I could have started this post by talking
about many different kinds of warriors. I do love stories about them. No, no,
this is not a text about knights or warriors, I mean, it is a post about a very
specific fighter: my cousin.
If you have read until this
second paragraph, you are about to understand what I meant about FIGHTER. Well,
at least, you will have the opportunity to get the gist of the post because it
will be displayed here for a long time, since this is certainly going to be the
last one published here on Portal da Língua Inglesa this
year.
I have lost a cousin to cancer
very recently. In fact, he had been bravely fighting against sarcoma – four long
years, just to be more precisely. I can surely say that he was a brave fighter.
I know how hard it might be to
have a member of your family in need of treatment of a very serious and
dangerous disease – cancer. Well, ever since we did realize it was a very
serious thing to deal with, we tried everything that was possible to help him.
He was only twenty-four when he
passed away last week. Looking at him and saying “everything is going to be all right” was one of the hardest
things that I have ever had to say to someone (especially when you know it is
not true!). It was hard enough to see him (many times) lying down on bed in a
hospital. The oncologist had tried (for four years) everything he could in order
to help him. Provided that he was very young to truly understand what was
really happening, we tried to hide the worst news about his health for
some time. Although, we knew he would eventually figure it out by himself someday.
(And he did it).
Well, I don’t want to bother
anyone with this heavy history about the shots (‘injections’ if you like it) he
had to get, the medicine and the like. In mean, it's terrible when all you
can do is watch helplessly as someone dies - especially someone you love.
I’d rather say that I have
learned something from this whole situation. I did research in order to
understand cancer better. I am obviously not an expert or something like that, but
I know now that this kind of thing has been more, say, usual than we think.
Watch
this video and try to understand what cancer is:
Cancer
will strike more than ten million people worldwide this year. It is estimated
that there will be fifteen million new cases every year by 2020. World Health
Organization)
As you could noticed – after watching
the video – that there are many types of cancers: sarcomas, leukemias,
lymphomas, carcinomas...
I have asked this question on
my profile on QUORA and a person named Geoffrey Walton, who considers
himself a “single father of two amazing boys, nine and seven. UNIX ninja with
degrees in American Literature”, replied to it with this beautiful history
about his daddy:
My father was 74
when they told him that he had liver cancer. Two weeks later, they told him it
was inoperable; that he had, perhaps, 90 days to live. A few days later, he had
his first chemotherapy. He said it was terrible, and decided it would also be
his last.
The doctors told
him he was foolish, that chemo would prolong his life. His reply was
consistent, "I will live longer, but I will feel terrible. Better is
better." Their arguments were persuasive: you'll be in terrible pain,
you'll be in and out of the hospital constantly, you'll need extensive
medication and may be out of your mind. His reply was succinct, "I don't
think so."
Dad lived 16
months; he made it one month past his 45th wedding anniversary. He went to the
hospital for regular checkups, but nothing more. He never took pain meds, nor
appeared to need them. He was lucid - and pleasant - until one day he fell
asleep in his own bed, holding my mother's hand, and didn't wake up.
Better is better.
Having read this answer to my
question: What is better in life,
quality or quantity? Reminded me of my cousin and the whole thing he had to
pass through. I mean, I expected something completely different from that
response, but it made me feel how reassuring it was to know that even in such
bad moments I could find motivation to carry on. Sometimes we all need a little
extra motivation to go on – it is hard, I know, but necessary.
I could finish this last post
by saying many things, but right now, I prefer to say goodbye and rest in
peace, my dear friend.
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| Mazurkiewiz de Almeida Martins |
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