Don't Give Up

I've had this story in my head for a long time and it always seems to resonate with me.  Now that we are blogging, it seems like a good time to share it.

A woman in my town was told by her doctor that she might have cancer.  She was advised to see a specialist and get a second opinion and to have all the necessary tests done.  The woman chose not to do so.  She took the word of the doctor and came to terms with the fact that she had cancer.

But she didn't have cancer.

She spent a year at home, in bed, bemoaning the end of her life.  She stopped taking care of herself.  Her teeth fell out from lack of care.  Her body wasted.  She spent a year swirling in a deepening depression and waiting to die.

At one point, her family intervened and took her to an oncologist.  After tests were conducted, the oncologist told her that she did not have cancer.  And that she should have sought that second opinion immediately after cancer was suspected.

The point of all this is that it is up to you to decide what you do with scary news.  Hearing that you have kidney failure is scary.  It changes everything.  But you don't have to let it encompass all you do and all you are.  Making the decision to let an illness take over your life wastes precious time and precious living.  While you might need some time to grieve for your former, healthier self, don't give up on who you are.  Live.  Really live.  If you can set yourself on a course to tackle your dialysis issues and stay true to who you are, you are ahead of the game.

Life doesn't have to pass you by because of a health issue.  You are still you.  And often, if you find the strength and courage to accept the changes, you end up a better version of yourself.  Because regardless of what may seem like a limitation, you continue to live.

- Rachael M.