My grandmother was diagnosed with non small cell Lung Cancer. It's the type of cancer that cannot be cured, but can be fought. We started out with really high hopes as a family as she began her first rounds of treatment with Radiation and Chemo-Therapy. It all was going well and she suffered little to no side effects for a good long time. In fact it was going so well that we all nearly forgot that she even had cancer to begin with.
The doctors and nurses at the Cancer Center that she goes to have been some of the most phenomenal people I have met in my life! They have all been so caring and concerned for her from the very start, and that concern continues to this day.
Recently this with her diagnosis changed, a small tumor was found on the bone of her rib. This new development was rough as it caused her a decent amount of pain. So much in fact that she went through several very strong pain medicines only to not be able to take most of them due to side effects. This time, as her Chemo medication changed she started to show more and more side effects, and it sort of hit us again......she has Cancer.
The ups and downs we've experienced since are the equivalent of taking a roller coaster ride from the top of Mt. Everest...straight down....then right back up again. It leaves your stomach in knots, causes stress and illness, and leaves you feeling confused and yes at sometimes hopeless.
She has been a fighter since day 1, especially since she was a Breast Cancer Survivor as well. She has been bound and determined not to let this Cancer beat her, and we commend her for that. Seeing the pain she goes through some days though is heart wrenching.
Something people tend to forget about though are the caregivers. The people that stand along side the Cancer patient and fight each day with them. The ones that help to feed, bathe, and care for them. The ones who are up all hours of the night with them, and take them from appointment to appointment with little regard for their own schedule, work or lives. The ones that sit there and watch as a person they love deteriorates before them, gets better, then deteriorates again.
This is what I have been doing this past year. I have been the caregiver for m Grandmother who is suffering with Lung Cancer. Each day is a battle for all of us, and there are some days where I am surprised that we find the strength to move on at all.
To all those that are suffering with any form of Cancer, or those that have lost loved ones dear to them because of it. Please take a moment each day to pray, send energy, and love to the patients, the caregivers, the families, and the Doctors and Nurses that care for them as well.
