It's Father's Day. And all dads out there deserve a pat on the back, a sincere thank you, a celebration in their honor. But there's one group of dads to whom I'm giving special attention on this fine Sunday, June 17 -- dads with cancer.Having been a mom with cancer, I know how parenting becomes doubly difficult when a life-threatening illness crowds into the picture. The usual mommy and daddy responsibilities are hard enough on their own. Add cancer and all sense of balance, control, and even joy can fly out the window.
Holding down the daddy fort while battling and surviving cancer is no small task. So let's honor some of the dads who manage this feat. Here are seven of them.
Tony Snow
He has two daughters and one son, a powerful job -- he's the White House Press Secretary -- and a cancer that just recently surfaced for a second time. First diagnosed in 2005 with colon cancer, Snow learned in March that an abdominal growth was cancer. And it had metastasized. He took a short time off from work but returned on April 30. He's back in the swing of things -- and is hopefully enjoying his Father's Day.
Lance Armstrong
We associate yellow with this cycling dad of three -- he has one son and twin daughters. Think yellow biking jerseys, yellow bracelets, yellow banners featured on his Lance Armstrong Foundation website. It's a vibrant color fit for a man who annihilated cancer that traveled his body and by some accounts, should have killed him. It didn't, though. Let's hope this go-getter allows himself a bit of rest on this Dad's Day.
Steve Jobs
He's the CEO and co-founder of Apple, dad of four, and survivor of one of the deadliest forms of cancer -- pancreatic cancer. His health today is described as robust. Here's to a robust Father's Day!
Barry Watson
A young actor, husband, and father of one, this dad has been surviving Hodgkins Lymphoma since 2002. You may know him as Matt Camden on the long-running television series Seventh Heaven or as Brian on this year's What About Brian. What you might not know is that Watson, in remission since 2003, is a fairly new dad. His son, Oliver, was born in May 2005. Happy second Father's Day.
Not all cancer dads are celebrities. In fact, most are dads whose diseases are not spotlighted for public interest. Here are a few of my everyday cancer dads.
My breast cancer surgeon
The man who removed my breast cancer tumor, the kind soul who responds every time I pipe up with a new worry, the dad and grandfather, is also battling cancer -- prostate cancer. He describes it as treatable. It was picked up on routine screening -- kind of like a mammogram, he told me -- and was found quickly and treated swiftly. He left town for a time to receive a cutting edge radiation therapy and is now back saving more women from breast cancer. His kids should be proud. So should he.
The dad of the mom I met at Joey's school
In April, I met a mom while waiting to pick up my six-year-old from kindergarten. She shared that her father was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, and we talked, swapped cancer stories, and then went our separate ways. I know nothing more about this dad yet I think of him often, hoping his treatment is going well, hoping his daughter finds peace as she witnesses the decline of a parent. May they have a treasured Father's Day together.
Tom
Tom is a family friend -- a dad of two girls and grandfather of four -- who has battled cancer time and time again. Just as sure as his disease keeps coming back, he keeps fighting. This dad has outlived most of his prognoses, and is still living strong. He is proof that power of mind and attitude are real forces in the fight against cancer. I suspect he keeps his head up for the children in his life, and for this, he deserves some royal Father's Day fanfare.
Happy Father's Day, dads!
