GETTING SOME PERSPECTIVE

This is part of the conversations I had individually with each of my kids, after we all got over the initial shock of the news...

Cancer is a scary word, and I don't want to view it lightly but I don't want it to have us live our lives in fear and/or worry. I want to be able to talk about it - about cancer itself and how we're all feeling at any given time.

I figure we're all going to have our good days and our bad days, and that's okay. Hopefully, when I'm having a bad day, someone else will be able to cheer me up because they're having a good day. And when one of my kids or husband is having a hard day, hopefully I'll be in a good place, ready and willing to encourage them through whatever it is that has them down. We will continue to be a family that encourages and supports each other.

And we'll continue to be a family that laughs. I think laughter will help us through and be a medicine that will actually do my body and condition good. My diagnosis and treatment has definitely changed the landscape of our lives and will most likely bring hardship, but we can view it as a time of learning, growing, and loving - and I see that as not a bad thing.