Peace…What Does That Mean?
Once you’ve entered cancer world, how do you find peace? Is it possible? Living with cancer doesn’t just take away the ‘normal’ in a life. It takes away any hope of finding that peaceful feeling we all hope to have at some point in our lives. I speak for myself here….maybe there are many in this community who have found a way to find real peace? I’m not sure I even know what that means.
Maybe I shouldn’t even blame Leroy’s cancer for this. Maybe this was the case before he was diagnosed, or maybe I never realized how important it was to have it, before I lost it once we were in our cancer battle.
The Holiday season is full of “Peaceful” wishes. Friends and family members are generous with their wishes for peace in the world, peace among your neighbors, peace everywhere.
I don’t think I ever heard anyone wish me peace, while we were sitting in the chemo room or waiting for radiation. They knew better….if they were there, they knew there was no chance anyone was feeling very peaceful going through their ordeal. Cancer just doesn’t offer up that option.
Does peace come when you hear the words N-E-D? Maybe. More than peace, I think relief is more like it. Does a hug or a hand squeeze bring a cancer patient peace? Does a favorite piece of chocolate?
There are so many emotions that come with living with cancer.
Is peace one of them? Is it even possible?
January 15, 2012 @ 10:56 am
We could’ve done with that ingshit early on.
January 4, 2012 @ 1:31 pm
As a patient, I agree that peace is not the word to describe how it feels to hear N-E-D. For me, it was immediate elation which evolved to relief – and wondering about that other shoe. This is, of course, another opportunity to use the positive attitude card, etc. But bottom line, peace is not what you get…
Thank you for continuing to be here.
January 15, 2012 @ 5:53 pm
Absolutely first rate and cpoper-bottomed, gentlemen!
January 16, 2012 @ 11:36 pm
How neat! Is it rellay this simple? You make it look easy.
January 4, 2012 @ 7:24 am
My husband never accepted the fact that he was going to die. He struggled until he took his last breath. Like Kathie, I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop. When you lose both parents and a husband and several family members to this horrific disease, I don’t think you can ever find peace. I’m still struggling and dealing with some very ugly memories. They say not to dwell on the bad but to look back on all the good times. I know this sounds stupid, but, when I dwell on the good times it makes me just as sad, because this is what I miss. I don’t think the words Peace and Cancer go together! Kathie………there is nothing I can say to ease your pain and I know all too well how you are feeling. All I can do is say an extra prayer…………Lifting
January 16, 2012 @ 9:45 pm
Notinhg I could say would give you undue credit for this story.
January 3, 2012 @ 8:01 pm
I think pece is forever gone when you enter this world. I was always waiting for the other shoe to fall. Tomorrow we have the doctor’s visit for the confirmation of my sister’s diagnosis. I know how her husband and son will feel and the sickness has already hit my stomach. There is no peace in our homes tonight.
January 15, 2012 @ 11:22 am
That’s rlealy thinking out of the box. Thanks!
January 3, 2012 @ 6:11 pm
I have been with people with cancer who in their final days had such deep and strong faith that they were about to arrive at a far better place that they could be said to be at peace. Theirs is a state of being that is not about pain and suffering – their own or their loved ones’ – which, we all know, cancer exacts, but the serenity of acceptance. There was a time when I felt my brother Patrick was very much at peace with his condition, when death, which he knew was inevitable, was no longer frightening or something to struggle against. That helped me stop struggling with the thought he would no longer be in our lives; that I could love him and always go on loving him, and the fact of his cancer would not change that. I do think knowing we are loved and always will be can change a dynamic, and let us go in peace.
January 15, 2012 @ 9:50 pm
Tip top stuff. I’ll eexpct more now.
January 17, 2012 @ 12:52 am
Unparalleled accuracy, unequivocal clarity, and undeniable ipomtrance!