Battling Cancer With Courage

   A friend I went to school with, all the way from 1st grade through graduation, has recently started her battle against breast cancer. She is facing it with courage, humor, and strength. I am so proud of her.
   I do understand the urge, upon hearing the diagnosis of cancer, to just curl up and hide, feeling sorry for oneself. It would be so easy to just let everyone feel sorry for you and put everything on hold in hopes you survive and can get back to living later. But Lisa is fighting, commenting on facebook about the good days, laughing at having found gray hairs in her wig. She is still going to work most days, and living--really living her life.
   During my treatment, I was just too sick to work. I was too sick to be around other people, including my kids. My parents took care of them while Mark took care of me. Every day, Mark made me shower and dress. On the days I felt good enough to get out of the house, we went for walks or strolled through flea markets. Anything we could do without putting myself at risk (I usually had a white blood cell count of less than 5 and was prone to infection.) And on the one day each week when my count was high enough, the day before my next treatment, we would spend time with my daughters. We would play quietly, watch movies, and snuggle. My youngest daughter turned five only days before I was diagnosed. Mark and I scoured flea markets and used book stores to find a second copy of the Little Golden Books we already had. Each night, I spoke to all three girls, talking to the older two about the things they had done that day and their plans for the next day. Every night, I let my youngest pick out one of the books and I read it to her over the phone while she followed along with her copy. She is almost 13 and still remembers the nightly reading sessions with great fondness. It made the distance between us disappear for a little while every night.
   I wonder, sometimes, just how things would have worked out if I had had less support from my loved ones.
   Another friend, Ron, is at the end of his battle. Cancer is taking his life, but he has never stopped living. He offers support to others, shows strength in the way he is approaching the end. He is the most courageous man I know. He has tried several different courses of treatment, but is now just trying to find an end to the pain.
   If you know someone battling cancer, take a minute to let them know you care. Don't feel sorry for them, be supportive. That is what they need the most just now.