via Daily Prompt: Complication
Word to the Wise
Words, whether written, read, heard, or said, are powerful. The power brings emotion; joy, sorrow, concern, abandon, love, hate are a few of the plethora of feeling that comes from the word. Words can also bring complication.
If old enough, we remember where we were when we heard of J.F. Kennedy’s assassination, the words stunning the adults around us. Or perhaps it was learning of the 9-1-1 tragedy that brings us to a time of grief and sorrow. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech, “I Have a Dream”, or hearing your baby cry out to you for the first time brings tears of joy.
Tilt-A-Whirl…or Was That Tilt-A-World?
We’ve all had personal conversations, bringing joy or sorrow, into our own lives. Do you remember learning that you had cancer, or perhaps that a loved one did? The c-word is a tough one in my family as cancer is a prolific taker of lives for us. We have waited for information, finding out about cancer diagnosis, and learning how to readjust to the complication cancer brings to family and friends.
For me, after a routine checkup with my doctor in 2015 and my questioning a worrisome spot I noticed on my face, it was on to a dermatologist. Always healthy, I was good with all of this, no worries and no fear, and then…a friend…said “Oh, a biopsy? Well, that is a terrifying word that none of us want to deal with.” YIKES! Now I was nervous. Amazing how the power of words can skew our thoughts “in an instance”.
The dermatologist visit went well and biopsy done, no worries, right? Until the phone call. “In an instance”, my world tilted in a different way. “Your biopsy showed melanoma. This is very serious and I can suggest an oncologist, a surgeon, and some other medical professionals you will need to help you. Janis, this is very serious. You could die if left untreated”. I’m not sure I even heard another word, the loud crashing of cancer and life’s complications roared through my head. Wait! This isn’t how I planned my life to go.
It’s Really What You Do With It
Hope, that is what we cancer patients have. That and a lot of medical genius to navigate the challenges of such disease. Processing a cancer diagnosis is a network of emotions, challenges, obstacles, and re-envisioning of life. Those words, “you have cancer”, open the floodgates to so much; fear, anger, sorrow, to name just a few, come pouring over us. Processing our new life, the complications of not-the-life you wished for, is probably the greatest challenge for many of us.
Those words, change you forever, bring you to a new place. Life is tricky enough, right? It’s processing and learning how to incorporate this c-word complication that is crucial to our changing lives. Finding the beauty in your modified life may just be around the next corner. Bring your hope to the forefront and allow the happy energy to guide you because “in an instance”, you will help yourself and those you love.
#melanomatheskinwerein #sunsmarts #melanoma
We can-cer vive!
Janis
Melanoma: The Skin We're In 