Patience.<\/p>\n
HUH? \u00a0Patience is not something I naturally have in abundance. Ask anyone who has known me for more than five minutes. \u00a0 But in this day and age, who does have patience? \u00a0We are a generation of convenience. \u00a0 Our food is fast, our information is free, \u00a0and our streaming is instant. \u00a0We binge watch our favorite shows because we can’t stand to wait a week in between episodes. \u00a0Instant gratification has become our norm.<\/p>\n
And then I got cancer.<\/p>\n
When you are diagnosed with cancer, you want answers and treatment instantly. \u00a0 Every moment is an eternity knowing that the cancer is there inside of you, growing with gleeful abandon (sort of like a malignant Johnny Appleseed). \u00a0 But then you have to wait. \u00a0You wait for available appointments with the doctors who will become your team (probably more doctors than you have ever seen in your life to date). \u00a0You sit in waiting rooms, exam rooms, and treatment rooms, waiting for it to be your turn. \u00a0You wait hours, days, and weeks for results from blood tests and scans. \u00a0You wait for side effects to wane, and for medications to kick in. \u00a0Wait – it’s literally and figuratively a four-letter word.<\/p>\n
And there is typically nothing you can do about it. \u00a0Yes, you can make calls and firmly nag, which sometimes helps, but in the end, our healthcare system is a big, hairy monster who does what it wants. \u00a0Which leaves you with two options: \u00a0lose your mind, or learn patience.<\/p>\n
For me, I usually take my tablet or a book with me to doctor’s appointments and procedures in anticipation of the inevitable waits. \u00a0I look forward to catching up on HGTV in the waiting room while waiting for appointments \u00a0(What renovation miracle will Chip and Joanna perform this week???). \u00a0While waiting for results, \u00a0I focus on my life. \u00a0I can’t change what might happen in a few days, but I can live today like it counts. \u00a0Because it does.<\/p>\n
Leo Tolstoy said, \u201cThe strongest of all warriors are these two \u2014 Time and Patience.\u201d \u00a0 All due respect to Leo, but he is missing one. \u00a0Along with time and patience, there is a third element of strength – the beautiful pink warriors that I am proud to call my sisters. \u00a0Surviving cancer is all about taking it one step at a time, \u00a0and patiently completing each obstacle in your journey. \u00a0And knowing that you will always be waiting – for follow-up tests and visits, as well as the possible recurrence. \u00a0 You never escape from it.<\/p>\n
So if you are newly diagnosed and feel like everything is happening in slow motion (or not at all), know that patience will come your way. \u00a0And you will emerge with a new outlook, a renewed sense of yourself, and, quite possibly, the ability and vision to turn a run-down mid-century ranch “Fixer upper” into a modern home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Patience. HUH? \u00a0Patience is not something I naturally have in abundance. Ask anyone who has known me for more than five minutes. \u00a0 But in this day and age, who does have patience? \u00a0We are a generation of convenience. \u00a0 Our food is fast, our information is free, \u00a0and our\u2026 Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4],"tags":[5,6,7,8],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1070,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions\/1070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}