My Name is Frank. I am a cancer survivor. I am also living with cancer.
And, unless there’s a miracle on the horizon, I am highly likely to die from cancer in the not-too-distant future.
I have decided to go public with my experiences in the hope that doing so might help patients and their caregivers, family, and friends avoid so much unnecessary and pointless suffering.
I hope, too, that medical professionals might lurk here and expand their view of what truly humane health care might become someday.
But be prepared…
This series of posts is not going to be some feel-good pep talk with a happy ending.
It’s a story about years of physical pain and emotional distress… of countless needle sticks, biopsies, surgeries, and invasive procedures… of radiation treatments, chemotherapy, and medications… of tests, tests, and more tests… of waiting, waiting, and more waiting… of false negatives and false positives… of unwelcome side effects, unexpected complications, and unpredicted crises.
It’s a story of never-ending anxiety… of difficult decisions and difficult conversations… of frustration and disappointment… of grief and loneliness.
It’s a story of mindless and heartless bureaucracy… of insensitive things that people say and do… of precious time and energy lost forever.
It’s a story of traumas and recoveries… of endurance and reinvention.
But it’s also a story of real-life angels, hope, and love… and sometimes even moments of pure joy (believe it or not).
I don’t know my how my journey will unfold, but I invite you to walk with me for a while… with the prayer that, together, we can find some peace… that we can discover a courage we didn’t know we had before… and that we might help each other, at the very least, to feel less alone.
Continue… What Kind of Cancer Do I Have?
