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Life advice for dealing with terminal illnesses
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Yesterday at work, I was helping an older gentleman find a pair of hiking boots. I was asking basic questions about what he was using them for and so forth. He begins to tell me he had to drive 2 hours to the city, so he thought he'd stop in to get a pair of hiking boots for his upcoming trip. I ask why he had to come down to the cities, and he told me he had to get treatments once a month for his bone cancer. I began to get sympathetic because obviously cancer is a terrible thing. He looks at me and says, "if you put a smile on your face and look at all the positives in life, you can conquer anything." He then tells me he's had bone cancer for 5 years, and he just tries to keep a smile on his face at all times because life is too short. Then
This experience confirmed in my heart that I was placed on this earth to help others. I want to work in a field where I can counsel, be a role model, and provide clinical help to those who want to turn their lives around. I want to make a difference. I know why God allowed me to face all I did growing up, so I could have compassion, not only compassion, but understanding, relate-ability. Be the person you needed when you were
During the summer or even on weekends my mom would take me with her to go help out her patients. Which included bathing them, feeding them, and caring for them. Not only did I help my mom with her patients but I would always help rake leaves, pick up trash and make their yard look nice. I can’t even image how they would’ve done all the things I did for them with their fragile bodies. I’m glad I was there for them and made a difference. Aside from helping my mom’s patients. I helped an elderly man who was on fire in his backyard. It was around spring time and I heard someone screaming yelling “help” so I went around to look and there he was on fire. I tried so hard to put out the fire and it felt like mission impossible but I did not give up even though the ambulance were on the way. He was burnt pretty bad, but I was so glad I found him. Who knows it could’ve been worse! He is still alive till this day and sits on his porch waiting for me to pass by his house every morning to say good morning. It’s such a wonderful feeling to know that I not only changed a life but I saved
Growing up on the south side of Chicago in the roughest neighborhood in the city I learned a lot from others and just observing my surroundings. At times, I would always think to myself my situation could always be worse than it was, and that there is always someone who is doing worst off than me. But my situation turned from being in a bad position to being in a position where my mother would come to lose her mother and our home that we had been living in, all in the same year. After losing her mother and bother my mom lost herself in her emotions and shut down on everyone and with that came the loss of a home for me and my siblings and her job. Shortly after my mom began to go back to church and so did we. It was the first time in a log time that we had attended church and it played a big part in a learning experience for me and my siblings. Through the days that came to pass going to church sparked a desire of wanting to help others who had or are struggling to get by. My mentor, Pastor, and teacher deserves appreciation for helping my mother through a hard time and keeping me and my siblings active in a positive manor.
Although some individuals may believe that it was a miracle that my father survived cancer, it was much more than that. The optimism of my family, friends, and loved ones enabled my dad to relieve his stress and focus on his cancer treatment. This situation has changed my mindset in life and it has provoked me to stay hopeful even when the odds are not in my favor. I’ve began to use positive thinking to help guide myself to my ambitions. This made my transition into adulthood much easier because I was prepared to deal with difficult situations. I began to cherish my loved ones even more than before. I realized all the luxuries that I had received and took for granted. I learned that the most important people in life is your family and without them, it’s near impossible to be successful. If my father had lost his fight, I would have had to become more independent as I would become the man of the house. Going into adulthood, I’ve learned that I should take situations into my owns hands rathering that relying on others. Some people that may be there for you today, may not be there
Almost all of us have heard of a scenario such as this one: A woman battling cancer has lost almost all hope of recovery. She has not been able to turn to her family for support for fear of their reactions to her illness. One morning she finally breaks down and tells her husband about the cancer. Instead of being devastated and turning his back on his wife, the husband supports the wife, every step of the way, and she gradually seems to improve.
Mid December during my sophomore year I found out that a friend of mine had lost her struggle with cancer. Tiffanie was diagnosed with two rare forms of ovarian cancer during seventh grade. Having either type of cancer is very rare, so the fact that she had both types was unbelievable. I had been best friends with Tiffanie during elementary school. We had lost touch in middle school, but our friendship never ended. She had her ups and downs during her illness, but I never expected her cancer to be fatal. I was told at the beginning of December that the doctors didn’t expect her to live until Christmas. Because she was in my grade, my class sent cards to her. I made a funny story about the two of us growing up. I sent the story with an angle ornament. Christmas had to be celebrated early this year, and I thought that an angel would be appropriate. If anything did happen to her, her mom could keep the ornament in memory of her. She died a week later at the young age of 16.
