HAVING CANCER


“When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.”
― Louise L. Hay, You Can Heal Your Life

Two remarkable things happened to me in June of 2001, I discovered I had stage one colon cancer, and I got back into theatre.

I had begun noticing a little bit of blood in my stools.  When I shared those same symptoms with a  friend, an operating room nurse, she suggested I get a Sigmoidoscopy  to check if I had colon cancer. It turns out that I did have a small cancerous tumor growing at the very end of my colon.  It turned out to be stage one, but before I knew that, I studied all I could about the disease.

The internet told me there were four stages. Louise Hay in her book, You Can Heal Your Life, shared that perhaps a person with cancer had stopped doing something that they enjoyed doing. I thought about what that might be, and the answer came, acting. I was a teacher who had let go of my drama classes to teach speech, and I had not acted in a play for nearly ten years.

I looked in the paper and discovered a nearby community theatre was holding auditions for, Love From A Stranger. I looked at the play and saw there was a part that was perfect for me, Aunt Loo Loo. She was the comic relief in a dramatic play, a crazy old English Aunt. I tried out, and the next day I received two phone calls, one asking for me to come to call backs, and the other from the hospital, telling me that my operation was scheduled for next week.

The next week I went back to the theatre with the intention of telling the director why I couldn’t be in the play. When I walked in the door, she immediately had me read again for Aunt loo Loo. Then she pulled me out in the Lobby to offer me the part. I told her about my upcoming surgery, and she asked how long I would be out.  I said, about a week, and then she said, “we can wait for you, you are so right for the part”. The surgery went well, the oncologist said that I needed no radiology or chemotherapy, they had gotten it all. And best of all, I went back to teaching Drama.

"Love, laugh, and be well while finding the good in each and every situation, and you will see shift happen almost effortlessly."                                                                                 Sandra Lindsey Smith,    Life's Garden of Weekly Wisdom

What insight have you gained from a challenge you have been through? Have you been in an accident, suffered through a tramatic incident, or had the experience of a healing journey through a health issue? For me, those situations are the road to appreciating life and all of it's real life miracles.

Love and light,

Sandy Smith

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