OPINION: Survivor!

WHEN DISASTER STRUCK!

Like a time bomb, it flamed up
With a simple spot
So small and petite
The noxious power in it was so enormous
Biopsy and histology interpreted
Benign or malignant, so they wondered
So my life had to change and to change for good.

Oh what a catastrophic Monday!
So the canto went
‘MJ’ the surgeon said
‘We are apt to heave out the entire breast’
The voice thundered!
So my life had to change and to change for good.

‘Oh Jesus No!’ I cried to the designer of my being
‘So my life has to change!’ I exclaimed
That brilliant day turned to peach dark
Life seemed to have stopped
Prayers vanished from my memory
Words from my mouth vanished
My tummy rumbled
Joy disappeared
Sadness took over the sovereignty of my life
No one, no comment, no love, no pal
Could quench the agony deep in my heart
So my life had to change and to change for good.

Immediately to hospital we rushed
My eyes remained blank
Darkness shrouded everything
I searched for tears
But the wells of my eyes deserted me
To scream I wished
But my energies were far exhausted
And I kept examining my heart
For suspicions I still existed
So my life had to change and to change for good.

Less than 24 hours later
Let me scream for the world to hear
Into your hands Lord I comment my life
On that cold surgery table I helplessly lay
Surgical blades on my skin
Lacerated into the risky, toxic, killer - lump
Deep into my fleshy tissues plus nodes they dug
As if probing for hidden fortune
My frail wounds they stitched
So my life had to change and change for good.

Once from the land of the departed I rose
Feeble and dozy was I
A merciless heartbreaking pain set in
Controlled my pain was
Little by little I improved
So my life had to change and to change for good.

As if pain was a joy to celebrate
Radiation! Radiation! Radiation! Medics advised
30 days under that assassin machine I lay
Daily, soundless, with none but my God
And when this was through
A more overwhelming prescription
So my life had to change and to change for good.

Chemo!
Six cycles they prescribed
Courage!
Everyone seemed to say
Exhausted, I lamented, I cried, I wailed
But the only line of attack was to face it bravely
Optimistic and pessimistic words
From innocent and educated, I listened
Yet my cross - I have to bear to Calvary my destiny
For my life has changed never to be the same again.

Then, when all was over
While I anticipated relief and strength
Complications showed their ugly face
Insulin and labetalol became my friends
From Physician to the next I went
But at last all was well again
My hair shot up, tinted nails began to clear
For my life had changed never to be the same again.

At the eve of my first birthday
A Survivor of this monster disease
I’m scripting this Testimony
Optimistic about life
Courage! Courage! Courage!
Those in a state such as mine
Life is more than Pain
Far gone is Yesterday
Celebrate the Present,
Tomorrow may be too late
Though life has changed never to be the same again.

A Blissful New Born am I
Active and Joyful
Though I’ll Never Be the Same Again
I Know My Redeemer Lives
For God has Transformed My Life
NEVER WILL I BE THE SAME AGAIN!

By Sr Marie Joe
A CANCER SURVIVOR.