Cancer. This five-letter word is unlike any other word. This word has the ability to change the lives of thousands of people every day, and put families and friends around the world in tears. No one should ever have to experience being told that he or she has cancer. Telling someone they have cancer is putting a blindfold on someone and telling him to climb a mountain. Cancer is a never-ending obstacle coarse, and you somehow have to find your way through it. The problem that many people with cancer have to face, is how to find their way through, and sadly for many people, that path is never found. I cannot talk about my own personal experiences with cancer because I have never had cancer. I do however, know how cancer affects and changes people’s lives because my uncle has brain cancer, and is still dealing with it today.
The day I found out that my uncle had brain cancer is a day that I will never forget. I knew right away how serious and dangerous it is to have brain cancer. The bad news put darkness over my family, as we soon had no choice but to turn to one thing that we would always have, hope. Hope is the one thing that seemed to give our family some happiness. My uncle spent long hours in the hospital, and during his recovery had to travel back and forth from the hospital multiple times. The hardest part about this did not know if he was ok. It was scary to think that my uncle could have died at any moment during this whole process. My uncle went through months of chemotherapy and stem cell replacement. After what seemed to be the longest months of my families lives, my uncle got through the treatment and showed that he would not be beat by cancer.
My uncle’s experience with cancer really made me reflect on how thankful and grateful I should be for all that I have in my life. Through this tragic event, I learned to never lose hope and to always be thankful for all that I have. My uncle taught me to keep fighting and keep battling no matter how rocky the road may be.