Margaret Vermeer served as a missionary in Nigeria. When she was seven months pregnant, she received the report that a biopsy of a small tumor was malignant. Five weeks after the surgery to remove the tumors, she gave birth to a son, then began chemotherapy and radiation treatments. For two years she had a miraculous remission, but then gradually more tumors appeared.
Brian Mansfield is a writer for USA Today and was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 48. Brian chronicles his life...
Dee, who is dying from cancer, says in the novel Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, “Individuals ask me, how ARE...
After I'd been out of commission for a few months, my pastor made a passing reference to "these chronic conditions." I corrected him—my condition wasn't chronic, it was just slow to abate. Now, five years on, I still don't know what to call my dis-ease and wonder whether I will ever feel “normal” again. But my dictionary defines chronic as "persisting for a long time," and there's no denying it's been a long time.
If I resist the word "chronic," I hesitate to claim "pain" as the problem. I've told doctors often that I don't really have pain. Rather, various discomforts and malfunctions, sometimes manageable, sometimes incapacitating, have wreaked havoc with my life and expectations.
How can I be a friend to a friend who’s sick?
Letty Pogrebin in her book, How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick, gives the following advice:
1. The best response in any encounter with a sick friend is to say, “Tell me what I can do to make things easier for you—I really want to help.”
Ann’s voice on the phone was frantic: “The doctors say my liver cancer is back and there’s nothing more they can...
How can we care for a person with cancer? Ask Important Questions! Ask, “How are you, today?” and also ask, “What’s going to be the hard part for you?” Be sincere and show them that what they are going through is important to you. Tell them you’re coming over …. Then visit them. Be creative with special treats and conversations that will brighten their days. Even if they say they don’t need anything, that’s when they will most appreciate that you are there.
I recently received this email from Cameron who was suddenly thrust into the role of caregiver for his wife, Heather, just after becoming a new father. Cameron tells his story of compassion and hope, then provides a link to a 3 minute video that further describes their journey.
Dear Karen:
I came across your blog and really identified with a lot of your writing. My name is Cameron and I was thrown into the role of caregiver when my wife, Heather, was diagnosed with a very rare and deadly cancer called mesothelioma, just three months after the birth of our only child.
