As I was rereading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy this year, I wrote down one quote from Gandalf that struck me as apropo to dealing with oral cancer with just a little tweak
Frodo: I wish the ring (substitute CANCER) had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil.
PS. This is Hobbit week on Stephen Colbert's show.
Charm

<<All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.>>

I really like this, Charm - very apt when it comes to surviving or caregiving and deciding what is "small stuff" and what is really important. When I retired there were so many things I wanted/needed to do. I made a to-do list and a bucket list and I soon realized I needed to start eliminating all the things that were time consuming "small stuff". Now, I don't wait in line for anything (unless I am with someone interesting). I don't call 800 numbers even when I am urged to to get info that I need/want and I don't talk to machines. Once, when I got an automated message from my doctor's office, I ignored it and when I came in for my check up, I found out the message was to remind me of my appointment. I explained to the office staff my personal policy of not talking to machines, because I was retired and had many things to do before I died, and at my age, talking to machines was not something I wanted to spend my time doing. I think they were amused.