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| There’s Just Something About Surviving Cancer |
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Picture this: I’m in my bed in the darkened hospital room, trying to get to sleep. Less than six hours before, doctors had removed my cancerous prostate—and announced my cure rate was 90 percent over my lifetime. My parents, two best friends and assorted visitors had left. The only light in the room entered through the slit at the bottom of the closed door and from the Dallas skyline just outside my window. Maybe it was the morphine, but as my mind wandered over the day’s events, this incredible, unexplainable feeling struck: You have been cured of cancer, but there’s a catch: you must, in turn, help others who are walking in your shoes. That feeling came back to me the other day as I talked with one of my best friends, Alice, over our lunch of baked fish and veggies. You see, Alice has faced—and conquered—breast cancer three times, which is a miracle since the first tumor in her left breast was about the size of a tennis ball. “It used to be I couldn’t talk to anybody,” said Alice, one of the two best friends who were in my hospital room. “Now, I can talk to anybody about my cancer. They can either come up to me, or I’ll start talking to them about my experiences with cancer. I hope I can do some good in their lives.” Comfort in times of stress That is why I enjoy blogging. I hope I say something, or pass along some information, that will comfort you in your hours of stress. I also attend a prostate-cancer support group at the hospital to talk to men my age—late 40s, early 50s—who have just been diagnosed and are seeing their worlds crash down around them. I want you to know that if a wuss like me can handle it, you can handle it. And regardless of what happens, you’re going to be okay. I’m not saying your journey will be easy or a walk in the park. During wakeful spells in the middle of the night, the cancer monsters will come out from under the bed and scare the bejabbers out of you. And they can create ominous shadows on the walls. There are going to be times the doctor will say something that you really weren’t expecting or didn’t want to know. Idiots will say cruel and heartless things to you. You'll worry whether you’ll be walking down life’s road with your wife and kids in 10 or 20 years. Occasionally, you wonder whether your cancer will return, despite doctors giving you a 90-percent cure rate. "Healing" doesn't always mean "cure" However, if a wuss like me can handle all of that, so can you. And regardless of what happens, good or bad, you’re going to be okay. “But what if . . .,” you may ask. If “it” happens, you’ll handle it. You’re going to be okay. Of course, I’ll admit, that’s easier said than done, especially if you’re diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and your cure rate is nowhere near 90 percent. In this case, you focus like a laser beam on these nine critical words: “I’m going to be okay, regardless of what happens.” You will be “healed,” but the healing may not necessarily involve a “cure.” If you’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer, please find a support group and attend the meetings. Talk with people who have walked in your moccasins and lived to tell about it. You’ll likely feel much better once you hear the comforting words. You’re going to be okay . . . regardless of what happens.
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I remember The Feeling, even five years after it washed over me quite unexpectedly. 
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