What
does one do, how are you supposed to feel, when they tell you, 'you
have cancer'? Of course there is no one answer to that question as we
are all different and going to have different reactions.
Me?
I
already suspected when I sat down in that examining room that is what I
was going to be told so when the words came I wasn't surprised. I
wasn't afraid. I wasn't angry. Maybe I was in some form of denial or
ignorance as to what was to come. Either way, once the words were spoken
I looked at the surgeon and told her, "you know what it is. You know
where it is. Take care of it."
And so my journey began. My journey to get rid of the cancer in my body and to regain my health.
What
ever you may wish to call it, my journey, my battle, my adventure, it
was mild compared to what others have gone through. I had my surgery,
then once healed enough I began radiation treatments. Six weeks later,
I'm done with those and simply taking a daily dose of medicine. I did
not require chemotherapy treatments. Something that I am still thankful
for. The radiation was bad enough as it left me dragging and barely able
to put one foot in front of the other and still remain upright. I had
to change my diet because the wrong foods made the side effects of the
radiation even worse.
The
one thing I was determined of though was that I was going to get my
daily walk in. the only thing that stopped me was stormy weather.
Otherwise I was out there walking and enjoying the land and sights
around me. In the peace of those walks in the woods I saw flowers I had
never noticed before, I saw insects that I didn't even know existed. I
listened to the birds, watched the deer, rabbit and raccoon wandering in
the woods. It eased my wounded and tired soul and lifted a weary
spirit. No matter how tired I was, this was my medicine.
I
also worked on improving my diet. I didn't eat a lot, but what I was
eating I wanted to be as healthy as possible. I went from eating junk
food to fruits and vegetables. I went from sodas and highly sweetened
coffee to water and almost black coffee. During the treatments I could
only handle one cup of coffee a day, the rest was water. I'm now back to
my constant cup of coffee but I refrained from returning to a daily
diet of sweets.
Being told that you have cancer, will bring about change. It can be
voluntary or involuntary but there will be change. In how we act. In how
we feel. In how we face the fight and how we face the future. We can
make it a change for the better. We can change the things that put us at
risk, and work toward a healthier, longer life or we can ignore it and
watch as our health deteriorates and changes things for us. I wanted to
be around for my family, my changes I think were for the better even as I
do need to exercise even more because the exercises aren't just for the
body, they help the mind as well.
How
do you feel, how do you react when you are told you have cancer? I hope
that you never are. I hope that through education there is prevention. I
hope through research there is a cure. I hope, that we finish this
fight and there is no more cancer.
So
I participate in Relay for Life. I fundraise and I help raise awareness
and I work toward getting people to join and help. Through their time,
through their talents, through their dollars. Together we can beat this.
together we can win. together, we can see to it that no one else has to
wonder how they would react should they be told.............
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