My Story: Why I love working with cancer patients

Welcome to another “episode” of Fireside Fridays! For millennia, people have always gathered around the fire to talk, connect, engage with their community, eat, nourish themselves and keep warm in the surrounding environment.  

Today, we have the same needs as people but gathering around the fire is less common. So, we create a modern version where we can gather, share stories, gain insights and connect with our community!

So gather ‘round, Ladies, and let’s talk....

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Why do I love working with cancer patients?

People seem to universally approve of me working with people who are experiencing cancer.  They thank me for my service, rather like the US population does with it’s veterans.  I can see the parallel, going to war on cancer like a country does an enemy.  Cancer is a worthy adversary and no mistake.  But public approval is not the reason I love working with cancer patients.  

Truth is, cancer is a very real force in our world.  It has cut a swath of devastation and shows no signs of stopping.  It would be so easy to try to forget about it.  Until it happens to you, or someone you love. With 50% of our population being diagnosed cancer, chances are your life will be affected in some way or another, whether personally or by proxy.  

So why work with such a big beast? Isn’t it better to either ignore beasts in hopes they will go away, or tie them up, cage them? Why “let” a beast run rampant over the landscape? Yes, most would say, best not to engage with a beast.  Stay away as long as possible.

People also ask me, doesn’t it make you sad working with cancer patients? Well, yes, to be truthful, sometimes it does make me sad.  I am an empath; I feel people very acutely, so sometimes it physically hurts me to see the burns, scars, blackened skin, broken fingernails, lost hair.  And I’m not even the one going through it! 

However, what strikes me again and again is the stellar human spirit which arises at such a cross-roads as when a person gets diagnosed with cancer.  People start to wake up to their own mortality, of how they have been living, recognizing they can no longer afford to put themselves last in line, that they need to make real change. 

I am very fortunate to be able to witness this! That people allow me to lay my hands on their most vulnerable wounds and make a difference in their lives is a high honour!  To hear their stories, insights, struggles and positive life evolutions is remarkable.  It’s so REAL.  

Sadly, cancer is not going away.  Our environment is only getting more toxic, which I hope as a society we will stem PDQ.  A base belief I carry about human’s place on the planet is that we are a cell within the larger biosphere that is Earth.  We contribute to the wellbeing of the planet, when we are functioning sustainably, much like a red blood cell or a liver cell does.  We have a part to play in the overall picture of planetary health.  

I also believe that human behaviour towards the planet has mutated to such degree it has become like a cancer that the planet is having trouble healing from.  This Micro/Macro connection, I believe, is one reason we are so prevalently manifesting cancer in our own bodies: because we are fundamentally one and the same being, As Above, So Below.

So, what to do?

I believe we need to talk to cancer.  In the metaphysical sense.  Learn from it.  Why is it here? What is it trying to tell us? Meditate on the issue until the deeper meaning of it’s existence becomes clear.  What lies at the heart of cancer? What makes it’s heart beat?

I am sure it is here for a reason and I feel called to figure out why.  I believe The Call is coming from the collective human unconscious, from the planet, from our waters and wild animals.  It is a problem that must be confronted and resolved from the spiritual down to the material, within humans and nature alike.  I hear the call and am responding. 

This calling is filled with meaning, purpose, trust and faith.  I have met people who are also working diligently to improve the lives of others.  There is a collective net of hearts, minds and intentions tightening on cancer to improve upon the experience of this disease, of understanding how it works in all it’s complexity.  It is urgent.  It is real.  It is just too big to ignore. 

So these are 3 very large reasons why I love working with cancer patients: I get to witness the triumph of the human spirit up close and personal, I get to be a part of a larger cohort of people doing their best to alleviate the disease and associated suffering.  Lastly, I have a very real inner calling that has a larger meaning for both personal and planetary healing.  

It is an amazing, challenging and eternally interesting journey.  I am honoured to be a part of it.  I say “Yes!”, “yes” and yes again....

If you like this story, and think it could be valuable for someone else, please share it! 

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