by Sandra Ebrada, PhD. (cand)

My initial contact with cancer patients was when I joined a group of psychologists in putting up the Cancer Support Program in a government hospital way back 1996.  For two years, we met with adult cancer patients and their caregivers to help them in their psychosocial care.  There, we listened to their stories as they dealt with the shocking disclosure, the decisions they had to make regarding their treatment, the sacrifices they and their families will have to endure, dreams that will have to die, the plans for a better life, however tentative, when going home.  Despite all these, in the program, we helped them celebrate what healing resources they have untouched by cancer and tap into them – their own bodies’ healing resources, remembering loving and good memories to uplift them, and sharing the love they have with their loved ones.

As the years passed, other cancer support groups were put up to meet the different needs of their members.  To mention two, there is the Cancer Warriors Foundation (CWF) founded by Mr. James Auste, himself a cancer survivor.  His foundation helps especially the poor children with cancer and their families emphasizing education, early detection, proper management and care.  You can know more about their foundation at  http://www.c-warriors.org/

Then there is the Carewell Community founded by Mr. Bobbit Suntay and his wife, Jackie, who passed away of cancer in 1995.  Their group “provides support, education, and hope to persons with cancer and their loved ones.” Again, you may check out their website at http://www.carewellcommunity.org/.

For me, the cancer patients are my teachers and I, their humble student.

In all the stories that they share, they only have one topic they talk about – their loved ones: people they love the most or who they are so angry at; the people who have hurt them or who they have hurt.  They talk about the valuable relationships they still have or have lost. They never talk about anything else—not money, not material things.  With their stories, they remind me that the only important thing in one’s life is our relationships that need to be nurtured and cherished.

Not later.

Not tomorrow.

But Now.

This post is written in honor of National Cancer Awareness Week, January 18-22,  2012