The most difficult thing about getting cancer is that it took over a year for the seriousness of my diagnosis to sink in.
I did not do much work for about 1.5 years and started doing manual labor, as my back permitted, this April.
The manual labor has been good as I have gotten stronger, lost weight and have gotten back into the work flow with everyone else.
What to Do Next?
Now I have the difficult task of trying to figure out what to do next. I used to work in the semiconductor business.
But I wish to avoid working in a highly stressful environment as I think stress, frustration and anger helped trigger the cancer in the first place.
In this regard working from home would be nice if I can find a job that permits this.
Another consideration though is how the cancer has changed my thought process. A lot of this was having the time off to do a lot of thinking and reading and being confronted with my own mortality.
This has led me to think – am I really using the skills I have in a manner that makes the world or even just a few peoples’ lives better???
I believe we are all connected and one, yet the biggest illusion on the planet is that we are separate. This veil of separateness, along with fear, results in a lot of behavior that is not conducive to the well being of the separate parts and hence the whole. No different than cancer in part of one’s body is not good for the rest of it.
So if 500 million people go hungry tonight somewhere on the planet then this is a cancer that affects the rest of us and when enough realize this then the problem will be addressed and cured.
I would like to engage in work that helps others and am still not sure what this work will be or should be.
In conclusion, I think life is about helping each other and this is what I intend to do going forward as a career.
Monday Night Cancer Club is a Daily Kos group focused on dealing with cancer, primarily for cancer survivors and caregivers, though clinicians, researchers, and others with a special interest are also welcome. Volunteer diarists post Monday evenings between 7-8 PM ET on topics related to living with cancer, which is very broadly defined to include physical, spiritual, emotional and cognitive aspects. Mindful of the controversies endemic to cancer prevention and treatment, we ask that both diarists and commenters keep an open mind regarding strategies for surviving cancer, whether based in traditional, Eastern, Western, allopathic or other medical practices. This is a club no one wants to join, in truth, and compassion will help us make it through the challenge together.