It must be a very surreal moment when a doctor says the 'C' word. A multitude of thoughts and feelings must either be running through the mind as the heart and stomachs sinks. If it is unexpected and one is not prepared to hear get such news the news has to be the pits. Even if a person has been ill and the doctor has prepared one for the worse, the cancer diagnosis has to still suck big time.
It must feel like an avalanche when more information on your stage of the cancer and if treatment options are likely to work. Yes, it can only feel surreal, a bizarre fantasy, a nightmare that is not real. But the tragic fact is that it is real and it happens to children and people of all ages.
What to do? Is it a fight or not a fight challenge? Do you need an operation? Is chemotherapy or radiation or a stem cell transfusion recommended. Or do you choose alternate therapies? Perhaps you choose a combination of both. So much to think about. A very good reason to decide on treatment is for the family, for your loved ones. And many people who fight cancer successfully heal. Whatever the choice, they are to me the bravest of the brave.
But in the end it is up to the cancer patient. The chemotherapy road is a hard one that makes patients very ill, almost as ill as the devastating effects of cancer . My friend Ramona, aged 60 was very enthusiastic fighting her stage 4 cancer at first. Ramona was going to live. All she needed was a treatment every week, it was what kept her alive. By the sixth month Ramona confessed that she could not take anymore, she was so filled with painful physical symptoms from the chemo. Then without warning Ramona's cannula stopped working and she quietly passed on after a few weeks.
Another friend in her early forties with breast cancer declined all medical treatment instead choosing alternate therapies. Tanya lived for a couple of months only. Would she have lived longer with chemo or been totally healed? Perhaps? But her choice was not to go the chemo pathway?
Cancer is such an insidious horrible disease that affects so many people. It is more uncommon to know someone inflicted with cancer. We either have a family member, a friend or a celebrity diagnosed with cancer. Watching a loved one or dear friend in pain is a hard one. It is even worse knowing that they a short time to live. All we can do is to support, love and be there.
My message is don't waste life fighting and feeling upset, Life is short, it goes in a blink of an eye. Laugh, love and treasure each day with your near and dear ones.
Cheers and Blessings
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Hey @janton, I saw this homemade trailer while driving on a major three lane road Brisbane yesterday and thought this has to be a 'redneck' creation. What do you think? Just as well I was the passenger and could take a pic!

A great message Angie,
“Don’t waste life fighting and feeling upset, Life is short, it goes in a blink of an eye. Laugh, love and treasure each day with your near and dear ones.
Thank you Jo, so true isn't it?
lol..that is definitely a redneck model! It's almost too nice to be a redneck model but down there your rednecks are probably more sophisticated!
They say that one in every three people will get cancer in the U.S. that is a scary figure!
Hahaha, they didn't look that sophisticated janton, scruffy with long hair and beards.
I often wonder where they got that number - 1 in 3 is far too high.
I heard that the 1 in 3 figure was the projected rate since it has been increasing due to many factors. I hope it's wrong though.