There are many writings on cancer from the perspective of a patient. Perhaps there are less from the family and friends of a cancer patient. Not taking away anything from these patients, in which I had seen many a great resolute and strength, this short pen is a take from a bedside observer.
As always in everyday life, the fact that death is inevitable is hardly expected to feature as part of the daily timeline. Any timeline for that matter. Call it what you may, this automatic shelving at times is like misplacing reading glasses. The finer print is gleaned over as a smudge of ink.
From certain perspectives this view of being diagnosed with cancer is a death sentence may be construed as negative and can be seen to impede a "cure". Many books on dealing with cancer propagate "positive" thoughts as a requirement to fight the disease. Positive thoughts loosely translate to believing that the cancer will go away. An antithesis to cancer will kill or translated into medical mumbo jumbo, "poor prognosis". From experience treatments do give hope not only to the patients but also to the family and friends of patients, that the cancer will go away. What may have then been easily missed is that the point of treatment should really be if it does provide a window of well being before the inevitable.
The last two years of my father's life was a checkered one for me. There was a window of well being that did provide a semblance of normalcy. In that sense, the objective of the treatment by way of a liver resection was achieved. It did provide the opportunity for me to do certain things together which by reason of medical logic and probabilities would not have been possible because of the course the cancer would have taken had the resection procedure among other things not been done.
On hindsight, I could have done better in my father's last years. Yes it was life as usual mainly save for the hospitalisation periods in between. There are many more things that ought to have been said and done with the proper realisation that cancer is more often than not, a final call. Positive hopes for me meant postponing quality moments and experience. I believe the actions, wishes and hopes of those that surround a cancer patient would be different and more refined with the awareness our own mortality. Of course, it is not the intention to propagate Bollywood melodramas into real life but theatrics aside, we are living on a timeline.
كُلُّ نَفۡسٍ۬ ذَآٮِٕقَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيۡنَا تُرۡجَعُونَ
"Every soul will taste of death. Then unto Us ye will be returned."
Surah An-Kabuut 29:57 (Pickthall translation)
If any of your loved ones are diagnosed with cancer, change.. to live your life the fullest with them.