You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy™
Cancer.
I’ve been around cancer in my life. My dad had cancer and beat it.
My mom has breast cancer.
She will beat it too.
I’m not going to violate the H.I.P.P.A. privacy act but needless to say my mom has been fighting the dreaded C word for over two years. We thought we had it beat 2 Thanksgivings ago.
We were in deed thankful.
Then C reared its ugly head, again.
C is like that. It is like a garden weasel. You think you have driven it off, filled the holes, and planted new turf in the lawn.
Then, over night, the grass caves in, the flowers wilt, and the garden is filled with vermin yet again.
My mom is an aggressive gardner. Rather than let her daisies wither, let Cancer become a thunderstorm that ruins life’s picnic, she opts for sunshine and hope. She checks the box – Chemo Cocktail.
She has gone 3 times as of this writing.
Chemo is the ugly step sister of Cancer. It is another C word that instills fear and negativity in the human psyche.
Chemo. It sounds like something from Dr. Frankenstein’s lab. Chemo? It sounds harsh, cold, evil. If it were good it would be called apple pie, or puppy, or soft warm quilt.
But instead, it is called Chemo, one of the main weapons in the Cancer fighting arsenal.
So mom has had 3 chemo treatments.
Cancer. Chemo. Cocktail.
I couldn’t help myself. I was thinking thoughts that were less than positive.
So I flew to Portland Thursday to be with my mom, to hold her hand, comfort her, talk about anything other than pernicious words that start with C.
I have come to an interesting conclusion about Cancer. It’s a scary word. It’s a bad word. It’s a word that can portend the end, finality, doom.
But Cancer is also a word that can inspire. Cancer is a word that can create miracles and stir faith.
Tell someone you have a cold and ‘it’s you poor thing.”
Tell someone you have cancer and there is a moment of silence and a solemn prayer.
It’s a word that makes you think about where your life has been and where it is going. Cancer is a word that tests faith and makes you day dream about what’s next when the life train leaves this station for a destination that’s not clearly defined on the universal map.
Cancer. It’s that powerful a word.
We all know someone who has died from the C word. That’s why as humans, we respect its nefarious and unforgiving power.
But it’s not a death sentence. I have seen some amazing moments in this battle. I have seen how cancer becomes a rallying cry, a focal point, a confluence where inspiration, dedication, determination and prayer, infuse like light through a prism, and become a colorful laser of hope.
I have seen how positive energy is its own chemo therapy, eradicating fast growing cells of malignancy, driving them out, like a Pied Piper of catharsis.
I have seen how prayer in a spirit higher than high can transform an angry sea of cancer into a tranquil pond of perseverance.
I am watching this battle in person. The battle of what if, and the battle of I will overcome. I am seeing hair fall out and a smile instead of a tear.
I see a clump of hair in a hand and the thought that this is a chance to go wig shopping and maybe become a red-head for a while.
“fun”
Cancer? Fun?
Life is how you view it. It doesn’t have to be a fatal forecast of finality.
With cancer comes death. With cancer comes miracles.
It’s a long road I’m walking with my mom. She has to take the steps, but when it’s your mom, like baby ducks, you follow closely behind.
You trust and support and pray and see the glass half full, even if that glass is filled with a chemo cocktail that is infusing into her veins fighting an enemy so vicious, it takes every ounce of energy to stand and fight.
But fight we will. Fight we must.
The alternative is another C related statistic.
Statistics are for researchers and clinicians.
Life is where the battle is waged.
Prayer and positive thought are the weapons of choice. They arm the human spirit with a belief in a rainbow of hope that exists in your soul that comes with a magic healing power that will vanquish cancer to that other place outside the realm of relevance or concern.
Stay strong mom. Smile and dance with a new red wig if that is your secret wish.
The C word had no idea what it was up against when it decided to indiscriminately pick on you.
A rainbow of hope is your blanket. A spear of prayers your weapon to enjoy many more Thanksgivings to come.
Life’s Crazy™