APRIL 7, 2009

SURPRISE!

Again, just posting things as they come into my head - that seems to happen a lot lately. I think it's my brain's way of dealing with everything.

I realized this morning that being diagnosed with cancer has given me this amazing capability of being able to take whatever life throws at me, with a little dignity, (hopefully) a little patience, and a dose of laughter. I think when you are told "YOU HAVE CANCER" you are given one of the biggest surprises of your life. I think very few people expect to hear those words, at least at first. After that, life kind of becomes a blur, and you learn to take whatever fate throws at you, and you learn that you can take so much and be so strong.

So, once you have made it through the initial fear and shock and horror, you realize that you had the strength and dignity and willpower and humor to make it through one of the most horrible events of a lifetime.

Some of you know what I have been through over the past several years. It's still not over. I don't know that, much to my dismay, it will ever be. But, I know that I can handle it. I know that I can take it, and deal with it, and make the best of it, and come out of it with a smile on my face. There might be a little sarcasm mixed in there, but hey - I'm a New Yorker!

If you were recently diagnosed, or if you have been in remission for 20 years, remember that you have the tools to handle whatever is thrown at you. You can get through it with a smile on your face, perhaps a little acid on your tongue, and prove to fate, or destiny, or whatever that you are better than you thought you were.

(Sometimes, if I put it here, it helps me to remember these things when I need them personally.)

Comments:

Amanda: said...

Amen! Now, you just need to write that down and stick it where you can see it, because there still might be hard days ahead (though I certainly hope not!) :)

April 7, 2009 at 7:27 AM

 Carol Urban said...

I remember how hard it was hearing the word CANCER.

I was by myself. I was scared and cried. The doctor had no bedside manner. He may have been a good surgeon but not a good doctor.

I think doctors should think before they speak and definitely not tell the patient that she doesn't have much time and will probably die.

What if I had gone home and killed myself rather than face my cancer head on by deciding to go through surgery and treatment?

I would hope no patient ever has a doctor like that! Thank God another doctor pointed me in the right direction in finding another surgeon.

I thank God for Dr. Kevin McGrath and Dr. Jim Moser. I would not be alive without the two of them.

April 9, 2009 at 2:51 PM