Page 3 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - January 25, 2023

JANUARY 25, 2023
HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK 3
with Kaethe Kauffman
What Cancer Taught Me
“... When we long for life without ... difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.”
— Peter Marshall (1902-1949)
sonograms that supposedly showed a tumor blob, to me it looked like mashed potatoes on the screen.
tion, oddly, I felt more com- passion for myself and for oth- ers who were facing cancer or other serious diseases. In my next “saddling up” effort, I began a new volunteer job — visiting hospice patients. To- gether, we mustered courage to share our mutual vulnera- bility. In the end, cancer taught me humility and to experience deeper levels of emotional healing with others.
Writer and exhibiting artist Kaethe Kauffman (pen name, Cate Burns) has won numer- ous awards for her book of humorous essays, “Libido Tsunami,” and her poems have been featured in six award-winning poetry anthol- ogies. She has just finished a book of personal essays, “Hu- mor When You Need It.”
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Lynne Johnson and Robin Stephens Rohr.
A fter a bout with can- cer, friends told me how brave I was. Really? As a vegetarian, I’d assumed I was immune to can- cer. As I fantasized about the upcoming operation, I con- vinced myself that the surgeon
I recovered from surgery in good humor. After the sur- geon told me she’d removed a 1.2-centimeter tumor, howev- er, I began to realize the rascal existed. The cancer was real. Happily, the ordeal was over, I thought.
would find nothing because: 1. Someone made a big
But being a cancer survivor meant taking ongoing pre- ventative measures to thwart the disease’s reoccurrence. No longer being in denial was positive for my mental and physical health. Sadly, the acceptance process also aroused distressing thoughts of mortality.
Through her battle with cancer, the author learned that her vulnerability could help others.
mistake.
2. On the off chance there
scared to death ... and sad- dling up anyway.”
was a tumor, it had dissolved because of my positive think- ing.
For me, “saddling up” meant facing cancer with in- creased meditation, prayer and honest discussions with friends and support groups. Slowly, at the gut level, in- sight arose: I had vulnerable flesh, just like everyone else, vegetarian or not.
I kept these fantasies to my- self, but in quiet moments, I knew I was in denial.
For the first time, I realized why people told me I was brave. Actually, I was fright- ened. I thought of my child- hood hero, actor John Wayne, who said, “Courage is being
I finally consented to sur- gery, still convinced it was unnecessary. Although I saw
With this negative realiza-
Too Sleepy To Drive?
and attend the
Sleepy in Paradise
Support Group for Individuals with Excessive Daytime Sleepiness For information, call
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www.SDPAF.org
Sleep Disorders Patient Advocacy Foundation Michael B Russo, MD, President
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