The Real Deal: The Decisions with Consequences to Develop a Cancer Survivor

The National Cancer Institute gives a sobering assessment on the potential of cancer striking an American family. "Three out of every four American families will have at least one family member diagnosed with cancer" (Life After Cancer Treatment, 2006). Since both of my parents died from cancer, it should be no surprise that my siblings and I may suffer from this deadly disease. I think my siblings quietly wondered which one of us cancer would debilitate first.

I do not recall ever discussing the devastation of cancer with any sibling. We only spoke of the free spirit life style of our now deceased older brother or the heart problem of our oldest sister.
Nevertheless, I was numb when two female doctors said I had colon cancer. These ladies made it clear that I was in a life and death struggle to survive cancer. I found myself confronted with radical changes in my lifestyle where things that were important yesterday were no longer important today. I could no longer take tomorrow for granted and each new day became a celebration of life.

I decided that there are four mindsets I will follow during my cancer treatments. First, I will do whatever the doctors say without giving them a great deal of consternation. Second, I will be nice to everyone because I want them to give me their 110 percent effort versus the 80 percent effort they are obliged to give through professional courtesy. Third, I will abdicate decision making to Gwynelle and Dr. Carl Turner because I am too emotional to make sound life and death decisions. Fourth, I want to regain as much of my pre-cancer zeal and potency as possible as I evolve into a cancer survivor.

These mindsets will undergird a realistic narrative on my effort to regain my pre-cancer passion. I will not entertain you with a lot of happy talk; I will share the successes and failures in both decisions and treatments. My goal is to allow you to share in the thinking and outcomes of the decisions surrounding my progress including my anxieties.