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Why am I participating in November-Lung Cancer Awareness Month?

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People with cancer want to make the illness part of their past. However, forgetting is not always attainable. For many patients, cancer lives with them every day as an active disease or in the scars left by treatments. Cancer reminds us when it limits what we can do, and when it appears in our nightmare. Families who have lost loved ones to cancer also can never forget. I am aware of lung cancer every single day of my life. I want to participate in Lung Cancer Awareness Month, not to remind others that I live with a struggle. I am taking part so survivors can live better with the illness. I am also participating in this with the hope that one-day, lung cancer becomes truly a chronic disease. Meanwhile, people need to be aware of lung cancer because anyone can get it. If you have funny symptoms like a long-lasting cough or unusual shortness of breath, see your doctor. People also need to be aware that lung cancer is not a death sentence. There are tons of treatment options
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Tarrying at The Limit of Time: Rethinking Medicine As A Patient with Lung Cancer

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Finding Roads to Meaning and Resilience: Breathe Deep Seattle 9/21/19

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Raising fund and awareness for lung cancer

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Audiobook Sample Roads to Meaning and Resilience with Cancer

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Meaning: Section 1--Not Finding Meaning

Not Finding the Meaning  At the center of the painting, a man is kneeling next to the lips of a statue of a sphinx. The man is wearing a cloth robe that covers most of his body except the left side of his chest and his left arm. He leans with his ears toward the sphinx, as if listening to it whisper. But the sphinx’s lips are  sealed. The attentiveness in the man’s posture tells that the sphinx was anything but generous with  wisdom. The man is standing on sand that extends, along with old ruins, into the distance. Only the head of the sphinx can be seen; the body is buried in the sand, as are the pillars and ruins. Next to the man is a stick he probably used to help him trudge through the sand so he could question the sphinx. In the right corner are a skull and a rectangular structure that looks like a  tomb. It was December of 2016, two weeks after I was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. I was in Boston, seeking a second opinion from Harvard and wandering through the M
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Book Summary: Roads to Meaning and Resilience with Cancer

Book Summary Morhaf Al Achkar, MD, PhD The book, " Roads to Meaning and Resilience with Cancer " tells the stories of 39 patients with incurable lung cancer. It aims to help patients, families, and healthcare providers understand the experience of living with cancer. It also invites reflections on the essential questions of meaning, resilience, and coping with adversity in life. The author is a family doctor, teacher, and researcher who is also a stage 4 lung cancer patient himself. He is patient #40. Facing one's mortality, patients with cancer develop an urgency to find meaning in life. They struggle with the illness, its emotional impact, and the consequences of treatments. But, with time, reflection, and support from others, they develop resilience. Cancer patients often are not passive. Instead, they choose different strategies to maintain and restore their health. They also leverage a variety of approaches to cope better with their struggle. The firs
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