Cancer is not for the faint of heart and it is certainly by necessity not by choice that we take up arms and fight the good fight. Test after test, appointment after appointment, and treatment after treatment. But fight and endure we must because the alternative is not an option.
As a cancer patient I learned many things. I realized the strength of my faith. I found out who is a part of my tribe and perhaps who is not. But most important of all, I learned who I was before cancer and who I am now after cancer. So many people told me how brave I was during my treatments. I don’t look at myself as brave because I felt a consuming fear that still lies quietly below my surface. What I am is strong. Faced with my mortality I found an inner strength and resolve that I now carry with me always. This influences my days and it is shaping my future.
I will never say that I am thankful for the experience. I wish it had never happened. But what I am thankful for is that by the grace of God, I am here and I am a better person for it.