My father in law was a warm and chatty person, if you were attending a party or any other occasion, I’m sure you will remember him. It was inevitable to miss him besides his characteristics, a beard and a moustache, he was quite tall and known for his stories. He spoke with everyone about everything, young, old and could always find a topic that was of your interest. I loved talking with him because we had one particular topic in common, Belgian politics, and especially how things are structured in Belgium, to summarize in one word, complicated. I remembered that I lived in Belgium for more than 5 years and I needed a new identity card which was just after the attacks in Brussels.

Next week Christophe will have his first official conversation with his employer regarding his re-integration in the company. It’s a miracle that he's able to work again, if you know that only 2% of the patients recover in a similar condition as him, and the majority of the 2% is not able to return to their old job. Needless to say again, it’s a miracle. He will start with 10 hours per week at his own pace, and of course from home. He’s so happy to return to work and to be part of the ‘normal’ life (whatever you might call normal these days).

Wednesday at 4 pm, waiting the entire day to receive the results. In the hospital, the neurologist showed us two scans on her screen, the scan they made before the surgery, and one from last week. Two pairs of eyes staring at her screen and she showed us where the tumor was on the first scan, and showed us the second scan, and said, it’s gone. There’s just a bit of ‘scar tissue’ but the tumor is gone. We thought of so many scenarios, but NOT this one! THE TUMOR IS GONE

We are halfway there!!! Christophe just finished his 3rd chemo treatment, still 3 to go! His last chemo treatment was delayed for 2 weeks because the quality of his blood was not good enough to proceed. At one hand it was a disappointment, on the other hand you can’t speed up the process. You have to accept it like it is. But, there is also positive news : The neurologist decide to lower the dosis of the chemo because the doctors assume that the tumor is less aggressive than foreseen, which is fantastic news!! The entire chemo treatment feels like an eternity, actually the entire process… it’s tough and the road is full with ups & downs. We enjoy every day and it’s going really well, seeing the circumstances of course.

Who would have thought that we would go running again??? It was so emotional to run together in the forest. Me, running and walking next to Christophe, seeing that he’s trying so hard to work on his health, his recovery and want to get the most out of every day that’s given to us. Of course we didn’t run that long, but every week a little further is already an amazing progress. Only 3 months after his surgery, his radiation treatment and that during his chemo! Unbelievable. We are grateful.

As a Dutch you may have heard of tompoezen? Never heard of the word radipoezen? It’s a word Christophe created during his radiation procedure. For those who know him, he has a lot of respect for women, so don’t be offended. The ladies, better said, the nurses at the radiation department were very kind and good looking, and he came up with the new word : radiopoes. If you want to hear the entire story, give him a call I would say. It was for him the reason to get out of his bed during the radiation process, something to look forward during those tough weeks:-). In times where the world turned upside down, the world of Christophe didn’t change that much, it actually improved. When we just heard the news, we were more ‘skeptical’ about the future and in the meantime we have adapted our vision and are talking about 2021 and further.

After the diagnosis of Christophe we decided to go for a second and third opinion, to see what the doctors had to say in different hospitals in the Netherlands and Belgium. Fortunately they all gave the same advice; surgery. It was the only way to survive, otherwise they gave him just 3 months… Despite having no choice, it was extremely difficult to accept. I was not a huge fan of surgery… they open your skull… a horrible idea.. But it’s not up to me to decide, it’s his body and his decision. After many discussions and conversations we decided to go for surgery and to choose for the hospital here in Alkmaar, close to our home.

A day that started normal like any other day, I got up, took a shower and started working. At 11 am my husband, Christophe had an appointment at the doctors and we agreed to go together. It was the first time that we visited our new ‘doctor’. Who would have thought then that after 1 hour we arrived at the emergency room in the hospital of Alkmaar. Our new doctor, a friendly lady, gave us the advice to go directly to the hospital to the emergency room, so we did.

Christmas is over, we are approaching a New Year... An ideal moment for reflection, take the time to review on what has happened in my life over the past year, and that is quite something. Early January I came back from Houston, Texas, much earlier than planned, together with my husband. After staying for one month in Belgium, and then in February I 'remigrated' to the Netherlands, my home country, after an absence of 15 years.

I remembered very well the moment Christophe was preparing his favorite dessert, creme brulee in the kitchen in our house in Belgium. We just moved into our new house. And suddenly he says, shit, we don’t have enough eggs. Oops, where do you find eggs on a Sunday afternoon in Oostakker? We’re talking about 10 years back. All supermarkets are closed, nightshops not open yet… what do you do?

I am ashamed… so long without a new blog. And in times where my life is perhaps more exciting and dynamic than in the US, it's definitely not the lack of stories, it’s just a lack of priority. This week I woke up from a repeating noise… I didn’t know what it time it was and noticed Christophe was not in bed. I got a bit irritated and couldn’t get back to sleep, checked my telephone, it was 05:30. I was almost sure that Christophe was making noise that early in the morning and almost wanted to scream with a Dutch expression : Doe even normaal! Just to be clear, he’s not noisy at all. After a few minutes I hear Christophe screaming: Mariska, HELP, I’m locked

What do you when you receive bad news? My father in law who’s in an excellent shape for his age of 85, working everyday in his garden and also loves to enjoy the bourgondisch lifestyle in Belgium and drinks everyday his favorite vitamins called ‘Duvel’. It’s sad to see that at his age you have a tumor in your stomach. You never wish anyone this terrible disease, not even your worst enemy, and especially not your father in law. The good thing is he doesn’t have any pain, and the day after his operation he left the hospital he enjoyed his glass of prosecco surrounded by the family. Respect!