A father-of-three who has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer has shared a heart-wrenching blog post, advising people to live life to the fullest and stop sweating the small stuff.
Scott Riddle shared his story over on Medium, as he faces into a very uncertain future.
The 35-year-old is a happily married father of three (his kids are eight months, three and five), and recently moved home to Sydney after a four-year stint in California, working for Google.
While Scott and his family were settling in well, his world came crashing down in July after what was supposed to be a routine medical check-up.
Despite noticing bleeding from his back passage and changes to his bowel habits, he was not prepared for what happened next.
Scott’s doctor sent him for a colonoscopy, through which doctors discovered a malignant lesion in his colon. They went on to discover that the cancer had spread to Scott’s liver.
A month ago, at the age of 35, Scott was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer – and he has no idea what’s going to happen next.
“My prognosis is likely better…but it is no better than 50-50,” he explained.
“And even if I live beyond five years, my life expectancy as a survivor of metastatic cancer will almost certainly be much curtailed.”
Scott is set to begin radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and will also be undergoing surgery to remove sections of his liver and colon.
The young father’s life has ‘changed overnight’, and now, uncertain as to whether he’ll live to see his son’s fifth birthday – he has started reflecting on his life.
“Pragmatism aside, there is one thing I’d urge everyone to do,” he wrote.
“Stop assuming you have a full lifetime to do whatever it is you dream of doing.
“I know it sounds ridiculously clichéd, and of course you never think it will happen to you; but let me assure you that life really can be taken from you at any time, so live it with that reality in mind.”
Scott finished with a piece of advice that every single one of us can take on board – ‘stop complaining about the small stuff’.
We salute Scott for sharing such a personal story, and we wish him and his family all the best.
