I was a normal day a school, I had no idea of the horrors to come! It all started was a normal yearly docters check-up. When I had an x-ray i was told I had leg cancer, just like Terry Fox. I thought I was going to loose my leg or worsE die! I had surgery and the doctor did not know if I would ever wake up againg. But I did, I lost my left leg, but I am glad I am alive. Now I take care of my health and treat all people well. I Appretiate all the small things in life. If you have cancer now let me tell you to be tough and brave. It is not easy buy you will live to see tommorow. E-mail me with any questins and remember what I said, good luck any people with cancer.
Each human being possesses a beautiful system for fighting disease. This system provides the body with cancer fighting cells-sells that can crush cancer cells or poison them one by one with the body’s own chemo-therapy. This system works better when the patient is relatively free of depression, which is what a strong will to live and a blazing determination can help to do. When we add these inner resources of medical science, we’re reaching out for the best.
There ain’t much fun in medicine, but there’s a beck of a lot of medicine in fun.
Josh Billings
When I was in the hospital, I had a “We” nurse. She began each sentence with “how are we today?” “We need to have a bath.” This really irritated me, so I decided to play a little joke on her.
One day, she brought in a specimen cup and requested a urine sample. After she left, I poured my apple juice into the cup. When she returned for the specimen, she observed it and noted, “My we’re a little cloudy today, aren’t we?”
I asked to see it, removed the lid and said, “Yup, better run it through again, “and drank it. The look of shock on her face was priceless.
I have found that four faiths are crucial to recovery from serious illness: faith in oneself, one’s doctor, one’s treatment, and one’s spiritual faith.
Although the definition said, “A cancer survivor is anyone who has ever been diagnosed with cancer and is alive today,” the first time I read it, I didn’t feel like a cancer survivor. Cancer Victim seemed a much more accurate term. But then the dust settled, treatment began, and I realized the “victim” thing just didn’t fit.
I tossed the victim/survivor issue around and finally came to the conclusion that a victim and a survivor are the same thing-almost. The differences are subtle but at the same time enormous. The first thing I realized is that a survivor is a victim with an attitude. After I understood that, things were a little better. I had a choice about something – I could be a cancer victim or a cancer survivor. I liked the idea of having an attitude and I liked the sound of being a survivor.
Next, I thought about a friend of mine who had metastatic breast cancer and was the epitome of a cancer survivor. To Barbie, survivorship was a state of mind. Despite the moments of sadness and pain, she never lost her ability to laugh about some of the absurdities of cancer and cancer treatment. She treasured every moment and faced each new situation as best as she could. Eventually, the cancer got her body; however, she never allowed it to reach her spirit. I think of her as a survivor in the truest sense of the word.
Very slowly, the differences between being a survivor and a victim became clear, and I started making a list. I’m sure every survivor can add one or two more. This is just a start.
• Being a victim is a state of body. Being a survivor is a state of mind.
• A victim fears hair falling out. A survivor knows bald is beautiful.
• A victim dreads the side effects of treatments. A survivor wonders how to cancel his membership in the Side-Effect-of-the –Month Club.
• A victim is amazed at all the tears. A survivor never leaves home without Kleenex.
• A victim goes to “see” a doctor. A survivor “consults” with his or her physician.
• A victim gets caught in despair. A survivor prays a lot.
• A victim feels helpless. A survivor says “thanks” with dignity and grace.
• A victim enjoys a good laugh. A survivor loves one.
• From the moment we are diagnosed, we are victims. We must choose to be survivors.
Attitude is everything in recovery from cancer. You gotta have’tude if you expect to take a licking and come back ticking.
Tumor humor is not warm and friendly; it’s scrappy and sometimes nasty and tasteless, a sort of chemotherapy for the spirit-necessary but (not always) nice.
In his introduction to Dan Ketter’s book Humor as therapy, Psychotherapist Gerald Piaget writes about how a juxtaposition of suicide actually helped his client’s contemplation of suicide actually helped his client have second thoughts about taking her own life. His patient, carol told him:
Well, I was feeling horrible. You were gone, my husband was in no mood to hear more bitching, and I was really depressed. So I called Joan [Piaget’s wife and Carol’s best friend] to talk. During our conversation, I mentioned that with the cancer, and the depression, and the uncertainty and all, maybe there was no use even going on.
I said it sort of casually, but in truth thoughts of suicide had been coming up for a couple of days. Now, Joan knows I’m not the suicidal type, but she got really angry at me.
