A Sydney father’s routine doctor’s visit turned his life upside down after a minor check-up led to him being diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer.
Scott Riddle, an employee of Google and father-of three young children, said he had only recently moved home from California with his wife and kids.
He wrote on Medium that he wanted to be closer to family and start a farm with his parents.
But after further testing, including a colonoscopy and a PET scan, he is now battling a cancer which has spread throughout his body, and facing a completely different life.
At only 35-years-old, Mr Riddle thought he had at least half his life left.
‘Suddenly I can’t be sure I’m going to see my new son’s 5th birthday, or even his 2nd,’ he wrote.
At only 35-years-old, Mr Riddle thought he had at least half his life left. ‘Suddenly I can’t be sure I’m going to see my new son’s 5th birthday, or even his 2nd,’ he wrote
‘It’s now highly unlikely I’ll see even my eldest daughter get married.’
Mr Riddle has strong reason to worry after finding out his chances of survival.
‘In my case, most published survival curves suggest that only 10% of people are still alive 5 years post diagnosis.’
Despite a similar promising role penciled in for Google’s Sydney operation, the doting dad is now struggling to find the right balance between being positive or pessimistic.
Scott Riddle, an employee of Google and father-of three young children, has been diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer
‘Life now is a weird kind of duality. On the one hand I must be optimistic — I must believe I can beat this cancer to get through the next six months,’ he wrote.
‘On the other hand I need to be pragmatic and prepared for a scenario where the treatment is unsuccessful.’
‘I guess I’m panicking a little,’ he added.
And it is that pragmatic outlook that worries him most, where he finds it hard to envisage what sort of legacy he leaves behind.
‘I probably won’t know what careers my children pursue. And as for my own career, it’s come to a screeching halt.’
The 35-year-old says the biggest hurdle of his diagnosis was accepting that the things he had planned to do later, and his hopes for the future, may no longer be possible.
Touching on basic warnings about life insurance and early testing, he said there was one big message he wanted to share with his captive audience.
Despite a similar role to what he had in California penciled in for Google’s Sydney operation, the doting dad is struggling to find the right balance between being positive or pessimistic
He will now have an intense course of treatment including both radiation and chemotherapy at Macquarie University Private Hospital before undergoing surgery (file picture)
‘Stop just assuming you have a full lifetime to do whatever it is you dream of doing,’ he wrote.
He will now have an intense course of treatment including both radiation and chemotherapy at Macquarie University Private Hospital before undergoing surgery.
His treatment is predicted to take around six months.
Despite his reservations of sounding like one big cliché, he urged for people to ignore the minor issues in life.
‘Oh and please stop complaining about the small stuff!’, he stressed.