Chicken Soup for the Cancer Survivor's Soul Read Free Page A

will comfort, aid and inspire all who have been confronted with this challenge. It is also our hope that this book will be a wake-up call for those of you who don’t have cancer—we hope that it will give you some of the insights without having to personally go through the struggles.
    And to those of you who are currently battling cancer, we invite you to let these stories touch you to the depths of your soul and give you the faith, hope and courage to fight and to win because others have come before you and done so. May their stories light your way through the dark nights. We send you our love and our blessings and the love and blessings of all the people who participated in this project. They all care...and they know what you are facing and what is possible.
    Share These Stories with Others
    Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.
    Albert Schweitzer
    Some of the stories you read will move you to share them with someone else—another patient, survivor, family member, friend or caregiver. When that happens, take the time to call or visit and share the story with that individual. We promise you that you will get something even deeper for yourself from sharing the stories with others.
    How to Read This Book
    One reader of the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book wrote us that she read the book in one sitting of four hours and in that time totally released all the flu symptoms she had! We know that reading this book can affect your immune system. Pretty amazing!
    Actually, we don’t recommend you read the book all in one sitting. Take your time. Enjoy it. Savor it. Engage each of the stories with your whole being. Reading a book like this is a little like sitting down to eat a meal of all desserts. It may be a little too rich to digest all at once. Take time to experience the story’s effect. Listen to the words in your heart as well as your mind. Let each story touch you. Ask yourself, What does it awaken in me? What does it suggest for my life? What feeling or action does it call forth from my inner being? We encourage you to have a personal relationship with every story.
    Some stories will speak louder to you than others. Some will have deeper meaning. Some will make you laugh; some will make you cry. Some will give you a warm feeling all over; some may hit you right between the eyes. There is no right reaction; there is only your reaction. Let it happen and let it be.

1
ON HOPE
    H oping means seeing that the outcome you want is possible, and then working for it.
    Bernie S. Siegel, M.D.

What Cancer Cannot Do
    Cancer is so limited—
    It cannot cripple love
It cannot shatter hope
It cannot corrode faith
It cannot destroy peace
It cannot kill friendship
It cannot suppress memories
It cannot silence courage
It cannot invade the soul
It cannot steal eternal life
It cannot conquer the spirit.
    Source Unknown

The Soul Menders
    During the first months following my cancer diagnosis, I wouldn’t acknowledge any kind of healing but physical healing. I wasn’t interested in techniques that could help me cope better or extend my life expectancy by a few months; mere remission or “quality of life” didn’t capture my attention either. Full recovery was the only option I would accept, and I was willing to do anything and go anywhere to achieve it.
    When my surgeries and radiation treatments were over, I found myself in that frightening twilight zone of life after treatment. The doctors had done all they could and I was on my own to wonder if I’d be alive or dead by the following year. For the sake of my sanity, I tried hard to convince myself and anyone else who would listen that I was doing just fine and that cancer was no death sentence. My motto became, “I don’t write off cancer patients.” I was ferocious and flailing.
    Only two weeks earlier, my lover and I had parted ways. I felt confused and frightened