“Darn it, Carol!” she yelled. “If you dare kill yourself I swear to Christ I’ll go to that cemetery and piss all over your grave!”
That image hasn’t worn off, at least not yet. You know this hasn’t been a very good week for me. But whenever I think of killing myself, I get this ridiculous image of Joan out there in the graveyard, with her eyes angry and her lower lip stuck out and her skirt hiked up around her waist, just squatting there on my grave…..It lightens me up, and I just don’t feel like dying anymore…..
In my life, I have found there are two things about which I should never worry.
First, I shouldn’t worry about the things I can’t change. If I can’t change them, worry is certainly most foolish and useless.
Second, I shouldn’t worry about the things I can change, If I can change them, then taking action will accomplish far more than wasting my energies in worry. Besides, it is my belief that, 9 times out of 10, worrying about something does more danger than the thing itself.
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
Helen Keller.
I always feel good when I’m in Angela Passidoma Trafford’s office. I feel validated, nurtured and somehow better about myself. On this occasion I was there to talk about the workshop she was co-facilitating that month with well-known author and surgeon, Bernie Siegel, M.D.
When I asked how she chose the title of the workshop, “The power to Choose,” Angela explained, “Most people are paralyzed in their ability to make decision and in their ability to choose. They are paralyzed with their conditioning of the past and with the guilt and shame of the past.”
Angela speaks from personal experience. As told in her book, The Heroic Path, she recalled to me the low point of her life that led her to Bernie’s book. She hit rock bottom after finding out on the same day that she lost custody of her children and that she had cancer. “I fell on my knees and let go of my life to God. I asked God to take my life and show me how to live because I realized that I did not know how.
“Afterward, I found myself just wandering through the public library; I didn’t even know what I was doing there. The Librarian came up to me – I didn’t even know her-and she had Bernie Siegel’s book, love, Medicine and Miracles, in her hand. She asked me if I had read it. When I shook my head no, she said, ‘well, you should!” That was the beginning of what I referred to often as a divine plan, how one thing leads to another and puts you in touch with the idea that there is a plan for your life. Getting in touch with that connection to a higher intelligence inside each and every one of us, that’s what healing and life are all about.
“My divine plan continued unfolding when I took Bernie Siegel’s book home and found this eminent surgeon saying things that I had felt all my life. He had put forth this whole philosophy of taking charge of your life, and taking charge oh your health and being responsible, for your feelings. And going within to heal.
I began walking up early in the morning and giving thanks for the gift of life. I realized that even thought everything had been taken form me, I still had this amazing awareness that life itself is a great gift, and I felt tremendous gratitude for that gift.
“I would ride my bike and then go home and do the meditation and visualization exercises outlined in the book. One day a visualization came forth from a creative source. I visualized these little birds eating golden crumbs; the little birds were the immune system cells and the golden crumbs the cancer cells. I followed this visualization by imagining a white light coming through the top of my head, flowing through my body, healing me.
“During the three weeks before my scheduled surgical biopsy, I continued meditating each morning after my bike ride, until one morning, all of a sudden I felt this tremendous, power white light crossing through my body. I was alarmed and my rational mind screamed in all its conditioning of fear and mistrust, ‘Get out, get out, you’re having a heart attack, stop the experience.’ But I chose to let go and allow my being to become one with the beautiful light, that powerful energy.
“Afterward I just slumped over on the coach. And for the first time in my life I had no thoughts at all. Just this tremendous feeling of peace. And I knew something wonderful had happened to me.
“My next visit to the doctor’s confirmed what I already knew. The cancer has disappeared.
“This experience changed my life. I began a mission to share my experience with others facing the illness of cancer. Lots has happened since then. I acquired the custody of my children, opened my business, Self Healing, and wrote my first book, The Heroic Path, describing my journey from cancer to self-healing.
“ I believe this is a time in our world that people are awakening to the possibility of more joy in our lives. The universe offers us endless opportunities to let go of the fear and the guilt and the shame and the anger, all the repressed issues of the past.
“Health is a choice. We choose to be healthy, we choose joy, we choose happiness. These are all choices that we make when we have the power to choose. But in order to feel that power, we have to learn what it means to love ourselves and be empowered as individuals-and I have discovered how to do that in day-to-day life.” .
Having a goal based on love is the greatest life insurance in the world.
