I'm a wuss with cancer as you guys have seen from my posts. I'm really scared of it, i don't have it but you guys actually battle against it and won. What motivated you? Was it just your will to live, was it kids, family? I just have curiosity because I could only imagine the pain and suffering endured I honestly don't think i have it in me to win a battle against cancer. People going through cancer have my biggest respect and admiration and anybody who reads this and is battling cancer u have my full support and admiration for your strength.
I guess I just did what I had to do. I don't think that I'm particularly brave or strong, but I did what needed to be done, and trusted my doctors. I have supportive husband, family and a large group of supportive friends.
I relied on my faith and God to give me the strength to get through it. It helped, also, to have a loving wife/caregiver and extended support network. I had a few "cheerleaders" from OCF that I am still close friends with to this day.
My wife was a wonderful caregiver. But, mostly I didn't have any choice. There were days that I wanted to give up, but my wife would have never let me.
I also set up a journal on a site called Caringbridge (it's free). I never knew I had so many caring friends. And, many of them passed along the link. I even heard from my college suite-mate from nearly 50 years ago. Reminders that a lot of people wanted me around for awhile.
Not everyone has a laundry list of horrible side effects they had to face during treatment. When it doesn't hurt, it's a lot easier to get through treatment, even by yourself with no caregiver.
If you ever do get cancer, you may be one of the lucky. You are assuming it will be horrible, and it might be, but it also might not be.
I hope you never have to find out.
Tony