However, this decision did not come easy. In high school my friend was diagnosed with lupus and diabetes. I saw a previously healthy girl drop weight day by day. Her arms covered with mysteries bruises. We decided to raise money and walk the Brooklyn bridge for the diabetes walk. It was the first time I witnessed her episode. We headed off the bridge from exhaustion, when she froze up on the oncoming bicycle lane. Luckily someone pulled her out of the way on time. After the event her condition deteriorated quickly. A month later, during Thanksgiving break, her mother wrote me an email. It was an invitation to my friends funeral. I realized how one person could have such an impact on others. This experience made me sensitive to my surroundings. How could Lupus and Diabetes take down a healthy 16 year old? I had many questions regarding her health, but lacked the courage to ask them.
There used to be an old lady that came into my store almost every day and talk to me. She was so much fun to talk to and told me all the wildest stories. One year around Valentine’s Day she told me about her late husband and all the good memories of things he used to do for her on Valentine’s Day. I could tell that it upset her quite a bit even though she was trying not to make a big deal about it. She said that now, not even her children call her or even buy her a card on Valentine’s Day. It was really sad to hear, and I wanted so much to show some kindness to her. I didn’t have much more of a reason, but I went to the flower shop and bought her a little teddy bear and a Valentine’s Day and gave it to her when she came to the store on that holiday. She cried and hugged me and I swear, even though I cried a little too, it was the best feeling in the world. I chose to do what I did simply because I felt the need to show compassion to someone who needed it. I just wanted to do something nice for this wonderful old lady and give her to be happy about on a day that normally makes her sad. It was my way of saying thank you for being such a positive person every day and doing something nice for someone who asked nothing of
Walking into a nursing home every day is hard enough , let alone when you're there to see your best friend . My grandpa had terminal cancer throughout his body . He was the best friend I had and I was going to lose him . He was diagnosed after it was too late to do anything about it and only had a few months to live . He was in and out of the hospital going back and forth from the nursing home . One day around a month before he died , he sat me down on his bed next to him and started to point out the window . On this rainy day covered in clouds I was wondering what he could be pointing at . He said " Do you see that spot right there ? " . I shook my head yes and waited for him to catch his breath . " Whenever you miss me , that's where i'll be . You can look up at the
During afternoon recess in the second grade, I received my first major injury. The teacher on recess duty blew the whistle and signaled for the students to line up. Unfortunately for me, the merry-go-round I sat on spun indefatigably. I glanced over at the lines to see my classmates escorted inside. Nevertheless, I took a risk and lept off the merry-go-round (terrible mistake).
Emerson is correct that if one wants to grow ones will have to get out of that comfort zone. If one already mastered something and not trying new things that person will never grow as a person. Exploring to new projects, to new places , and to new people will help ones grow. Just doing the same thing repeating will get exhausting and not exciting .
I had a very strong interest in what the future held for women in science, because I wanted women to be able to make multiple accomplishments like men did in the science category. Throughout the time of being alive I made a speech about how I wanted women to make a great impact with being in science for the future. I can only image what the future is like now for women, I suspect that women have many more jobs in multiple categories than before. However I do know that some of the friends I had were also making an impact on the world already, changing it and showing how it can be different. An tremendous amount of citizens probably would have disagreed with all the things that women wanted to have changed or do. Honestly I do hope that women
Out of all the quarters this school year, I feel like this quarter has made me progress the most, because I put a lot of effort into reading books and enjoying them, there are many . As expected, I got better and faster at reading but an unexpected change was that I write better compared to last year. One of my major losses was that I was becoming uninterested and bored from too much reading, which explains why my total pages read decreased compared to the other quarters.
This last year has been a roller coaster, in a year I’ve learned more about myself then I have all my life. I’ve grown up and learned that nothing is just handed to you everything takes at least a little effort and it’s all about how much you're willing to give. Looking back at the beginning of this year I remember looking at my schedule for the first time and thinking about everything I had to accomplish and honestly sadly I can’t say I did my best in everything. I went through a really rough patch when i was diagnosed with severe depression and it set me way far back and i didn’t exactly give it my all in getting back up there in school.
The most joyous season of the year in our house is Christmas. All the family gets together, gifts are exchanged and we give thanks for all that we have. This Christmas however, was one that I will never forget. If it weren't for the help of a stranger coming to my rescue, my holidays would have been ruined. He reminded me that a little kindness really does go along way.