Good advice is easy to come by…just visit this blog!
We all agree, denial is not an option in this world of deadly cells that float through the body looking for a warm, cushy spot to settle-in and grow. I know we personalize cancer here but why not? We talk about these cells like they have personalities. We talk about going after them with chemo and radiation and any other means that will make them suffer and die. I’m fine with that. I’ve seen what they do with no remorse and if any kind of treatment gets them first…all the better.
But denial….not in the equation.
Making sound, informed decisions on treatment is a crucial step in fighting cancer. Sometimes that means waiting while research is done and doctor/patient consultations are held. If you’re lucky enough to be treated at a cancer center where tumor boards gather to discuss individual cases, that’s an added plus. But those are really the only causes for delay of treatment.
Cancer is an impatient predator. Move on it, or it will move through you.
There’s no denying that.
December 13, 2011 @ 9:12 pm
The awnser of an expert. Good to hear from you.
December 12, 2011 @ 7:40 am
You put the lime in the coconut and drink the atrclie up.
December 1, 2011 @ 1:15 pm
How well I remember my husband’s doctor saying “you only have a small window of opportunity” as he explained that he needed to have chemo after his surgery for removal of a tumor in his rectum, even though he had received chemo and radiation prior to the surgery. To this day, we don’t know if it was necessary, but that was nine years ago and I would not have wanted to miss that window and take a chance that it would all work out fine.
December 12, 2011 @ 12:10 pm
I want to send you an award for most helpful internet witrer.
December 13, 2011 @ 7:35 pm
I went to tons of links bferoe this, what was I thinking?
November 30, 2011 @ 6:56 pm
I can understand being overwhelmed at the diagnosis. I can also understand the great relief when after the initial surgery, all nodes are clear, margins are clean…everything looks good. This was me 10 years ago. But I soon realized that cancer doesn’t often play by the rules…well perhaps there are no rules!!! I’m hoping that after some brief time…..denial will become once again become the very long river in Egypt (sorry for the corny joke)…and that a course of treatment will be pursued. As Mully said in her post, we are all interested in having more time to do what we feel is best for us and our family. Radiation and chemo may enable us to have that extended time. I do understand that “slap in the face” when our mortality comes to the forefront much too soon. To ignore the very best medical advice based upon “how I feel” is not going to lead to a good outcome most likely.
PS—In your prayers tonight and tomorrow, lift Cathy Foster’s name. She is fighting Stage IV melanoma. It is now in her intestines. Surgery is scheduled tomorrow. She has fought so hard…..has battled against it in her brain, in her liver and other organs. With her treatments, she has fought it to a draw…no new tumors in her brain (radiation destroyed the tumors), liver but now in her intestines. She is a fighter and has endured some of the harshest treatments (IL2) one can imagine, gamma knife, IPI infusions, etc. A very quiet, soft spoken single Mom who has done everything possible to survive for her son and family. You just can’t measure courage. Pray for her to once again fight melanoma to a draw. Thx.
December 12, 2011 @ 12:23 am
None can doubt the veracity of this arctile.
December 13, 2011 @ 10:40 pm
Felt so hpeoless looking for answers to my questions…until now.
November 30, 2011 @ 5:39 pm
Chemotherapy gave my friend 4 extra years to parent her 5 children. When she was diagnosed her cancer had already spread from her colon to her liver. The doctors thought she might have 3 months, maybe 6. Without chemo and some alternative therapies like meditation, diet changes and listening to her body, she would not have lived as long. (Through those 4 years, the cancer continued to move, she had more surgeries and changed chemotherapy drugs. Her last year was the most painful but she wanted to be there for her children. She never regretted her decision to use chemotherapy. She was able to travel. She took her children to Ireland and they spent family vacations camping. Four years more than the doctors thought because she was willing to use chemo. I’d say those 4 years were a gift).
December 12, 2011 @ 7:57 am
So excited I found this ariltce as it made things much quicker!
December 13, 2011 @ 9:43 pm
That’s what we’ve all been wiantig for! Great posting!
November 30, 2011 @ 2:29 pm
You can’t deny cancer and you can’t deny your body treatment. I know of someone who just lost a grown daughter to cancer because she refused treatment and she and her family decided to pray it into silence. While I believe in the power of prayer, I don’t believe for a minute that you should not combine it with medical treatments. She left two young daughters behind to grieve her loss and I have to believe their faith in God is compremised because they must feel He let them down.
December 11, 2011 @ 11:05 pm
Wow, that’s a really cvleer way of thinking about it!