I might be panicked that I am still awake after midnight.  There are five hours before I would normally be hitting snooze and reluctantly shambling over to the coffee pot like a zombie so I have enough java to get me through another Monday at work.  This is not a normal week.  I am not getting up in 5 hours to shower, shave, chug a pot of coffee, and then draw blood for eight hours. 

I am not scheduled tomorrow for work and I don’t think I am scheduled for another Monday in a long time.  Friday was my last Friday at Dr. Chakraborty’s office.  I had originally planned on being a stay-at-home father, and as a result, I was unable reverse my decision to work Per Diem after Zoë got sick.  It turns out that I am needed at the hospital with Zoë more often anyway.  Tomorrow is a big day.  She is having an MRI to determine how she handled the second round of chemo.  Hopefully the treatment shrunk the tumor as effectively as the first round. 

The purpose of my blog is to differ from Laura’s blog.  Why would I constantly sum up Zoë’s procedures when they have already been summed up by Laura?  My blog is to handle the situation from a different perspective.  I discussed with Laura the other night what I would like to see happen to the Zoë Young Cancer Fund after she is healed.  I want the ZYCF to transform into something larger than it already is now.  I want to create the Zoë Young Foundation to raise awareness of childhood cancer and to alleviate the burdens of families affected by cancer.  Fortunately, Laura and I have such an amazing support system in place.  Not everyone is so lucky.  Yes, there might be other groups out there doing the same thing I want to accomplish, but this event in my life is so motivating, that I feel the need to direct my purpose on this singular goal.

Three years ago, when I interviewed with Metrowest Medical Center, the woman in HR conducting the interview asked me to tell her one thing I could do to improve myself.  I don’t remember what answer I made up on the spot, but the one I should have given her is something I feel right now.  I work in the medical field.  In January 2002, I took the first steps into my career as a massage therapist.  In the fall of 2008, I became a phlebotomist.  In 2009, I should have told my interviewer that the one thing I would like to improve is to not only talk the talk, but to walk the walk.  It is easy for me to tell clients and patients what they need to do, but it isn’t so easy to do what I should be doing.

I heard a story about a woman who took her son to Gandhi because she thought her son ate too much sugar.  The trip to Gandhi was a lengthy journey and once she got there and asked him to tell her son not to eat sugar anymore, his answer was "to go away and return in three days."  His answer confused her and when they returned she asked him why?  He said that in order for him to tell her son not to eat sugar anymore, he had to give up the habit himself. 

I hope to share with my new blog ways we can all (including myself) enjoy a better life.  A friend of mine in Colorado said in an email recently that "Life is not measured by how many breaths we take...but by how many moments that take our breath away."  I can’t say for sure what the future holds for my family, but when I hold my daughter in my arms and see her smile, I know that is what I live for! 

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    Zeppo Young finds joy in the simple things in life, such as digging around in his garden, and fermenting vegetables. 


    View my profile on LinkedIn

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The Zoë Faye Foundation's mission is to provide support and assistance to children diagnosed with Malignant Rhabdoid Tumors, Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumors, and Non-CNS Extrarenal Rhabdoid Tumors, and their families; provide pathways to information, financial relief, and raise awareness for rare pediatric cancers, and funds for researchers who focus on Rhabdoid Tumors and related cancers with the hopes of achieving a cure.