At the end of last week I found out my mom is suffering from Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. Needless to say, this is CRAP NEWS. There is NOTHING at all good about this news no matter how we look at it.
My family is no stranger to cancer. I've seen my dad go into remission with his throat cancer, and I've watched other members of my family die from this heinous disease.
If I may, I would like to add to my New Year's Resolutions by finding the good in the bad. I don't just mean with my mom's prognosis, I mean in every aspect of my life. I have no choice. I'm about to get a lot of training on the subject.
Let's take an example from my mom's awful news:
THE BAD (an incomplete list)
- Pancreatic cancer is incurable. She will die from this disease at some point.
- Stage 4 untreated = 3-6 months of life.
- She's only 66.
- She's my mom, I don't want my mom to die.
- Chemotherapy
- and on, and on, and on. . .
- Stage 4 with treatment = 3 months up to 2 years
- She's a healthy 66-year-old presenting with only mid-section pain; hope increases for treatment
- The rotten, no good, horrible, Chemotherapy is a light dose (nausea and hairloss are unlikely)
- Mom is up and at it, willing to fight.
- I get to live with her for one week per month in Utah during treatments
- My mom isn't being taken from me suddenly
- We get to slow down and take time for a bittersweet ending.
- Who knows? Two years might be a very real possibility.
LET'S SAY YOU GET A REJECTION ON YOUR QUERY TODAY, OR YOU DIDN'T WIN A CONTEST, WAS OVERLOOKED MORE THAN ONCE SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY. . .FIND THE GOOD IN THAT! Or, just appease me, I like that too.
WRITE ON WRITERS! FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!
EFF GLOBAL WARMING!
FIGHT DISEASE!
