Courage to Face Life

Courage to Face Life

Courage is defined as having the ability to confront danger, fear, pain, uncertainty or intimidation.  We all know that courage can be in physical or moral terms so sometimes combined together.  No other group of people understand this definition that people who have cancer or the people that are associated with these wonderful people.  We humans face situations of courage everyday with most of us not even realizing what is at stake or what the consequences of our actions could muster.  So how are things different in the eyes of those who do know what the consequences are and how do they respond to these conditions? 

All humanity knows that even mentioning the word cancer strikes a fear into our beings that cannot be compared, and when that word infiltrates our personal lives it places our thinking into a category that automatically associates with another fearful word, death.  Cancer is a terrible disease that we are still learning about but researchers are striving to gain ground in its treatment and cure.  However, with all of the advances made all healthcare professionals and patients are realizing that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done on all sides of this curing process.

Many people in the world believe that when the word cancer becomes a part of their life that their existence as a person is over and that their contributions to society ends.  This is so far from the truth!!  You will be amazed to learn that some of these cancer patients continue to work full time jobs, or have a full garden in the summer and some even volunteer their time at the hospital.

Even though their jobs differ, all of them make a statement to society that they have not given up and they will not go into the night quietly.  Weather and daily social conditions do not mean much to these people, all they know is that they are alive and fighting a battle that they do not completely understand but they know their life is dependent upon the treatments they receive on a regular basis.

Each person that suffers with this condition wakes up every day and life immediately reminds them that today could be the last day of their physical being.  Living in this manner should surely be reason enough to have a gloomy appearance on the day and give a sense of worthlessness which encourages the question of “why me” to enter into their thinking.  These people also know that each day they wake up is a gift that cannot be taken away from them no matter the circumstance.  Yet they continue their journey in this life with their head held high and proud to be alive to see the world functioning in its usual capacity.

Laughter has always been touted as a healer of the body.  Besides my loved ones, I get no greater joy in hearing these people laugh.  How can I not have a positive outlook on life when I hear a person with a potentially deadly disease laughing?  Most of the time I have no idea what they are laughing about or who they are laughing with but I do know that when I hear those sounds protruding from their treatment rooms the level of encouragement cannot be hidden to others.  The laughing is actually infective to the other patients, which has the opportunity to give them a new sense of faith and hope to carry inside them and for these occurrences, I cannot argue that even though life has taken a turn for the worse, laughing is still a possibility and will continue its quest to heal.  The only thing, in my opinion, that can top laughter is when I hear a patient sing for the other patients in the clinic in which there are no words that can accurately describe this act.

Each day that I come to work I say a small prayer for all the people that are involved in our Oncology department, both of the staff side of the aisle and on the patient’s.  The reason I pray for the patient’s side of the issues is a given but I include the staff in my prayers so that we may learn from the people that we encounter.  This may be a no brainer statement but I am convinced that our patients can give us tools to help others with similar conditions in the future.

One area that always gets me in my current position is when our patients brings into the department  small gifts or brings in items that they are working on while they are receiving their treatment.  These gifts are not always things that we can eat or take home but they are projects and items that allow us to get an idea of what is going through their minds at the time; do not get me wrong the things that they bring for us to eat are goodJ  Being a pastor’s son all my life I have had the opportunity to go with my father into many patient rooms, and I have witnessed many settings where pets, books, flowers have graced the patient to brighten their surroundings.  But until I worked in this area of the hospital I never knew just how much a puppy dog changes the atmosphere in a room or area and also what goes on in a person’s head when they or a family member are completing a knitting project.

There are many more examples of courage that I could give concerning my examination of these patients.  Each example though accurate in nature would still not provide a detailed picture that they portray.  I could go on and on about how they dress the ideas that they have about politics, medicine, wives or husbands, or about the health that they have, as before none would serve their justice.  These people are beautiful in many, many ways and I can honestly say that we should take the necessary steps in noticing them.

As all of the above scenarios unfold, I cannot help but to pool all of the information into my mind and think about all of the words and actions that these dear people perform every day to defy their current situation on a level of snobbishness to which their disease should heed as a warning that they are not done fighting.  The courage that they bring to the world each day impresses my heart in way that is hard for me to comprehend and it leads me to make the statement that these people are the definition of courage.

Cancer is packaged in many shapes and sizes just as humans are; which complicates matters when trying to figure out how to treat each disease.  Modern technology has been the mainstay of finding treatment plans that all point to a cure for each condition.  Even though the bodies of these patients wear down over time it is fascinating to see their spirit soar like never before.  How can I determine their actions to be true? On the level of 100% I cannot honestly say that they always portray a positive attitude, but on that hand who does.  I also understand that the human mind plays a large part of how people respond to their situations and along those lines I know that there is a driving force behind all of the negative feelings that these patients must endure.  I do know that the majority of the people we see in our clinic have always been friendly to their surroundings and that they are taking life in stride as it is dealt to them. 

As Poirot would say….A question is posed into my gray cells…since these people’s lives could end today do they know what it means to live today like you will not have a tomorrow?  I believe that they do and who else better to learn this concept from.  The previous statement is a very common saying that humans have but do we as healthy people really believe it and understand this phrase?  These people are tough and their resilience amazes me of how they can be bombarded with bad news on a daily basis and still bounce back the next day to thumb their noses at death. 

For those of us who do not have this disease or any other major health issue but face our own daily challenges, let us learn from these precious individuals of how to be happy and satisfied with life.  I continually pray for a cure of all types of cancer so that these people and others like them can return to their normal living conditions.  In no way am I glorifying cancer or the toll it takes on its victims; however, I do glorify the people that these diseases has affected and their attitudes towards their issues in which they have no further control over.  It gives me great joy to work with these people on a daily basis and even though their times are challenged with a condition that robs them from many activities of life their fighting spirit encourages me to continue to tell others that there is hope in all things.

So as I tuck myself into bed each night with relative certainty that I will rise in the morning, I will try and remind myself that I am not invincible and will do my best to live the next day as it were going to be my last, and to portray the same type of courage towards others that cancer patients protrude.