BOUNCING BACK FROM CANCER: EARNING A PhD @50 (Part 1 of 5)

Knowing you have cancer can be a letdown to your life’s goal.  And at 50 years old, I decided to pursue the dream a few would dare to tread:  The pursuit of a PhD.   When Mom died in January 2005, cancer got the better of her but not after hurdling through several afflictions in her life.  I remember one time as a teenager, while in the thick of writing a thesis for a client (she works covertly as a ghost writer), she suddenly coughed blood in front of me and told me this is just an old illness that resurfaces everytime she gets tired.  I realized later that she was just lying to me to prevent me from panicking.  As an intense writer always beating a deadline, she became a heavy chain smoker in order to cope with the tremendous amount of stress brought about by the job. 

Mom's commercially published books

 That’s my mother and I got to have a first-hand account of the trials and tribulations that she went through in order to earned her much coveted PhD in Educational Administration which was her lifetime dream.  But her dream was only realized after all of us five children had finished college and went on our ways to build a family of our own.  I was with her through the final leg of her journey towards a PhD so I know exactly the rigors and discipline it requires in order to finish her dissertation.  She finally got her PhD and for several years had reaped the fruits of her labor in the halls of academia in several institutions such as De La Salle University Manila and the Philippine Women’s University among others.  Until finally, with the years of abuse that her body had gone through working and raising a family of five, she eventually succumbed to cancer. 

Presenting my diploma and dissertation to my Mom while wearing her doctoral toga

After a year of grieving, I finally decided to pursue the same dream of earning a doctorate.  I was a licensed dentist with 10 years of practice and currently a tenured associate professor.  After having my credentials evaluated and accredited, I was accepted to the PhD Graduate program.  By this time, I was already well versed with subjects related to the human body that the monotony of teaching the same subjects over and over for several years had began to burn me out.  And having reached the so-called midlife at 40 years old, I was seeking something new to rejuvenate my weary spirit.    
     

The future administration building of De La Salle University Dasmarinas

 Almost all Filipinos have at one time in their lives spent a considerable time in the academe.  So almost everyone is aware of what a PhD means.  Basically a PhD is an exclusive type of degree, involving advanced academic work and attempted by comparatively few students.  The qualification for a PhD  has taken on something of a mythic status for those who have gone through the rigors of earning it.  This very myth of which every contender wishes to attain is the major motivating factor for all those who also wish to tread the same path towards a PhD.  For me who often chooses the path less taken, this is my story. 

 Every graduate student has their own paths to travel.  Some began their journey early and finished their PhD at a young age.   I salute them for they will have more time to serve mankind with their achievement.  Some like me, who started our PhD quest late in our careers did so only  when conditions became favorable while raising a family, working and studying and at the same time and distractions and obstacles seemed to be more manageable as they declined through the years.  For us who graduated in the prime of our lives, we just have to do our best with the remaining years ahead.  As for me, things took a different twist of fate as the cancer that once struck my family struck again and this time, the next victim was me. 

Discovery of a 3cm tumor on the left upper pole of the kidney

  It was a realization that the deadly disease is hereditary in our family and not merely acquired.  That period were very trying times for me and for my family but we confronted the disease head-on and we prevailed.    There will be additional afflictions of cancer in the family but despite it all,  we stayed the course and now I am a proud holder of a PhD degree.  Next story will be about my struggle as a graduate student.