The Good Things About Cancer

Can there really be something good about having cancer? Its a stretch, for sure, but if you look hard enough, you can Pollyanna enough stuff to smile about when the chips aren't too far down. Things like, for some, it saves a lot of time combing you hair; or, its a great weight loss program. Sure fire, actually.

It certainly gets your priorities straightened up, and makes you deal with those "someday when I have time" projects. Family connections grow stronger and suddenly those issues that kept you from seeing a friend seem oddly small and unimportant.

But there are other benefits that might not be quite so obvious. If you don't want to do something, you can just say, "I'm not feeling up to it," and people understand. And when the lines are long at the ladies' room, you can put on your best green face, tip a little to the side and say, "do you mind if I go ahead of you? I have cancer." And then there's the ever popular "I'm too tired to (fill in the blank). And you certainly don't get lonely what with all the doctor appointments and tests and procedures. You hardly have a minute to yourself somedays!

Not that I am advocating any abuse of these tactics, just that for a change you learn to pace things better and go easy on yourself because you know that you need all your energy to fight the dread disease crawling around inside you.

It also makes you appreciate the good days and learn to celebrate the important joys in life. Any day you can sit up by yourself and eat real food is a good day. Every day you are able to go to work, to perform household chores, to listen with joy to music - those are great days. You never take for granted the amazing gift of good health, of being comfortable and pain free, of being able to think about something other than the all consuming cancer thing.

So we of the sisterhood of cancer survivors are a blessed bunch. I have many friends who have lived through varying degrees of cancer crap, but they one and all understand what I am talking about, and without a word, know how to come alongside and support when things go south, as they often can and do.

Yes, there are some good things about having cancer. But I wouldn't recommend going through cancer to get ahold of these blessings. Just grab them on your own. I do recommend the mindset.