Roulette of Pain

As I tell my wife very often, the only thing I seem to know is that I am going to bed with pain and I am waking up the next day with pain. A cancer warrior is playing a daily game of pain roulette with the severity of that day’s pain placed around the wheel. Life spins the wheel, and we must find a way to cope with that particular day’s portion of pain.

Finding ways to deal with pain

Some cancer warriors find a way to deal with the pain, while others may fail miserably in that endeavor. Personally, I am the type of person who loathes taking any kind of medication, and I seek to limit the amount of prescription support for the agony dealt out by my foe. I have witnessed many cancer patients who struggle monumentally with the day-to-day bodily distress.

Cancer is an affliction of misery with a daily per diem that must be paid. Unfortunately, I can provide testimony of those in my personal life that have given in to the anguish of cancer. They were not mentally nor physically equipped to handle the misery dealt out by our common foe. I often ponder why some are built to handle misery and others may not be.

Looking to my family's cancer history

I can trace my innate wherewithal to manipulate pain back through my family lineage. My father was a tough ‘ol bird who turned a 2-year diagnosis to survive prostate cancer into 11 1/2 years. He survived the majority of those 11 1/2 years without any treatment for the cancer or for the pain. Dad only started treatment in the latter years of his cancer journey.

My grandfather on my father’s side of the family battled lung cancer and bone cancer for many years. He, too, was a tough ‘ol bird that bravely battled our common foe without much aide from prescriptions. This paternal side of my family could be traced back to one immigrant who came to this country from England at the tender age of 16 as an indentured servant. Sometimes I contemplate the many forms of pain he must have endured just to survive on a daily basis.

A strong group

My father’s mother was an absolute pillar of strength who hailed from the famous McCoy lineage. Yes, the McCoys of the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud. Randolph McCoy, the leader of the McCoy clan, was her great, great, great uncle. Her ancestors can be traced back to Scotland through Ireland. Just thinking of all her line has suffered throughout the cruel course of history builds strength within. The same can be said for my dear mother’s side of the family.

Mother could and would work right alongside my father on the farm from daylight ‘til dark. She was as tough as nails and never backed down from any challenge. Her lineage was fierce and stubborn people who scratched out a living in this new world. They were Welch, English, and German. A people who knew how to deal with the harsh realities of a brutal existence.

Being creative

In closing, I implore you to find any and every way to deal both physically and mentally with this affliction of prostate cancer. Be creative in your endeavors; what works for others may not work for you. Learn many strategies to utilize when facing the roulette of pain.