Surviving Cancer and Embracing Life: My Personal Journey by Joel R. Evans - HTML preview

shared it with very many people. But I overcame this too. And so can you if you face a tough situation.

I decided to teach a class overseas, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and to bring my family with me. Jennifer was a teenager and Stacey a pre-teen. We rented a nice place to stay and leased a car. We arrived a couple of days before I was scheduled to teach at a Rotterdam university to adjust to the time change and to get acclimated.

Then, everything went wrong. I got lost driving in Rotterdam’s seemingly endless traffic loops. Although the place was nice, it was not as nice as our Long Island, NY home. The family argued a lot. AND I had a growing anxiety about teaching. I questioned my abilities and my knowledge.

On the first day of classes, I took the train to the university and walked over to campus. I felt nervous just getting to the classroom. The first class went well – except in my own head. I thought I was a disaster. By the time I returned to the place we were renting, I was hyperventilating. Then I was crying. I was undergoing a full-fledged panic attack. I also felt I was letting everyone down.

So after ONE DAY of teaching, Linda had to book a return flight home for us. It was arranged that the other Hofstra professor teaching there would teach my class as well. The leased car was returned (at a loss to us of about $2,000). And I actually rode in a wheelchair at the airport, since I was virtually unable to move. Linda and my two daughters were worried about me. Thankfully, we arrived home with no other issues.