Dealing with Cancer

Having cancer is bad enough. The fatigue, weakness, sickness, and just plain feeling bad all suck. I will readily admit, however, that the side effects I have experienced are not even close to what others are forced to endure.

But honestly, at least to me, the worst part of having cancer is not what happens to me, but rather watching my family and friends have to deal with it. It crushes me to see the stress and hardship it puts on them.

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot that I can do about it. Forgive me for rambling, it’s just what has been on my mind lately.

Enjoy every minute, because you can’t buy one second back for all the money in the world.

You Can Either Laugh or Cry

My sense of humor is not always appreciated.

I found out in September that I have stage 4 cancer. I’m only 49 years old and go to the doctor regularly, so it hit me pretty hard. Sure, I was a basket case for a few days, but once the initial shock wore off, I chose to fight until there’s no fight left. You know, “If you’re gonna die, die with your boots on.”

I know the odds aren’t great in my situation, but by God’s grace, I intend to beat this. Even so, the fact still remains that 1 out of 1 people die, so we all face death eventually, cancer or no cancer. Something is going to take each one of us out of here.

I tend to joke around about death and dying (my own, not the death of others) more now. It’s how I cope. People don’t tend to appreciate that very much. I have to watch myself around people sometimes because of that. A few people get it, but most don’t.

I look at it like this: if you parachute out of an airplane and the chute fails, then the backup fails, there’s a good chance the end of the ride is not gonna be pleasant. You can either scream, cry, and dread the sudden stop, or try to enjoy the wind in your face, the rush of the ride, and the scenery along the way. No matter how you handle it, the outcome is largely out of your hands.

You can either laugh or cry, and I choose to laugh.

Happy Thanksgiving. Make it a great one.