Winning Cancer

If one more person tells me that having a positive outlook on life is what can save someone from dying of cancer – I will drop kick them AND bitch slap them all at once. OK, I would at least trip them. I have learned that a positive attitude is not enough. It is essential. It is beautiful. It is full of awesomeness, but that alone is just not enough. A positive outlook, some magic juice mixed with some vitamins, aromatherapy oils and good old-fashioned great attitude will not save you from dying from cancer. When I hear that theory I want to tell people:

They can just shove that theory right up their you-know-whats.

Now Before you jump through the phone/computer and tell me that I am wrong.wrong.wrong. I am going to tell you that I do believe in filling our bodies with health, nutrition, vitamins, minerals and a lot of water.  

Copious quantities of water

• I believe in aromatherapy mostly because it smells so damn good
• I believe in trying alternative medicine
• I believe in praying
• I believe in loving life
• I believe in doing everything humanly possible to live live live.
• I believe in learning how to laugh, cry and sip your wine without it coming out of your nose (P.S. That is a cancer survival skill)

It is still not enough.

We need each other. We need a small village of support. We need to stick together like glue. Without it, we become…well…unglued. We fall apart at the seams. We need a support system beyond belief. We need modern medicine. We need our friends. Our family. Our children. Doctors. Nurses. Complete strangers. Health care workers. Wine. Tequila. Whatever floats your boat.

We need to recognize that sometimes the smallest, kindest move is MONUMENTAL to another soul. Even if we HUG with our words.

But is it enough? Is it really enough????!!!

I have known and loved so many beautiful souls with cancer. Each one did all the right things and yet….they died. I have also met others who have smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish and lived to be 102 years old. Cancer can be like Russian roulette. You never know when the gun is loaded and who it’s going to shoot. There can be no rhyme or reason.

So why not try a paradigm shift? Through the sadness, find some fun. Honor the sad moments and cry. Then leave them behind you and find some great ways to make the best of the journey. Why not just suck it up and have a great time? Hoot and holler and embarrass yourself. Who cares?

I thank each one of you for all the beautiful moments, epic moments and good times. Letting me vent without judgment. I am still saddened that good people die. Friends and family who do everything in their power to live….die. It happens. Every. Single. Day. So now I honor that. I honor that when someone tells me that they have cancer…. I listen. I don’t tell them that they will be fine. That they will beat it. I think that it makes them feel small to say those words. As if what they are doing is not enough (that’s how it makes me feel anyway).

Because if we don’t beat it, we failed??!!

Well, bullshit.

We WON because we are living a life that We love. Because We are Fighting this with all we have, so that alone makes us winners.

So screw you, CANCER. You never win.

By, Katie Gorman

Follow Katie on the Facebook Group, “Steve And Steph’s Journey Against Cancer: No One Fights Alone”