If you had asked my dad why he got up in the morning, you would have found his answer disarmingly simple: “To make my wife happy.”
Mom and dad met when they were nine. Every day before school, they met on a park bench with their homework. Mom corrected Dad’s English and he did the same with her math. Upon graduation, their teachers said that the two of them were the best “students” in the school. Note the singular!
They took their time building their relationship, even though Dad always knew she was the girl for him. Their first kiss occurred when they were 17, and their romance continued to grow into their 80s.
Just how much power their relationship created was brought to light in 1964. The doctor told Dad he had cancer and estimated that he had six months to one year left at the most.
“Sorry to disagree with you, Doc” my father said. “But I’ll tell you how long I have. One day longer than my wife. I love her too much to leave the planet without her.”
And so it was, to the amazement of everyone who didn’t really know his love-matched pair, that Mom passed away at the age of 85 and Dad followed one year later when he was 86. Near the end, he told my brothers and me that those 17 years were the best six months he ever spent.
To the wonderful doctors and nurses at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Medical center at Long Beach, he was a walking miracle. They kept a loving watch on him and just couldn’t understand how a body so riddled with cancer could continue to function so well.
My dad’s explanation was simple. He informed them that he had been a medic in World War 1 and saw amputated arms and legs, and he had noticed that none of them could think. So he decided he would tell his body how to behave. Once, as he stood up and it was evident he felt a stabbing pain, he looked down at his chest and shouted, “Shut up! We’re having a party here.”
Two days before he left us he said, “Boys, I’ll be with your mother very soon and someday, someplace we’ll all be together again. But take your time about joining us; your mother and I have a lot of catching up to do.”
It is said that love is stronger than prison walls. Dad proved it was a heck of a lot stronger than tiny cancer cells.
Bob, George and I are still here, armed with Dad’s final gift.
A goal, a love and a dream give you total control over your body and your life.
Today, when I awoke, I suddenly realized that this is the best day of my life, ever!
There were times when I wondered if I would make it to today; but I did! And because I did I’m going to celebrate!
Today I am going to celebrate what an unbelievable life I have had so far: the accomplishments, the many blessings, and yes, even the hardships because they have served to make me stronger.
I will go through this day with my head held high and a happy heart. I will marvel at God’s seemingly simple gifts: the morning dew, the sun, the clouds, the trees, the flowers, the birds. Today, none of these miraculous creations will escape my notice.
Today, I will share my excitement for life with other people. I’ll make someone smile. I’ll go out of my way to perform an unexpected act of kindness for someone I don’t even know. Today, I’ll give a sincere compliment to someone who seems down. I’ll tell a child how special he is, and I’ll tell someone I love just how deeply I care for her and how much she means to me.
Today is the day I quit worrying about what I don’t have and start being grateful for all the wonderful things God has already given me. I’ll remember that to worry is just a waste of time because my faith in God and his Divine Plan ensures everything will be just fine.
And tonight, before I go to bed, I’ll go outside and raise my eyes to the heavens. I will stand in awe at the beauty oh the stars and the moon, and I will praise God for these magnificent treasures.
As the day ends and I lay my head down on my pillow, I will thank the Almighty for the best day of my life. And I will sleep the sleep of contented child, excited with expectation because I know tomorrow is going to be the best day of my life, ever!
Will be posting to TWAC “Survivor Stories” these will comprise certain selections from “Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul” By Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery, Nancy Mitchell, R.N., and Beverly Kirkhart to whom we extend our sincerest thanks for their contribution to the fight against cancer. These excerpts we hope will comfort and inspire people who have been touched by cancer.
Life is a struggle. Give a meaning to life. It is not how long we live but how we live life. This is what can differentiate mankind from other living creatures. From the moment we are born into this world, we struggle for breath. Never give up the struggle, do not let the culprit win. Fight it with exchange of knowledge, will power and determination. Fight cancer.
When I was diagnosed, the second thought I had was what the heck is primary peritoneal cancer? You can already imagine what the first thought was. I wasn't able to find a lot of information so I decided to share an online journal in hopes to connect with others. It starts at the diagnosis, goes through the chemo journal and continues to present day. You can read it at http://www.electrobytes.net/cancer and I always welcome feedback. I'm in remission now with my fingers crossed and my husband and I have since started a chemo support site called Chemo Gear: The Survival Guide - A resource for products, practical gifts, information and support for cancer patients and their familes coping with chemotherapy.
