A year ago, Tom Holubeck was battling colon cancer and wondering if he'd get to see his two young daughters grow up.

        In July, the Wyoming pediatrician was shot in the hand, a bystander to a sidewalk argument turned violent.

Dr. Tom Holubeck, wife Laurie and their two daughters. (Enquirer file photo) | ZOOM |

        Today, the cancer's gone — for now, at least, Dr. Holubeck says — and he's learned that every day is a wonderful gift just waiting to be opened.

        On July 9, the day he was shot, he was talking to his wife as he drove home from a funeral. Traffic was stacked up on Vine Street and he called Laurie, also a pediatrician, to tell her he would be late. He heard shouting, then he heard three gunshots and the passenger window of his car shattered. Then he saw he'd been shot.

        “With everything we've been through, I think we've come to grips with death, and we've grown so much spiritually that we have our eyes on things that are above and beyond,” he says. “In many ways, I've never in my life felt so taken care of and so held in God's hands as I did immediately in that moment.”

        Dr. Holubeck, 38, was diagnosed with colon cancer in September 2000 and underwent surgery the following December to have a portion of his colon and rectum removed. He finished chemotherapy in June 2001 — just before he got shot.

        Most colon cancers that recur come back within two years after surgery, and survivors keep getting screened for five years after the initial surgery to check for recurrence. “We've made it 14 months, so far,” Dr. Holubeck says.

        In the last year, the Holubecks have lost two good friends to cancer — including one to colon cancer, Dr. Holubeck says, “so we're very aware of what can happen. We don't take anything for granted.”

        He credits faith, friends and family for helping him get through the trials of the past year. And every day brings a new adventure with his two little girls, Lucy, 1, and Malia, 3. “Lucy's walking and talking up a storm. And Malia somehow knew whenever I wasn't doing well and she'd come give me a hug and just sit with me,” he says.

        Dr. Holubeck was shot in Over-the-Rhine, just a few blocks from the West End Health Center where he works. He has no plans to leave the clinic, he says; the shooting just made him more aware of what his patients and their families have to deal with every day.

        “I love my job. I love my work and the people I work with and I've been given an amazing family,” he says. “God's taking care of us all. I've got no problems.”

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