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Showing posts from October, 2017

Reflection 30: Something to sing about!

 On average, 565 Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer every day. On average, 221 Canadians will die from cancer every day.* I prefer to say that 344 survive every day! The silent majority.    I am one of the silent majority. A new friend of mine feels the same way. "I am experiencing so many emotions post-surgery and post treatment." A fellow survivor who became a dear friend of mine whom I met during Radiation Treatment shares her thoughts on "The silent majority." With her blessing, they are incorporated into Reflection 30 .   Following my diagnosis, I decided to fight. My weapons of choice are family, friends, knowledge and modern Eastern and Western medicine. My entire blog is part of my therapy.   "Our bodies have been assaulted by cancer and it will take time to readjust to Life after Cancer. My main focus is on being health mentally and physically, in that order," writes my new friend.   She continues:    "I feel relief, happiness, luck

Reflection 29: Sarah

Dear reader, I consider myself to be in a very fortunate position. I am both a college teacher who stands in front of students’ day-after-day teaching Microsoft Office and Google Docs to health care wannabes. I am also a cancer survivor. So, I have observed both sides of the health care profession; what we teach and how my former students practice. What a window of opportunity I have been handed. These people who sit in front of me will be within a year working in a medical clinic, on a ward in a hospital, or perhaps an 'old folks' or extended care home. Perhaps they will be working in a hospice. They will be nursing the very people I spent some time with during and following my surgery. This brings me to the point of this blog. The heath care textbooks that I am familiar with are long on protocols and short on caring, compassion and empathy; the feeling that you understand and share another person's experience and emotions. The importance of empathy is understated in the

Reflection 28: The Letter

Sarah:  I hope that you are receiving this transmission, my lovely daughter, for the weather in this dimension is playing havoc with many of my thought transfers. I feel that too many have not gotten through. The latest barrier has been Hurricane Irma that made a shambles of Puerto Rico and Florida. You may be aware of it. There has been three or four others in that area lately. Trying to communicate between dimensions can be challenging, to say the least.    Something has been happening to me and I want to share it with you. For the last couple of weeks now, I have been feeling as if I have a new lease on life. I know that sounds silly. But it is true! I am not making it up. I feel closer to you. I feel closer to most people. I feel a renewal. I feel as if I am looking through fresh eyes. It is almost a feeling of joy to be alive.  It is quite amazing. I have never felt this way before in my entire life. Everything is new and fresh and I want to give everyone a hug and say, "Enj