Three years ago today, I was standing in my kitchen preparing our holiday menu. That was the day my best friend, Vicki, called to tell me she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer. I’ll never forget how I gasped for air as she simultaneously gasped for words. All she could muster was, “I have cancer. I want to tell my 2nd graders, but I don’t want to scare them.” I gained enough composure to tell her that I’d find the perfect book to help the 2nd graders in her classroom, and that I’d be there for her anytime day or night.
Today, my friend called me again with a cancer diagnosis. This time, however, she was standing in my shoes. Her best friend since childhood received the news today: “you have breast cancer.” As I heard her mirror my feelings of three years ago, that overwhelming air-sucking feeling came over me again. Vicki was painfully confused as she mentally moved from survivor to co-survivor. She hadn’t seen it coming and yet, without any preemptive news flash, cancer had invaded her life again.
At first, I wanted to shout “NO.” I wanted to get mad, really mad at cancer! I wanted to make it go away—I hate cancer revisiting my friend’s life in this way. Within moments of our conversation, I again realized that I have no power to erase cancer. Yet, I do have Hope, and I can ease the pain it creates. I can advocate so that others understand cancer’s impact. I can embrace the children walking alongside adults with cancer—just like when I wrote the book my friend needed for her 2nd graders. I can be a messenger of Hope.
Just yesterday, I booked a plane ticket for Nashville. My purpose was to attend a special outreach for cancer patients next week. I now realize that outreach will be an overflowing vessel of Hope for another outreach. As I pour it out to cancer patients, I will be filled with renewed Hope. That’s the beautiful contagious nature of Hope; as you pour it out, more pours in.
I will visit my best friend and pour renewed Hope into her heart to be magnified for her friend who’s now facing the battle. It’s no coincidence that my outreach event is scheduled less than an hour from Vicki. I believe it is all part of God’s plan to remind me that Huge Outcomes are Possible Everyday—that is the power of H.O.P.E. It can outshine anything, even cancer.
Maryann Makekau, Author & Inspirational Speaker (www.becausehopematters.com)
This last week was 1st Descents camp. 1st Descents is a small nonprofit group of like-minded, warm-hearted hippies in Colorado. They put on these free adventure camps for adult cancer survivors (20’s + 30’s ish). They do white water kayacking, mountain climbing, and surfing. They paid for everything – flew a group of about 10 survivors and volunteers out to the Appalachians in North Carolina, all our food, lodging. We stayed in these great log houses in yahoo mountain town. I was one of the 4 guys. There were about 6 girls, and about 6 staff/volunteer people: a photographer, “mom’s” to cook and what not, a doctor, and 2/3 staff dudes to run the whole thing. We’d rise every morning to a stunning mountain sunrise, good home cooking, and great coffee out on the porch of our main cabin. We’d then spend all day trudging the ferocious rivers in little kayaks, then bond more throughout the night with dinners, flying whip cream, and emotional camp fires. It was amazing, dangerous, deep, and very fun – a perfect week long get-away.
Though, the most important and rewarding experience of the journey, was sharing that experience with other cancer survivors. The second we all met for the first time – these strong bonds began to manifest. We shared that deep connection of being a survivor; that we have all been through it; that we all understood something about each other that no one else in their life could.
One of the most important things to a patient or survivor of a terminal illness, is meeting, or just knowing there are others out there just like themselves, who are experiencing the same thing – that you are sharing that deep, very unique wisdom that comes with it. That’s TalkAboutHealth (talkabouthealth.com), that’s I2Y cancer foundation (i2y.org), and that’s 1st Descents; connecting us soldiers and veterans and making sure that our intense hellish, tortureish, and cancerish experiences are rewarded and connected.
To find out more about 1st Descents, or to get involved (which is super easy),
visit http://firstdescents.org
Post by Johnny Cathcart - johnnycathcart@yahoo.com
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