16 Tevet, 5775
I'm uncomfortable with the mass media's dismissal of "Oh, if you have cancer, it's a matter of bad luck" motif. It is NONSENSE!
Someone with a deadly diagnosis has far more to deal with than a roll of never-seen dice. Lifestyle factors, mindsets, unknown exposures to toxins and more are known causative factors in cancer and other disease processes.
The phenomenon of why some people become ill but not others has been studied and the findings shared.
Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to read over my shoulder once again:
Dismissive attitudes and cruel reactions to ill people are arrogant behaviors.
Arrogance is a cover-up for cowardice.
The reason for the long title of the
book is that when I tearfully asked acquaintances to pray for me to recover from a BENIGN BRAIN TUMOR that was killing me, one of them remarked that I had no right to cry, as GOD only gives us what we can handle.
I responded that GOD invites us to cry as a form of communication. I supplied my readers with a license to cry with the relevant Talmudic quote. You don't have to be Jewish to have a relationship with GOD ;^ ).
BTW, once the tears have been shed, we are free to strategize our coping efforts. That's why I used a chess motif on the book's cover.
I bet you'll like the Lessons for Caregivers pages to share with your medical team. Let individual medical professionals read pages 31, 42, and 54-55 in your copy of the book.
Ready to take on life, and to bypass the naysayers? Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.
Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.
Feel free to leave dissers behind you.
2 comments:
Shalom!
What are people supposed to think when so many testimonies of people with cancer have included the phrase, "I'm going to fight this!"?
When people use the battle metaphor they do it as a sign of respect for people who did what they could to cure themselves - yes I am aware that "there is no cure for cancer" - and didn't say, "I have cancer. I guess that's it." Which is not to say that people with cancer who are offended by the battle metaphor shouldn't voice their opinions or should agree with it, but the writer doesn't seem to be taking into account how cancer is portrayed to the general public.
I also don't agree with the comparisons used in the letter. Comparing cancer with being hit by a drunk driver? Apples and oranges.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Hadassa. I am deeply startled at the stance of Johns Hopkins. See http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/bad_luck_of_random_mutations_plays_predominant_role_in_cancer_study_shows
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