My Dad’s Fight for Health, and my Attitude in Dealing with this Cancer

My father has stage IV non-small cell cancer. At least that’s what a doctor told him, though he is unique because there are spots where it has metastasized, but there is no large area where he has it.

Unfortunately it was so serious when he found out. He is going through chemotherapy (just had his 1st round yesterday), and is being responsible medically to get it taken care of.

Fortunately, and happily for me, he is also open to and is doing whatever he can to help his physical health. He is willing to take supplements, drink teas and kombuchas, he started drinking Xango, and he even likes the juices I’ve been making him.

My juicing involves heavy amounts of leafy greens such as kale and spinach, and other veggies like carrots, celery, parsley, cucumbers, maybe even some tomatoes, and fruits like apples or grapes to help the taste, and garlic and ginger for additional flavor and health benefits. It tastes good to me, and it tastes better because I know it is helping my health. I aim to keep making it for him to help keep his body as healthy as possible.

It’s only been about 2 weeks since we found out, and it’s been tough since then. Ups and downs, and a huge mix of emotions. I have been proactive (making juice), and ordering things and reading things and I got the family bracelets and pins and such. I got free books from the R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation, and free pamphlets, brochures, and other helpful informational materials from the Lung Cancer Alliance. They even have a phone buddy program (but I’ve been playing phone tag because I’ve been so busy).

It’s amazing how much hope and inspiration is out there. I was skimming through these books, which I plan to take over to my Dad with some juice in a bit, and I was reading about “approaches” or attitudes with cancer.

My favorite one is this, the one they encourage of course:

“Hope. Hoping is an active process in which one imagines a positive future based on a realistic assessment of the present. Hope does not blot out the bad. Instead, it emphasizes the positive.” (from Fighting Cancer by Annette and Richard Bloch)

The other “approaches” are 2) hope plus denial, 3) total denial, and 4) giving up. I am HOPING my father can allow himself to grow into an appropriate HOPE style. One where he is doing all he can (which he already is doing a good job of), and can factor in the scary parts too, but with a positive outcome as the hopeful end.

I also hope our mixed family can all see this as a time to forgive and forget, and talk about things, and I hope this will help us remember what is important in life.