Cancer Patient Forum

   Starting in the second year in  Cancer Quick Facts  down below there is a comment section.  With  my  biggest goal   for  this  second  year  being  cancer patients  having  a place  to  come.  A top tag of  sharing stories  with  other  visitants  of  this  website  their “success stories.”  Describing the types  of  cancers they  have  or  had and what they did or tryed  to  do….  to  overcome  their  particular  situation.   My  basic  belief  is  that  by  sharing information…. Interesting Facts About Cancer….maybe these  cancer survivors  can  help  someone  else  by  learning  Facts About Cancer Online ….from  those  coming  before them…. what was learned or experienced…???

  This response came through my website 12/21/2012 and an early Christmas  present     it was: Thank You… Cameron & Heather Von St. James  for the share.  Hopefully it will assist  the visitants of Solitarius.org

Being A Cancer Caregiver

    My wife has told me that she can’t imagine what I went through after      her cancer diagnosis.  As her husband  and  her primary caregiver during   her cancer fight, it truly was a difficult time for me.  I hope that by sharing my story here, I can help another family currently battling through cancer today.

  Three months before her diagnosis we had Lily, our first and only child.   We went from great joy and promise to fear  and  uncertainity in a matter  of weeks. When we heard mesothelioma  for the  first time,  my wife cried from the news. I thought, “How are we going to get through this?”  On the   verge of  breaking down,  the doctors questions about  future medical care snapped me back to reality. There would be many days from then on when    I would feel emotionally spent….  yet still need to make difficult decisions with my wife.

   Immediately  following  this  diagnosis,  I  was  full  of  rage  and  fear.          I  struggled  to  control my emotions  and  could  only  communicate with others with profanity.  I  realized that I had to be strong  for my wife and  daughter. They were depending on me and couldn’t see my fear. I needed     to be a source of hope and stability for them.

  However on many days  I  was  overwhelmed.  I dealt  with  everything from work and travel arrangements, to caring for our daughter and pets, but I learned  to  focus  on  the most important tasks.  I  also  accepted  the many offers of  help we received  from others,  which were a blessing.  I’m not sure what I would have done without the support of our loving family and friends.

   Following her surgery in Boston at the Brigham and Womens Hospital. Heather had flown to South Dakota, where Lily had been staying with her parents.  Where  she  had  to  recover  and  prepare  for  her  next  phase  of  mesothelioma treatment:  chemotherapy and radiation.  Because I had to remain at  home  to  work,  I could  not  join  them.  Which during this time  (spanning two months)  I saw them only once.

   On a Friday afternoon after work,  I drove eleven hours through a snow storm,  and I could only spend  a  little time with them that weekend before driving back for work on Monday.  It was the most sensible choice.  I could  not have cared  for Heather and  Lily while working full time.  It  was  just one of the many difficult choices that cancer forces us to make.

  What I learned  during this challenging time was to accept offers of help from others  and  to  take comfort in the ability to make choices.  It’s a way to maintain a level of  control during a time of  such uncertainity.  Despite  all of  the struggles  and  the  overwhelming  odds  against her,  Heather  is  still here, healthy  and  helping others over seven years later.  I hope that   our story can give inspiration and help those currently battling cancer. 

                                                                                    Cameron Von St. James

                                                                                        Roseville, Minnesota

 

It Takes Creative  Flow To Overcome

    An accomplished singer  and song writer with gold,  platinum albums        to her name or quite simply penning Faith Hill’s  “This Kiss,”  a life  filled with obstacles. For Beth Nielsen Chapman  47  it met a life interrupted by breast cancer  and who only lost her husband  Edward  6 years  earlier to lymphoma.  Edwards life was overwhelming  and totally devastating but  yet Beth  found a way to get through both events.

   As she managed to get up most morning and somehow made it through   the day with life moving ahead.  She  felt peace in the midst of  all the pain and in the song  World Hurt,  she wrote and sang, What the heart knows… the heart see’s  we  are  just  as  much the  forest  as we are the trees.  It’s  a given it takes a lot of  heart  and soul to get us through the adversity that’s    handed to us in our daily life.

    Another testament of  song  getting  us  through  difficulty comes  from New York City Native Matthew Zachary. When a young gifted pianist who dreamed of  composing  film score  in  only  his  senior  year of  college and everything  changes  with  a  diagnosis of  a  cancerous brain tumor.  Than after  a  seven hour surgery,  he  begin  an intense round of  chemotherapy which leaves him weakened and depressed.

   Therefore,  ultimately  letting  music  be  his  song  and  chooses  not  to undergo  a  further round of  chemotherapy  and  instead  then  focuses  on regaining his ability to play the piano.  In 2000 he releases his  first album   of  original  material  “Scribblings.”   Today   Zachary’s   cancer  is  in   full remission  as  he  performs  his  music around the country.  As  he  puts  his energy into helping young people cope with cancer…. through his website Cancer  Is  Stupid  (I’m Too Young For This.)


 

 

  

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