Survivors Of The Big C

Survivors Of The Big C

By Paul McCann  

Jo was not one for wasting words . She always spoke her mind and never cared what people thought of her . Most of the time people knew where they stood with her . Her work schedule as a registered nurse was so busy she never had time for a social life .

She had worked in the haematology ward at the city hospital since graduating ten years before the day she got the news that she had a stage 4 cancer . On that day everything changed . She asked for some  holiday leave from the hospital to deal with her emotional and physical problems . All her life Jo had been in control of things but now she was facing something unexpected and unwanted .

The first day of her holiday from work she took a walk through the botanic gardens in the city park . She noticed how everything around her was changing . Suddenly she saw how brilliant the white flowers of the  Hibiscus were and how blue the sky was . It was as if her eyes had been opened for the first time and she could see how beautiful life was .

From that day , her walk through the park became a regular activity to escape the four walls of her flat that were closing in on her . Jo had started to pack some things away in boxes for the local charity . In her thinking, life was over . Jo  decided not to take the chemotherapy treatment that was offered to her . She had already accepted that things would never resume back to normality again or whatever normal was or  used to be . She was going through the daily trauma of living with her condition . In her mind it was a cancer that should never have occurred .

One morning as she sat on a park bench , she never bothered to answer the gentleman who said good morning as he walked past , she never actually heard him  . So for some reason the man sat down next to her ,.

“What a beautiful morning “

He said , Jo never answered .

The man persisted ,

“You know I never noticed how beautiful the flowers were until the day I was told I only had  months to live .“

 That comment attracted Jo’s attention and she said.

“ I’m sorry to hear that  .“

“Don’t be sorry please , there’s no need . I’m cured now .“

He said .

“Cured from what ?” Jo asked

“ I had stage 4 lung cancer but thanks to the intervention of a little miracle I have survived .“

Jo somehow was very interested and said .

“My name is Jo and I have stage 4 cancer .“

Bob replied

“Bob’s my name and I’m pleased to meet you  . I know how you feel and I used to think that life was over until I experienced the hope of B17 .“

“So what is that all about .“

“To coin a phrase Jo ,in a nutshell , it’s the chemical processed from an apricot seed that fought the cancer in my body.”

Jo answered .

“I’m a nurse and I have never heard of that treatment before Bob”

“Well neither had I until I met a Doctor one day who walked into the church were I work as a volunteer . I had decided to connect with people in a living with cancer group .“

“So this Doctor had cancer as well .“

Bob took a card from his wallet and gave it to her and said .

“Yeah he did ., This is his card should you want to talk to him and just like me, he is a survivor and still walks around today .“

Jo took the card and had already decided she was going to call him .

Bob continued ,

“ Doctor Welby had recovered from cancer and made a promise to help as many people as possible . So he went on a mission visiting people who were attending therapy sessions at cancer groups “.

“Thanks Bob for the information . I’ll have a think about what you say .“

Jo for the first time felt something emotional happen inside her like a kind of cognitive reaction  . For the last week or two she had been  trapped within the prison of depression that would not release her  .

This chance meeting with Bob was like the key that broke her out from that dark cell . That evening she rang Doctor Welby and he told her more information about B17 treatment . She made an appointment to meet him and later in the week for dinner . That night the Doctor brought some of the chemicals for Jo and for the first time she embraced back some of the control in her life .

Jo felt like a refugee from a war that had been waged by cancer on her body as all the millions of people around the world who had also become a victims of cancer .As the weeks progressed Doctor Welby introduced Jo to some other cancer survivors  who had already begun to rebuild their lives . Bob was on of those people and for the first time in her life Jo had met a man she Admired and respected . What Bob had done for her was more she could have expected .

Jo and Bob met in the park everyday and Bob was able to tell her that she was gaining weight and that she had an aura so happy and radiant and even claimed to her she had been cured from her cancer.

Jo was now aware she was becoming involved in a relationship that she had never expected to happen . After the B17 treatment was finished she never looked back . Thanks to Bob who had emerged like a warrior on her battle field  . She had fallen in love with Bob and it was magic .

Three months after her diagnosis not only had Jo been cured from the  cancer in her life , but now she had found a man called Bob who she loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with . Bob and Jo were married . Within a year of Jo and Bob had a beautiful baby girl who they called Candle , as she had become the light of their lives . They all lived happily for many years helping and reassuring as many people as they could who had been told they had a terminal cancer .

The End  .  By Paul McCann