Scotty's story in his own words

Scott had to write something up for the recent fundraiser that AOL did for the American Cancer Society -- this is the first time I got to read it..and thought I would share it here:

Personal Story: Scotty Hoaglund

By Scotty Hoaglund

In the summer of 2008, my worst fears were confirmed when the pathology from a biopsy taken from a mass in my colon during a colonoscopy said I had colorectal cancer. I was very scared, depressed and didn't want to talk about it at the time. My wife and I told our close friends, our team members at work and our family members. All were in shock. We made a decision that we were going to remain positive and kick this cancer's butt using modern medicine, the power of positive thinking (be it prayer or whatever you want to label it) and humor.

I had surgery to remove the mass which was successful, and the doctors determined that the cancer had not spread to other organs or lymph nodes. While I was recovering from surgery, I was referred to a clinical trial at Georgetown Hospital where I was accepted and randomized into a test to receive a drug that is not yet approved for use on stage 2 patients like myself. I have completed 14 sessions of chemo treatment over the last seven months and have ten more sessions to go, but who is counting. I have made it through the worst and I am getting better everyday.

Getting through the treatments has been extremely difficult mentally and physically, and it has made me realize how important friends and family are. My wife Stephanie has been a Wonder Woman through this all by taking me to treatments, keeping the household running, dealing with the kids, and millions of other things I may not even know about. My wonderful kids, Hannah and Nate, are a joy and reminder of what we are fighting for. Our amazing friends, who we consider family, help us with household chores, watch the kids when needed and would do anything to help us out.

Then there is my AOL family. Over the past 14 plus years of my career here at AOL, I have met some of the smartest, most funny and most giving people on Earth. It is very comforting to know that I have the support of my management, team and coworkers for the biggest fight of my life, and for that I am extremely thankful.

Livin the dream

I texted my across the street neighbor, Timmy. He is 13 and wants to try his hand at babysitting. I said why does he want to babysit? He said "I need the money", not because he loves my kids. Ahh, the truth spoken through a 13 year old boy. Scott was feeling well enough to go out to dinner and the kids were acting all stir crazy, so Timmy came over and Scott and I went to a steakhouse for a few hours of alone time. The kids would have driven us crazy otherwise.

The weather was terrible so most restaurants were empty - good for us! It is so nice to be alone together once in a while. I told him about that local man who just died from cancer. We talked a lot about it and how it's hard not to put ourselves in their shoes in our minds. I asked him if it bothers him when I talk about stuff like that. He is the person closest to me in my life - my life partner after all. He said he would rather me talk to him about then not - but if it does bother him from time to time, he will let me know. I know the reality is every cancer patient/family has their own path to follow. That man's story is not like Scotts story - similar perhaps but unique. So when I do put myself in their shoes and get scared and sad about it all, intellectually I know we are not them and our outcome can not be measured against theirs. Just hard to think about it all. They were just living their lives too. 2 kids, living the surburban dream -- then CANCER.

I am feeling overall pretty good. It's strange to say, but it's a part of our life now. We know the routine of our chemo cycle - what to expect, when he starts feeling better, what we can take on, how to adapt.

We have had 2 snow days in a row here. This is our first year of public school, so Hannah is home and because my job is done mostly on the computer, I can work from home as needed.