Patricia Ann Rapier
Writings
Often when people think of heroes or heroines they tend to pick movie stars or sports figures that receive million dollar(2) salaries each year. I would agree that some of these people do wonderful things for a great number of causes. But, two of the heroines I want to emulate are neither movie stars or sports heroes. These two women *Anna & *Bonnie are both fighting cancer. Each time I am in their presence I learn more valuable lessons.
At age twenty-eight, suffering from excruciating stomach pain, Ann a went to an emergency room in Reno, Nevada. After blood has been taken and many tests have been run, Anna is told she has cancer and will need to undergo a complete hysterectomy. At her very young age Anna, then a single woman, will never become pregnant or bear children of her own.
Within two years Anna meets with her future spouse *Robert and marries. Shortly thereafter Anna again finds out that cancer is attacking here large intestine. Once again Anna must undergo surgery, this time to remove several feet of her large intestine.
Currently, Anna has a brain tumor that surround her pituitary gland. The pituitary is a small, oval gland that is attached to the base of the vertebrate brain that controls the other endocrine glands and influences growth, metabolism, and maturation.
Despite that fact Anna suffers from migraine headaches and the many debilitating side effects of chemo therapy she has taken some college course in Psychology, History, Philosophy, and English. At this time Anna is working full-time as an intake worker for a county in California.
Bonnie, my second heroine, is a married woman with a grown daughter. She has never smoke a day in her life and was diagnosed with lung cancer. The doctors gave Bonnie three to four months to live. During her first bout of chemo therapy her cancer continued to grow. Bonnie has continued with stronger chemo therapy off and on for over three years. This intense chemo therapy has caused here bones to become brittle and a low white count in her platelets, which promote blood coagulation.
On the Sunday before Memorial Day Bonnie shared with me the joy she felt being able to see here three year old niece growing up when she never though she would live long enough to see her born.
Learning to live each day to its fullest, is a common cliche that has been spouted over the last few years. There have been some recovery programs that use this cliche as a basis for their programs. When I am with my heroines, I see this in action. Some might say, of course Anna and Bonnie would, they never know how long they have. I say, "No matter how long each of us has, we still make a choice each day what we do with our time."
Both Anna and Bonnie have shown me how important it is to take care of yourself. When they are having an especially bad day, not even wanting to get out of bed, this is the time they take extra care of themselves.
Take an active part in your treatment by finding out what is the latest and best for you personally. Stand up for ourselves by not handing our power over to the medical profession. We have the right to be involved in the making of decisions that affect our lives.
Anna and Bonnie have inspired me with their faith. I see this faith in action every time they do not worry about things they have no control of. I see both of them still having dreams and spending their time making memories each new day. The reminder to never give up, to have patience, fun, and to look for joy wherever I am, are so obvious when I am with them. I am currently learning to ask for and let other people help when I need it. I also make a point of telling the people around me how much I love them. I do not think it is possible to say this too often.
Before you think I am going to submit the names of these women for sainthood, I want to let everyone know that Anna and Bonnie are ordinary individuals. They have fears and I am certain, have had more than one moment of insecurity and/or anger.
It is possible they wanted to know why them, or why at this time in their lives, or what did they do to deserve this? These are questions I am sure each of us would want answered. What answer would we be willing to settle for? Could cancer ever be something for which there is an appropriate answer?
I would hope I could cope with something like cancer as graciously and heroically as Anna and Bonnie. Each of these women seems to have the ability to reach deep inside themselves and touch this wealth of fortitude that helps them celebrate each day as a very special anniversary of life. I feel blessed to call them my friend and my heroines.
Pat Rapier