Fighting the Cancer Battle- Courageous Choices

Just in case anyone thinks I mean myself with this title, I don't. As far as I am aware, I do not have cancer. Okay, now that that is straight, let's move on. (My Mom should feel a lot better now.)

I don't normally post things about Celebrities' and their health issues, but this one strikes home a bit. Years ago, when I first saw "Red Dawn" I had an instant crush on Patrick Swayze. Later when we all saw him and Jennifer Grey in "Dirty Dancing" well, that was also crush inspiring. So what does that have to do with posting an article on Swayze nowadays? Well, the man is made of steel.

Over the almost 20 years of my being a nurse (yikes!) I have had the privilege of taking care of many stricken with cancer. In my opinion some of the worst cancers are the head and neck cancers. If you survive the cancers with therapy, people are often left very disfigured and altered for life. Not too mention there is a high rate of relapse with these cancers. And most of those I saw literally lost their voice to laryngeal cancer. Cancer is painful at several points along the way, and in many ways.

There is much discussion out there about the alternative modalities that can help people survive cancer. In my head, I keep thinking he is in the beginning stages of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's stages of dying. His sheer determination to stick with the fight and not go further is really quite amazing. Filming without taking pain medication for what I am sure is absolutely excruciating pain makes this even more impressive. What we are seeing now is some recognition that he may actually not live much longer. But what is impressive about this is that instead of looking at a win as beating cancer, he is looking at how he isn't going to let the cancer beat his quality of life.

So many times over the years not too mention currently, I have seen family members and patients when faced with almost certain death due to disease, make choices to keep fighting despite what that means to the quality of life they may have in the time that they have. Everyone has to decide what is right for them, so I am not judging these choices. However, I do find it especially courageous when someone continues to fight, but, also considers what kind of time they want left not just how much time.

I have seen this in my own family. In the past few years, we have lost two of my uncles to cancer. One was the eldest and the other the youngest in a family of 5 kids. My uncle Hilton lived with what he was told was a "slow cancer of the colon" for quite a while. And he and my aunt Laurie had a wonderful life together until the end. My uncle Jimmy the youngest, died at 57 of Melanoma. He found out at the beginning of the year he had it, and then did everything he could to beat it but was dead only a few months later. However, due to the aggressive treatments (and it my mind too aggressive) he died in a lot of pain despite so-called pain management, and unable to really enjoy what time he had left. But if you knew my uncle Jimmy, this was much like his time on this earth. He had more ups and downs then most people I know. But I digress.

So what's the point in all of the previous? What has inspired me to write today? Well, I'm not entirely sure. It is inspiring to see people make courageous choices. I'm fortunate to be in a profession where we see that a lot. Okay, so maybe it's a lingering crush from my adolescent years. More than likely though, it's the hopeless romantic in me that sees the romance between Swayze and his wife and it reminds me of my uncles and their loves. Either way, it is an epic story of life, love, and a courageous battle in the face of certain defeat. Who couldn't go for that?

Be inspired. Live your own epic story. Be courageous in your choices. Your example can make the difference for others.

"We are not here to see through one another, but to see one another through"--Unk.