The first time I heard the word cancer I was a young child. I didn’t quite understand it, but I knew that it was a deadly disease and it brought a lot of pain to our family.
It wouldn’t be the last time I would hear it…
As life would have it, my first born would be diagnosed with Cancer. I would hear my own diagnosis, twice! I would hear it again with my mother-in-law, Jean, my father-in-law, Lyle, my sister-in-law, Deanna, my brothers, Paul and David.
Yet, cancer is more than the C-Word. It’s a word that paralyzes the heart for several seconds. It’s the word that makes us feel an overwhelming sense of fear. It’s a word that makes us think of our mortality. Cancer grips us and tells us we will die, making us believe there is no life left to live.
Having walked, lived and recovered from Cancer, I am sure of one thing. You must rise above your diagnosis. You must get informed! Go for that second, third and even fourth opinion. Ask questions, lots of them. Read, research, it’s your health. Do what makes you feel the strongest and the healthiest. Have people around you that will walk the road and travel the journey looking for your best interest.
Don’t give up the will to live.
Cancer affects the family. Emotional cancer spreads among those around you because of fear. Emotional cancer can create stress, leaving the caregiver exhausted. Emotional cancer can fracture a family into a million pieces. Find a community, find someone you can confide in. Give yourself permission to cry, mourn and cheer the final outcome. Believe with the patient. Bring comfort to yourself.
Everyone is trying to live, everyone is trying to survive.
Cancer can be revealing. It reveals those who are the strongest. It reveals how much you believe in your healing. It reveals your inner peace to let go. It can also reveal your personal torment. It reveals the intentions of those around you.
It reveals the selfless. It reveals the selfish.
Cancer can be healing. You begin the will to live, you begin to fight. With the will to live you listen, you love. With the will to live you take care of yourself. With the will to live you let others take care of you. With the will to live you believe with those who believe in your healing.
Cancer is not a death sentence, it’s a diagnosis.
How you choose to attack the illness will determine your outcome. Don’t let the disease paralyze you, don’t let cancer intimidate you, don’t let cancer kill you.
Lesson:
Fear is the illness. Cancer was the diagnosis. Fight for your life!
‘Til Tuesday
Pictured: (Left-Right): Lucienne Carrillo, Deanna Gonzalez, Lyle and Jean Mata, Robert Mata
