Full Page Ad; Southwest Writers (600+ members)Newsletter (Sage) March, 2008. |
My articles published 200+ websites |
To all the young people out there...STAY IN SCHOOL! Jerry Aragon/The Humor Doctor humordoctormd@yahoo.com |
To all the young people out there...STAY IN SCHOOL! Jerry Aragon/The Humor Doctor humordoctormd@yahoo.com |
.gif)
Fighting Cancer With Laughter Written by Olivier Uyttebrouck, staff writer of the Albuquerque Journal and published on April 21, 2008 Survivor used her writing and art to get through the tough times. |
The expression "funny as cancer" holds special meaning for Christine Dlifford Beckwith. Humor helped the 54 year old author and marketing executive defy a doctor's prediction that she had six months to live after a 1994 diagnosis with breast cancer. Beckwith will bring 14 years of experience with the disease and her sense of humor to New Mexico on Saturday to speak at the 18th Annual Nancy Floyd Hawarth Memorial Breast Cancer Lectureship and Luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa. Also this weekend, the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Five-mile walk will be held Sunday. Registration will be from 8 am to 10 am at the Cottonwood Mall. Beckwith, of Edina, Minn., said her diagnosis was all the more traumatic because her mother learned she had breast cancer when she was 38. Beckwith watched her mother sink into clinical depression and remain in bed until her death at 42. Beckwith fully expected a similar fate. "I expected to become depressed, lose my husband and die," she recalled. She also feared that her two young sons would grow up in a house dominated by disease. "I didn't want my kids experiencing the things I did, wondering if their mother would survive from day to day." she said. One sleepless night, six weeks after a lumpectomy and the start of chemotherapy, Beckwith began drawing cartoons about her illness. In so doing, she found creative outlet that would change her life. "I started madly drawing these cartons of things that had hapopened to me in the eight weeks since I was disgnosed," she said. Beckwith inquired at a bookstore for humorous books on cancer. The bookseller peered over his spectacles and asked Beckwith if she was joking! Beckwith thought to herself: "I think I'm on to something." Today, after 13 years in remission, Beckwith travels the country telling women to confront breast cancer with courage, intelligence and a sense of humor. She is the author of illustrated books on coping with breast cancer, such as "Not Now...I'm Having a No Hair Day," and "Cancer Has Its Privileges: Stories of Hope and Laughter." Beckwith offered some advice for women diagnosed with cancer gleaned from her 13 years of survival since her diagnosis in 1994. Her suggestions include: - Embrace your cancer: You can't change your diagnosis. "What you can do is to change your attitude about what has happened to you." Seek a second and third opinions. Learn everything you can about the disease and potential therapies and become an active prticcipant in your treatment. "You can help take part in the responsibility for getting through your treatments." - Don't forget to laugh: "I discovered that people didn't know what to say, so oftentimes they ended up saying nothing, which made me feel isolated and alone." Making jokes about cancer is a way to break the ice. "Laughter is a great connector of people. Humor just puts everyone at ease and then they were able to embrace my cancer." - Independence is overvalued: "I've become a lot less independent." People offered Beckwith their love and support and she had to shed some of her independence to benefit from it. "Bringing people into your life and letting them care for you is another way of embracing your disease. Don't ever be afraid to ask for help." - Preserve as much of your daily life as possible: "Whatever it is that you like to do, don't let go of those things." Working and exerecise can help your mind off cancer. The more you focus on things other than your cancer, the better you will feel." |
One of the major reasons why people are not doing well, is because they keep trying to GET through the day. A more worthy challenge is to get FROM the day." Jim Rohn |
My articles published 200+ websites |
This is a family website |
Full Page Ad; Southwest Writers (600+ members)Newsletter (Sage) March, 2008. |
.Get inspired...get motivated...get going! |
