5 Life Lessons I Learned From Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, the statistics are startling. Cancer is claiming more and more lives every day. The numbers tell us that over 1.6 million people will have been diagnosed by the end of 2014 -- a diagnosis that can rock the foundation of anyone's world. In November 1999, that's what it felt like for me and my husband when he was diagnosed with stage IV cancer -- Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. At one point, we asked the oncologist what we could do to help support the hospital treatments and aid in the fight against cancer. "Nothing," he said. I'm sure it's not too hard to imagine how devastating an answer like that was. The diagnosis itself had been enough to knock the wind out of us. We went from being shocked, to afraid, to desperate to take action in repeated loops again and again. It's been a long journey, but cancer has proven to be a patient teacher that will 'gift' you with a wealth of lessons if your mind, heart, and soul are open enough to receive them. Here are the lessons I particularly learned in its classroom: 1) Know When To Fight As aforementioned, my husband's oncologist insisted there was nothing we could do to supplement the chemo treatments. I don't know if this is simply something those in the medical profession are required to say for fear of being held liable for suggesting alternative routes, but I do know that plenty of people take such words at face value and remain discouraged. My husband and I, however, decided we'd take a diff...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news