Cancer and Hope

A Personal Journey

A diagnosis of cancer may feel like waking up on a dangerous, inhospitable island and discovering that you are completely alone. Alone, that is, except for the very hungry predators that peruse you. Whether the diagnosis is yours or someone you love, the questions, anxiety and struggle may become overwhelming.

To me, cancer is a very insidious disease. It often grows quietly in the background spreading its damage. It is only when symptoms finally emerge, sometimes very baffling symptoms, that we become aware of a very unwelcome revelation. Cancer.

When The Doctor Says “Cancer”

When the doctor said, “cancer” to my family and friends, my loved ones sometimes felt set apart and alone to some degree. Very often for cancer patients, this means pursuing treatments for their very survival. Metastatic cancer can be even more challenging to deal with.

Although others can be there for you, providing invaluable help and support, they cannot endure the disease for you. The treatment of cancer belongs to you, your health care providers and your body. As a cancer patient, the journey is yours.

LINK: Beyond Cancer Treatment

Discovering That You Are Not Alone

Is there anyone else besides me on this forbidding island known as “cancer”?

I’ve had to help from the sidelines, as best I could, when cancer became a reality for people close to me. In my experience, both the patient and also family, may need support.

I needed answers about the nature of the disease, treatment options, what to expect and so many other different things.

At the same time, my family or friends who were diagnosed with cancer needed many different kinds of help to survive their disease. Beyond survival, they also required information, resources and help to continue or regain a thriving life.

Often, it seemed that as soon as one question was answered, there were several more questions that would come up. I found myself looking continuously to find the answers I needed for myself and for my loved ones with cancer.

Fortunately, various resources exist to help deal with disease. For the purpose of this blog post, I wanted to share one of the resources I discovered, cancercare.org.