The Seasons of a Cancer Journey

I am nearing five years of my cancer journey.

As I write these words it sounds incredible, almost impossible.

To be honest there are times when I ask myself why I have been blessed to respond so well to my treatments.

Before you go saying something like, it is because of who you are, or what you do, your connection with God, or your service to others…resist that temptation.

There is little to no truth in those words.

I know of many gracious, generous, humble, kind, deeply spiritual people who have lost their battle with cancer.

The truth is I do not know why I have been blessed to respond to treatment the way I have.

I am constantly aware that if I was living in many other places on our planet, even within this country, I would not be writing these words today.

For some reason, this is the place God has me. For whatever reason, I am responding to treatment. So, we will push on and do the best we can to make the most of every moment God provides me here on this earth.

Seasons

I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the past five years.

Thinking about the seasons of my journey.

• • My initial diagnosis, what those first six months were like.

• • The hope I (we) had when I took my first break from treatment.

• • Standing at the elevator on our way home from Dr. Saroha’s when it was time to start my second round of chemotherapy. The realization that this was going to be a longer journey than we had hoped.

• • The promise of new procedures and opportunities for “a cure.”

• • Spending a week in the hospital realizing that the “hope for a cure” did more damage than good. Listening to the hospital floor doctor tell me there was nothing they could do.

• • Talking to Dr. Saroha and realizing that the hospital floor doctor was misinformed, and had no idea what they were talking about. Yes, things were not good…but there was hope, keep fighting.

• • Recovering from the damage done and resuming yet another round of chemotherapy.

• • Reading scans that show the treatment is working yet again.

• • Wondering what the future holds.

Seasons come and go. With each new season, there are different challenges. My (our) emotions run in a myriad of places and it requires different things during each season to remain hopeful and continue fighting.

The people at Hope has Arrived have written a wonderful piece about the different seasons of a cancer journey and what is needed during each season.

A reminder that each cancer journey is unique, so it is impossible to say how each person will experience their journey. However, this article does provide some great insight into the different seasons of a cancer journey and the differing needs at each season.

 

Hope has arrived: Cancer journey seasons