Hazards Of The Job (In 3 parts)

ONE:
The increased risk of cancer in my profession is very high. Years of breathing in diesel fumes from our fire engines, smoke from fires, chemical vapors and anything else you can imagine coupled with the myriad problems and decreased immune response caused by sleep deprivation creates a ripe environment for the big C. 

These are known risks and risks we accept but try to minimize with safer work practices and better safety equipment, etc.

My very first chief retired three months after hiring me. He got sick and was dead within 6 months after that. He never saw a healthy day in retirement.

Most recently in my department, a beloved senior fireman -still on the job in his 60s- passed away from lung cancer. He never smoked a day in his life.

But, it is not always the retired guy or the senior guy who gets sick...

TWO:
Obscenity. Atrocity. Injustice. I don't use these words much, but they seem appropriate in this situation.

In the 12 years I have worked in the fire service I have worked with a lot of really good people. But, in that time, there have only been a handful (five to ten?) that I really connected with, would do things with off duty, and truly call real friends. Now, one of them is sick. Really sick. He has been diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer and just started chemotherapy.

He is 31 years old.

He has always been one of the most selfless people I know. If you need a trade, a ride, help moving, whatever it is, he's there for you. It could be argued that as a young guy with no kids he is in a position to do that. But, it's not that simple, it goes beyond that. It just is who he is.

I worked with him in his probie academy and when he was a brand new fire-medic as a sort of field mentor. We have a ten year age difference but hit it off right away. It could also be argued that this is because I live in a state of suspended adolescence (as most firemen do). But it's not that simple. We share a similar twisted sense of humor and love of movies and other pop culture geekery. We 'get' each other's references and what they might mean in the broader/deeper context of the conversation. Back at that field mentor time, we worked with a captain ten years my senior (20 years his) and I pretty much considered my role on that crew to be translator, explaining to him what the captain means and wants, and explaining to the captain what he needed and expected. There was definitely some butting of heads between those two and I think my role in the whole thing really helped bond us. He later got switched to a different shift, but still at my station, so I saw him in the mornings and when one of us got to work overtime with the other.

He just passed the test to become an engineer (my position) which means (when he promotes) we wouldn't get to work together anymore until one of us promoted to captain. The engineers exam is a tough test and I was proud of him and glad he did so well, but also bummed that we wouldn't have the opportunity to work on the same crew anymore.

I don't have much first hand experience with major illness or death and, I shouldn't be, but I've been surprised at how much this has bothered me and how often I'm thinking of him. I suppose it could be argued that it is simply the fact that it is the first time I've had to face this sort of thing on a personal level or that he is so young and this is so wrong.

But, it's not that simple, it goes beyond that.

THREE:
It is now a year and a half later. My friend has gone through chemo, surgery to remove part of the colon, weight loss, and weakness. He has been off of work this entire time. He was young and strong going into this ordeal and I think that made a huge difference. He never laid down or quit. He approached this as a fight he not only could win but would win.

He responded well to the treatments and the surgery got the rest of the cancer. He got stronger. He went from barely being able to walk around his block to jogging up the highest peaks in town. Stage 4 remission brings with it a high likelihood that the cancer may come back some day. But for now he is free and clear. He beat odds that were roughly 96% against him.

Yesterday I signed up for overtime and was expecting to get the vacancy at our old station. When they called me for the overtime they told me I was going to a different station. I checked the roster to see why I didn't get to go to my old house and found that my friend (and newly promoted engineer) was working in that spot that day. I hadn't seen his name on the roster for a year and a half without the workers comp code next to it. It was pretty amazing to see.

I'll take my second choice station any day to see that.