A guest post by an anonymous writer, which will be an ongoing series.
If you asked anyone who is going through or has gone through cancer treatment of any type, they would tell you it is a lonely journey. One part of what makes it a lonely journey is that there is a lot of time spent going through parts of it literally alone. During treatments, after surgeries, at some or all doctor appointments, at tests, while resting, in the middle of the night due to insomnia, and others. These moments are lonely. Sometimes they are scary.
Another part of what makes it so lonely is that no one can truly understand all a person facing cancer is going through unless they have been there themselves. And people may not be readily available for support when it is needed. The best people to relate are those who have gone through it themselves. However, these are not the best people to ask for support, especially practical support, as they are going through their own journeys.
Another thing that makes the journey lonely is the length of the journey. In the time it takes to get cancer treatment, people will come and go in our lives. There will be a few people who are there from beginning to end (though the journey never truly ends), but we cannot expect those people to provide continual support. That is not practical and is not sustainable. It takes a lot of stamina to always be there for a person who is going through cancer treatment.
Then there are those who have been there in the past, through big life events but are no longer a part of the person with cancer's life, for various reasons. I said in a previous blog that walking through this without some people that I believed would be there with me in it is one of the most difficult parts. This still holds true. People who have died or live far away are most obvious. But there are also those who are no longer a part of my life, either by my choice or theirs, sometimes due to abandonment. This has been the most difficult to deal with. A lot of time is spent wishing I could tell so-and-so about this. And feeling abandoned by those who you counted on and are no longer there is very difficult.
In all of these scenarios, the loneliness is a struggle. I was reminded this week that people are fallible. People fail us. People will abandon us, sometimes in our greatest times of need. People will not always be there in the moments we need someone, but God always will. My strength has got to come mainly from him.
Ps 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Deut 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Phil 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Ps 32: 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
Ps 34:4 I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
Ps 51:11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
2 Tim 4:16-17 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
Lord, I JUST need YOU!
To see my fundraiser for the last stage of my reconstruction, go here (more into in previous post):
GoFundMe
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