beginnings

Hello, and welcome to the Straight Path. I opened this blog to have a place to share my experiences as a cancer patient. I was diagnosed 9+ years ago with prostate cancer. Since then, there have been many mountains and valleys, but I'm so thankful that I haven't been alone. You may have been invited here, or directed here by a friend or family member. Maybe you're just curious, or maybe you're like me. One thing I'm aware of is that you go through several stages in dealing with cancer. Not just the progression of the disease, but also stages of stress, acceptance, disappointment, joy, and many other types of highs and lows. In future posts, I will attempt to recall my whole experience as faithfully as possible, but I want to say up front, there is always hope! I believe the worst thing you can possibly do is give up hope. Dealing with cancer is a constant fight, mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and many times as a cancer patient, you are just left to yourself to try and figure out how to keep yourself engaged, and confident that the sun will come up tomorrow for you, just like it does for everyone else.

Mentally- There are challenges concerning the ability to keep up with your job. Questions come into your mind that will challenge your confidence in being a provider. Also, how long will I be able to have a good quality of life? Should I make a decision on a major purchase or not? How will I be able to pay the medical bills? Not all the mental challenges concern finances, but you can see, among other things, it is a very present reality.

Spiritually- I have known of people who have gone through disease, treatment, recovery, and more, backwards and forwards with no regard for any spiritual comfort at all. I have seen people put their trust in different types of  spiritual remedies, because they answer what they consider to be the biggest problem...How will this help me fight this disease? I am not here to say that either of these outlooks has any more merit than the other. People do what they want to do. But consider this: If God were to offer you your life back as it was before cancer, would you take it? Of course you would! What if God offered to not only see you all the way through cancer, but personally escort you over to the other side into eternal life? That possibility is more real than anything else even comes close to. We will talk about that some more later.

Physically- Any health professional will tell you about the importance that diet and exercise will play in your management of cancer. There are many diets out there designed expressly for cancer patients. I will post some, and give links to others, but when you research, just be aware, there are people out there who will take advantage of you because they know you are searching.

Emotionally- Many of us bottle up about bad news. Many of us have to share every thought we have. There is a whole spectrum out there, and everybody fits in somewhere. I believe we can all learn from each other. Again, I will post articles and links, that I believe might be helpful.

I would also like to make clear that I am not a health professional in any aspect, or capacity whatsoever. I may share information that I have received from health professionals that I have dealt with, but I myself do not dispense medical advice or diagnosis. Well, I'd like to thank you for visiting, I hope you will stop by again,  God Bless you, and stay healthy!