The Truth About Cancer Series

Some years, like my last few, I feel like I kind of float through life. Nothing too terrible happens and nothing extraordinary blesses me either. That is how I have felt about my last couple of years. It hasn't been easy, but I am floating along and managing.

Honestly, that isn't how life goes all the time. Some years are full of life-changing/world defining experiences. Those things set you off on a different course. I am talking about positive experiences like getting married, having a baby, buying a house, moving across the country, having a religious awakening, taking an international trip as well as awful experiences like the death of a loved one, battling cancer, a horrific car accident, getting raped, etc.

For me, the years 2005 and 2006 were definitely life changing. 2005 started off with lots of promise. My husband (at the time) and I were house hunting. We found one that we liked and bought it. We also started going to a fertility specialist. We'd been married about 2 years and pregnancy was apparently not happening on its own. Right after we moved into our new house, my mother-in-law informed us that she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. About a week or two later, I discovered that I was pregnant (during the testing process of fertility). About a week after that, I got a call from my sister informing me that my dad had terminal brain cancer that was extremely aggressive.

Talk about BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM. Of course, the joy of having a baby on the way definitely lessened the blow for me of the cancer news. I just kept thinking about the circle of life.

My dad passed away at the age of 56 when I was about 7 months pregnant. He suffered through numerous surgeries to remove multiple brain tumors along with chemo and radiation. He couldn't communicate when the tumors were taking over, so they would cut them out. That gave him about a week of talking before he shut down again. It got to the point where the surgeries were taking place every 2 weeks. I would definitely say it got fairly ridiculous. I finally called all 5 of my siblings and talked to them about just letting him be done with this life. It wasn't an easy conversation, but we are all religious and believe that much better things lie ahead for him. We were spread out over the US, but were able to visit him for Thanksgiving right after that decision had been made. He couldn't talk to us, but he definitely knew we were there. His eyes and hand squeezes said it all. When we headed home, he stopped eating and drinking. A week later, he was gone.

My mother-in-law lasted a year after her diagnoses. She also had surgeries, hospital stays, chemo, radiation, and all that. Our experiences with hospice and difficult decisions with my dad made it easier to navigate through her end of life. It was still heart wrenching, but we knew more about how it should be handled and what everything meant.

There are lots of lessons I learned from those experiences. One of them being that I didn't want to subject myself to all that cancer patients go through. If given a terminal cancer diagnoses, I would simply thank them and head home to live the best I could. I may do a surgery or two to remove huge tumors, but that would probably be it.

Since then, I definitely am interested in information on holistic methods of dealing with cancer and all that entails. Healthy eating, juicing, supplements, essential oils, reducing your toxic load, exercising,  ...Why not try?

This week, I have been enjoying the online series called the Truth About Cancer. So far, my favorite episodes were Day 2 (essential oils) & Day 3 (juicing). Obviously, those were things I already have an interest in. I do not buy everything they say hook, line & sinker, but there is definitely lots of tips and things to consider. When it is all over, I may type up a few things that I learned.

National Cemeteries

Veterans Day evokes a lot of national pride for most citizens of the US and reminds us to be thankful to the soldiers that fought for our freedoms.  For me, National Cemeteries really bring that reverence home.  My mother and grandmother (her mother) have instilled in me a general appreciation for cemeteries.   We used to spend Memorial Days driving around to various cemeteries to drop flowers off at the graves of deceased loved ones. 

It wasn't until 2005 that I grew to have an additional appreciation for National Cemeteries.  That was the year that my dad passed away and was laid to rest in the Houston National Cemetery.  The grounds and ceremonies are an amazing tribute to the soldiers.  I have also visited the National Cemeteries in Arlington and South Florida.  They are all impressive and humbling. 

Several weeks ago, I started thinking about when I took my kids to visit my dad's grave in December of 2008, which was three years after he died.  If we were living there, we would definitely go this year too.  I think it is a tradition that I will start as soon as we move back.  What a wonderful way to kick off the month of December and also teach my kids a great lesson in life.  Here is a photo I took then: