“There is no medicine like hope, no
incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something
tomorrow.” – Orison Swett Marden
Tommy had his six month and things are continuing to look
good, lymph nodes smaller, white blood cell counts in the low normal
range. He is still in remission! Praying the good news continues!
Couple events that have happened recently got me to thinking
about hope. One is Tommy’s dr. telling
him that while he’s in remission now, recurrence from this particular cancer,
as with any, is possible. Which, we
know, but it was something about it that just struck an ominous chord with me;
it felt very defeating – like a rug pulled out from underneath us. And while the doctor tried to be reassuring,
noting all the new and different treatments out there, it still left the
question of not if, but when. It took
away a good portion of the hope that life will become normalized sooner or
later. That nuclear scans and the
endless poking and prodding will eventually be a thing of the past, let alone
the hours in the infusion chair. Hope
that the bone pain, nausea and other side effects from chemo will never have to
be considered again seems to unlikely.
Psychologically, this has done a number on both of us.
Physically, the ongoing stress of work and then getting knocked upside the head
with this news has made Tommy literally sick. The only answers I can give him,
is the fear is normal, the wondering if it’s coming back is normal. But even in remission, especially with the
low white blood cells to fight off the infections, you are going to get colds and
stomach flu’s. While vigilance for the
signs is important, it is also necessary to keep perspective.
Right now, instead of focusing on the “when” and the “ifs” a
perspective change and looking at the positive will go a long, long way. The good news is he’s in remission.
And we can start moving forward with our tomorrows that we
are dreaming about, and all the positives that is being mapped out in our
lives.
Hope is very powerful-- sometimes it is all a person has. We
will still cling to the hope we have – that the cancer is gone, and it will
stay gone.
“Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” – Robert H.
Schuller
