Receiving a diagnosis of Cancer sets one on a curvy ride of emotions that is as unpredictable and individual as the person who receives it. You bravely face the challenges of surgery and chemotherapy and/or radiation and then trust in a medical team you just met. In the span of a few short months the medical team becomes your family, your heroes, and your lifeline back to a new reality. Following treatment you begin telling everyone that you are cured – but there remains a specter of doubt that creeps in often – what if it returns?
While you joke and laugh and say it was only a few messed up cells – you fear they will return in another area and threaten you once again. For many, that fear often becomes a reality and then with trepidation you undertake another round of treatment and hope this is the time that you are finally free of those pesky cancer cells. You question the medical team, that wisely keeps you going through on-going tests, in order to monitor if those cells surface somewhere else in your body – always to fear when something goes askew and what it means. Like many cancer patients I too have gone through these ups and downs of this specter called cancer. It was just recently that James Romero, the Nurse Practioner at the Women’s Cancer Center, finally threw me the life-ring that I had not previously found in my 4 year battle with cancer. I never really thought of the treatments, surgery, follow-up tests, or on-going appointments as a battle until recently. James wisely pointed out that Cancer, like so many other human diseases (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis, addictions, to name a few) is one of many issues that all humans face. Everyone has some sort of issue they deal with – they just need to find a balance between acceptance and the responsibility of handling the issues -- instead of the issue handling them.
My medical team has been with me and supported me every step of the way, often doing
things which, I was brought to realize, were at the forefront of the battle, training me to be responsive and war ready for this on-going battle. Oh we reach remission – we call ourselves Survivors —– but do we really do all we can to be sure we fight this war? Do we train, speak out, look for medical breakthroughs, keep up with friends, family and other cancer patients to be sure that we constantly remind ourselves we are not alone in this battle? If not, reach out and do so — for it is only in the partnerships that we form we can truly win the battle against Cancer!! Help with fund raising for others, be part of a support group, push for more research
funding, be a shoulder to lean on for someone newly diagnosed or touched by Cancer.
My sister thanked me the other day for helping her understand that a Cancer patient’s biggest need is to have someone to talk with, laugh with, and remind them that everyone has issues. To pull the patient out of the dark cloud of fear and back into the light and be amongst the living. Everyone is touched in some way by Cancer, maybe as a patient, a family member, a co-worker, or as a neighbor. James Romero, CNP, helped me realize that I have found my balance in life and in this battle against Cancer. Not only as a patient who confronts the enemy of (Cancer) by seeking treatment, but by being the person who speaks openly and often to others about my experience. I reach out to others when they begin the journey of fear from “what does this test mean?” to “what is going to happen next?” But most importantly I try to be both open and loving, and be there to listen when someone just needs a lifeline out of the fear that comes with CANCER.
I have been very blessed with a truly loving, generous, and supportive husband as my caretaker and a medical team who constantly stands ready to assist me in my training and support in the war on Cancer. I have learned new ways to fight insurance companies, learned medical terms that I never knew existed, and found that hospitals and doctors can become family. I keep track of my blood counts, test results, and my general health in ways I never knew or thought about before – all as part of my training for battle. Just as medical personnel, military, fire-fighters and first responders train constantly to be ready when called, so I train by realizing that Cancer is my health issue and I can do much in the healthy times to fight and be ready for when cells go askew and new tumors arise that need serious blasting. One of my esteemed oncologists told me that as patients and caregivers dealing with this enemy (Cancer), we can cause you to become the “Walking Wounded”, since, as life takes a serious hit, the reality of our daily lives takes on new turns and fears. We are most like those who have PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). He reminded me that, while in remission, this new reality brings its own stress. Then with a warm hug he reminded my husband and I, that this new reality is not so bad or fearful, just different and to embrace it fully – until lighting strikes us again. While medical protocols in treatments have made great advancements in recent years, the best magic is love, laughter and a positive attitude – that is the magic treatment that no doctor, hospital, or pharmaceutical company can put into a pill or shot – but does much in winning the battle. Those wins are the ones oncology medical personnel, patients and caregivers celebrate and hope for every single day.
We are all survivors in one way or another – we may be cured at this point in time or we may get hit with another problem or have this enemy confront us once again --- either way, continue your training (monitor your health, keep up with the testing, keep in contact with your medical team, enjoy your daily life in this new reality), and know you have Cancer as
your issue – but it does not have you!!!!
By Kathy Courreges
