OF FAITH AND FABLES

By Bob Haynes

Accentuating The Positive – A Cancer Survivor

 

My friend Gordie, who lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has been a great help to me in terms of both understanding the processes of fighting cancer and more specifically how important attitude is when it comes to a successful fight against that illness. We met Gordie and his wife Viv in Mission del Lago in Ajijic, Mexico.

Gordie is a cancer survivor and his story has given me hope from day one. He and his wife Viv were among the first we contacted about my diagnosis and they have been in correspondence with Marci and me since, giving advice and counsel and providing mental tips to use during chemo.

One of the first ideas he placed on my heart was the statement that he used each and every day as he thought about the enemy he was facing. “I imagined this cancer as a huge block of ice,” Gordie said, “and then I visualized what the chemo treatment was doing which was pouring hot water on that block of ice and melting it down.”

Gordie said that he made a mental note each and every day to think of the tumor as a bit smaller with each chemo treatment and know that the chemo was being effective and that the tumor would one day simply be ready to wash away.

He even expanded upon that concept by figuring out what that washing away concept would look like. He realized that he also needed helpers to totally get rid of the cancer. He would wake up each day, walk thru the doorway into the cylinder and say Good Morning and Thank You for your Help to the men in his crew who would be doing the actual work. Several men were there with specific jobs to do. Two would hold high pressure water hoses and spray the sides of the cylinder and two would have large brooms to scrub away any residue of the cancer to allow the cylinder to rid itself of all remnants of the cancer treatment and they would continue to do so until the cancer was flushed out completely.

I know his story has value because I too now begin my day by imagining that scalding hot water being poured over the cancer ice block and looking to my friends who are helping is so many ways and say to all of you, “Good Morning and Thank You” for what you are doing on my behalf.

The only difference between my story and Gordi’s is that I am referring to you prayer warriors who fill the heavens with your prayers of concern and hope. My cancer tumor is shrinking. That’s the good news…and the goal is now to find a way to put it into remission. My way of thinking about that brings back Gordie’s vision of the cylinder and the process of keeping the cancer from coming back.

I hope the story I’ve relayed to you will be important and that you can tell others who may be in the same situation some unique ways to accentuate the positive during a time of true crisis. That old 1940’s song now has a new meaning for me thanks to Gordie. “You gotta accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don’t mess with Mister In-Between.” Shalom

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