Jill in Clovis California sent this to us for all of you.

First of all, cancer is not a death sentence. It’s more of a wake-up-and-live thing. So many people associate cancer with death that they give up, even if they are stage one. I’ve seen it so many times in the infusion room (or as we like to call it the confusion room). Patients roll up in the fetal position under their heated blanket and sleep. Or they sit there having a pity party for themselves and cry. Four years ago when I first started with chemo, that was pretty much the norm in there. It was so depressing!! My guess is that they caught that attitude from each other and just accepted the death sentence and were laying there waiting for it to happen.

My first and primary chemo partner is God so there was not even a question as to whether or not I’d be joining them. NO WAY!!! Then there were the two infusion nurses that I gravitated to and they to me. They were both wonderful Christians and we would talk as much as we could and as loud too about how awesome God was and what an incredible experience this was and how He was always with me and helping me through. He picked out my surgeon who was wonderful, prayed with me before the surgery, and did an excellent job removing the cancer. He picked out my oncologist what can I say? This doc is so incredible! He is a strong Christian, treats the whole patient with love and compassion, goes to a central American country as often as possible to volunteer in an orphanage there, started a local program to help people who are really in need and deserving, has annual retreats for any female (or male I guess) with breast or cervical cancer, etc., etc., etc. WOW! Talk about the ultimate caring doctor!!! He gets my vote hands down! Even the radiation crew was great, although I did suffer an incredible 4th-degree burn.

I was declared clean after 10 months from the surgery to the end of treatment. It came back after almost a year and spread to my bones and liver. Give up??  NEVER!!! I still go to chemo every week, I’ve been through 3 medi-ports, a nasty staph infection that took two hospital stays and 2 ½ months to clear up, all kinds of side effects and so much more but you know what?  I’m still alive and enjoying life! It’s all in the way YOU accept it and deal with it. It is no worse than having diabetes they have to check their blood daily, and take medication if it’s not right if they don’t, they could lose a limb, their eyesight, or even their life. Are they sitting around having pity parties?? I don’t think so. Life goes on for them and it goes on for us. You get out of it what you put into it. If you mentally give up, your body follows and it will kill you. I have cancer but cancer doesn’t have me is truer than you think. Don’t hand your life over to it. FIGHT IT WITH ALL YOU’VE GOT!! I have God helping me do that and it’s not as bad a fight as I thought it would be. It’s definitely not a piece of cake or something I’d wish on my worse enemy but a wonderful experience through which I have met a whole lot of awesome people.    –Jill

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