NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC. "The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt

With wings of Eagles 

A Journey with Cancer

We live in hectic and changing world. Distractions abound in our race of life. The burdens placed on our shoulders can be difficult and overbearing but we somehow get through it. Then one day, everything changes. The problems and fears of what is happening and what could happen come to a cold hard thud. A test comes back with a question; is it cancer?  Now the whole world stops turning. It can't be true. Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe its not so bad. It becomes a waiting game that is unbearable. What is the answer?

The call comes and the doctor delivers the news, it's cancer. Feelings of numbness, disbelief and fear race through your body. Its always someone else, not you. How can it be? Then reality sets in, what does it mean? How long do I have to live? What about my family? Where do I begin? Your journey has just begun. The road has many paths and detours. There is no specific outcome. Each person is different and each cancer has its own outcome.

Its a long road but you still control the path. The internet is loaded with information but it may not apply to you. Cancer is a disease that effects each person differently. The odds of survival are just a range. More often then not, its likely that there were other factors that skewed the negative part of the range such as pre-existing conditions, complications, poor decisions and a previous lack of alternative treatments. Many factors determine whether one survives. It's important to make informed decisions and to always remain positive. The human body is very complicated but one thing is certain, the power of the mind can work to cure the cancer or could work to undermine your survival. Ultimately the outcome rests with our Creator. 

While not all doctors will admit it, the key to survival is medicine and prayer. It's critical to add your loved one to the prayer lists of the churches of family and friends. There is hope. The power of the One who created us is unquestionable. If God can create the human brain and the little sparrow, surely He can cure cancer.  It's important to believe. "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick , and the Lord shall raise him up ; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed . The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."  James 15: 14-16

Cancer not only affects the person battling cancer, it also affects their family. The strain emotionally, physically and financially is difficult. It's important to keep any doubts quiet unless it's related to a specific treatment. Family members are often left alone to work through their grief and pain knowing their loved one is in a battle for life. Friends, extended family and co-workers don't understand the struggles of a wife or husband and the pain felt by the children. People just seem to take for granted that things seem to be going well. They have no idea of the emotional toll cancer has on a family.   

One of the hardest things to do is to tell a child that their parent or sibling has cancer. The look on their little face breaks your heart. Hearing the cry of your wife in the middle of the night is heart wrenching as you feel helpless not being able to fix it. The pain of holding your emotion and crying in silence behind the bathroom door is unbearable. The pain of seeing your loved one suffer whether from the effects of chemotherapy or from surgery is heart wrenching. The trips to the hospital and doctor seem to go on for ever. It seems like your all alone.

Everything else you ever loved means nothing. The taste of life which once had salt now is bland. Instead of getting through the year, just getting through the week is a victory. The ups and downs seem to never end. Your life as you knew it changes forever. You try to rationalize what's going by being thankful as your circumstance could have been worse. You try to grab hold onto anything that has some promise. Your mind wanders back to the time when you were happy and when the one you love was well. Those times were precious but fleeting when you think of today and what could be. But the feelings of despair don't last forever. Its just a phase of the journey.

There is hope, there is victory. Your never alone. You will get through this. The time will come when the treatment ends and the healing begins. "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 The true meaning of your mortality and your survival will hit home. Its the sweetness of time shared with family. Its the understanding that life is like a vapor. It's giving thanks to the Creator for his answer to your prayers. Its the next step in our journey of life, that of a cancer survivor.