I hate cancer.

That's such an obvious statement. I don't know anyone on the planet who would disagree with it. Right now, I really, truly, honestly despise it.

There are so many-- too many-- people this very moment who are fighting and so many families who are hurting because of this awful mutation of cells.

I work a lot with patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Many children from here in south Louisiana are in treatment. When a mother says, "he's not cancer free, but he's doing so much better" or "the cancer is stable," and they can rejoice in that is victory for them. But I want it gone. And so do they.

One of my sweet friends at St. Jude is not doing well. He's only 16. Cancer has taken a lot from him, including a leg, over the last five years. He has managed to maintain a beautiful smile, a winning personality, and a will to live when most adults would have curled into a fetal position and faded away.

A coworker lost her mother very recently to this monster. It was such a blessing for me to watch from a distance them celebrating every moment they had left together, smiling and loving life. I'm not sure she will ever know what a gift that was to those of us who got to experience it. I wish I could give her the joy she gave us in those photos to help her get through the pain of losing her mom.

Another woman I know from my hometown who has been fighting a brave battle with breast cancer for about a year has been told there "aren't any good options left." This is her second bout with cancer, although it was a different type the first time. She's about 44-years-old and has four school-aged children. She and her husband had to explain to them what the situation is.

I'm so upset for each of these families, I could scream.

 

From "I Hate Cancer" Facebook Page
From "I Hate Cancer" Facebook Page
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Then, I stop and catch my breath because in all that seemingly unbearable sorrow is a light that cancer can't put out.

All of these beautiful, remarkable people remember to be grateful for the time they are given, for the laughs they can share with their families, and they stand fast in their faith. The amazing woman who deserves a miracle, just like every one of them does writes:

It isn't over until God says it's over, so we will continue to pray for a healing miracle and if that's not in the cards then we pray for God's divine consolation for us.... It'll be alright either way this turns out.

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