Cancer Survivor: Now What?

After a long intense battle against cancer all I wanted was to receive the news that I was cancer free. All my efforts and mindset were to reach that milestone. Well after what seemed like an eternity the day finally came when I was told by the oncologist those words I so dreamed of hearing “You are in remission” (A.K.A Cancer Free). After the initial shock and overwhelming joy of hearing those words, I quickly realized that my celebration was cut short due to the new intense number of hurdles I was told I had ahead of me. You see once you are classified as a cancer survivor, you are given massive amount of information on statistics of having a possible relapse of the same type of cancer, or the probability of having other types of cancers as well as other types of life threating illnesses that could occur as a result of treatment received during the cancer battle.  All of this information is overwhelming and worrisome to say the least especially to someone who just endured such an intense and difficult cancer battle and was ready for some peace.  

My mind started racing with questions like “What if I do have a relapse, for my type of cancer, the likelihood of surviving is slim and could I even endure the treatment? “Fear and negative thoughts occupied my mind as I read through the information.  I felt my whole world crumbling once again and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I felt like I was trapped inside a never-ending nightmare. Until finally my internal voice of reason (A.KA. God) kicked in my mind, and said STOP!  Clear your mind and don’t let those negative thoughts ruin your joy from knowing you are a cancer survivor.  I told myself, during your cancer battle, you would build walls to prevent any fear or negative thoughts from taking over to be able to be mentally strong and be able to fight.  Why are you allowing these thoughts to slip into your mind, now that you are a cancer survivor?  Nope, that’s not going to happen, you need to stay in a positive state of mind in order to continue to be mentally and physically well.  I told myself you could either be a professional worrier and be afraid at every turn and not live your best life or move forward with a positive attitude and achieve the endless possibilities at your 2nd chance to live.  

As a cancer survivor and a human being, I am aware that I have complete control over my thoughts and actions. Also, I acknowledge that the mind is too valuable to allow negative thoughts to enter.  When negative thoughts or fear start to creep in and fester, God always reminds me that I need to erase those thoughts from my mind and replace them with positive thoughts.  Even though it is a difficult task some days I always strive to change my mind set to be filled with positive thoughts which will allow positive energy to flow through my body and in turn produce positive results.

#BePositive