Dealing with a major medical situation is a roller-coaster ride. When test reports come back with a glowing doctor report, the world looks rosy. When the doctor comes in with bad news, things tend to crash. It took about 5 weeks for me to realize that I had to stabilize and stop being a piece of flotsam floating in and out of the surf.

I met a person at the hospital that became a source of inspiration to me. His name is Randy. Good looking guy, jeans, and always smiling. I saw him repeatedly and he was always smiling. Finally because I was very curious I went up to him and asked what his child had because of his smiles. He told me that his daughter was actually dying – at the end of a four year battle with cancer. “I’ve cried so much in the past years that I finally learned I have to smile and keep on smiling.” This was one of the most defining moments of my life and I keep his image in my mind when things get tough.

Attitude is really the secret in a battle of any kind. If one looks at the negative and does not turn it to a positive then the battle is already lost.

When my daughter was first diagnosed and during the subsequent weeks that passed, I kept hearing from the medical staff about different risks. Then she was moved into a higher risk category which meant three times the chemo and nine months of this heavy treatment. I went nuts regarding risks but, in the end, it is still the same. She has cancer and we have to fight it. She could also pick up on my vibes, I am sure of it. Once I completely changed my own attitude towards this whole situation things got easier. If I get afraid (death, loss, illness, more illness…) I force myself and say to myself she is getting stronger, she is healthy, it will be okay and I imagine her at the age of twenty and the two of us doing things together. She is beautiful, strong, capable and happy. This is done until the fears dissipate. Sometimes it takes a sort of mental force to make myself think these “happy thoughts”. But, the more I did this the easier it got. I now live in this frame of mind and life in general is much better. Nothing really changed except my attitude.

Keep your thoughts positive,
because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive,
because your words become your behaviours.
Keep your behaviours positive,
because your behaviours become your habits.
Keep your habits positive,
because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive,
because your values become your destiny.
~ Gandhi ~

Inspiration

www.livestrong.org Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor, Tour De France seven time winner, excellent website with great video and text of survivor stories. His book, It’s Not About The Bike is highly recommended.

http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/multimedia/randy-pausch-lecture.shtml Randy Pausch, author of the book The Last Lecture and also video of his Last Lecture. Six million people have watched his video. His battle is with Pancreatic Cancer and this guy knows how to fight!

Psst- Randy did pass away from his disease but he left his mark by having eleven million people become inspired by his words.