Sixteen and victorious!

I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer stage 3. Underwent chemotherapy and cobalt therapy and I was bald as a consequence of the former. While under chemo treatment, my skin, fingernails and toenails were blackened and I was very pale. Became very skinny like a broom stick. Would always be wearing my wig in and out of the house, despite the discomfort, coz I couldn't stand the sight of myself in the mirror looking horrendous and helpless. I couldn’t eat enough and was always puking. There were mornings when I wouldn’t want to stand up from bed no matter how much encouragement hubby would give me. He’d ask me to go shopping for my favorite stuff but I thought it would be useless thinking I would die anytime soon, anyway. Friends who visited me were not all helpful but rather made me feel worse. To tell someone who’s sick of cancer that you really pity her is not a consolation but rather a painful affirmation of hopelessness, I told them so and they were sorry. I did what has to be done. I followed each and every detail of doctor’s orders and prescriptions. I religiously guarded my health by having my routine check ups every year. I began to have a better view of what really life is. I read the book - Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale and it helped me a lot. I still remember a passage from it which says, “Your obstacles are present all right. They are not fanciful but they are not difficult as they seem. Your mental attitude is the most important factor. Believe that Almighty God has put in you the power to lift yourself out of the rough by keeping an eye firmly fixed in the source of your power.” In my case, I have been telling myself “Cancer is only in my mind. I think victory- I get victory!” I would also imagine my little kids then who were 10 and 6 years old to be grown-ups. I was doing it almost everyday and every night for years. Now, 16 years after my diagnosis on December 14, 1992, I am cancer free. I’m so grateful to live my second life and see my children mature. Life is full of obstacles but anything can be conquered if we will believe in the power of almighty God! I am very blessed to have survived Breast Cancer. Today is my sixteenth year anniversary of survival. ... Yes, sixteen and victorious! Thank GOD!