I was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer at the start of 2023 but although I joined this site shortly after my treatment, which I am very pleased to say only required surgery. My luck was very much in and we caught the cancer early, so it didn't require any chemo following the surgery which was carried out within 10 weeks of me first going to my GP.
I cannot still even fully say how lucky I felt when I looked back following the surgery, the pure relief one feels is unexplainable both to myself the patient, which I think of as a victim of cancer. Though I am unable to get into my wife (L's) head the physical appearance at this news showed 10 fold in her demeanour. At that same time there is a guilty feeling that the next person the nurse is seeing that morning could be bad news, a job I would not like to have to perform.
It is now coming up to nearly 2 years and all the follow up test are negative, how long for I don't know but pray it will be some time yet, if not for me then for my (L). Do I fear death? after some soul searching for myself I do not fear what one has to do as part of life, we all die at some point and can only try to do so much to remain with our families and loved ones. In that I mean to eat right, keep healthy living, stop smoking if you smoke or vape, every little might help one never can say.(L) is of the mind that if you don't fear death then its rather like giving up on life, but I tell her it is not giving up, it is only saying you accept it as part of life and you cannot say when it may come, so make the most of the time you have got with the people you love and do what you can to stay with them for as long as you can. So Hello from Rabbit55 Don't give up? Never give up?
Or as the late great Jimmy V said, don't give up, don't ever give up.
You may not know who Jim Valvano is. He is a legend here in the US. I saw him give that speech shortly before he died when I was still young. It stuck with me and was a source of inspiration for me on my journey.
He may have lost the battle with cancer but he never gave up the fight. I don't believe he feared death either, but he loved life and clung to it.
Really reflective post. Thank you for sharing.
For me, this experience…this journey…has taught me not to worry about things that are outside of my control, death being one of them; and to try to engage more in the present moment…the here and now…so I try not to let the experiences of the past nor the anxieties of the future impact me too much in the here and now.
Ive learnt to slow down (which is the polar opposite of who I am…classic type A personality, stress head) …and pay more attention to my present state of mind.
Ive learnt that no amount of emotional turmoil (through anxiety or low mood) will change what’s happening in my physical space, so I’m trying to process my emotions in a more healthier way. I don’t always get it right, but Couselling is helping with that.
i just take it day by day. That’s all I can do for the moment.
Death is, what birth is, a bookend of life. If cancer isn’t going to be my trigger, something else will.
In the meantime, I focus on the here and now - building brilliant memories, connections, and trying to live my life in the best possible joyous way
Whatever cancer throws your way, we’re right there with you.
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