Dealing With The Big "C"

Having dealt with two cancer cases in the family, I feel there is a need to share my views about what people should do when there are relatives or close friends who have contracted the dreaded Cancer disease.

First of all, Cancer, according to wikipedia, is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth (division beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood). These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, and do not invade or metastasize. Most cancers form a tumor but some, like leukemia, do not. The branch of medicine concerned with the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer is oncology.

As there are no sure medical treatments yet developed in arresting the disease, a lot of people who suffer from cancer are left, most of the times, hopeless with their cases.

If you have a relative, a family member, or a friend, who is suffering from Cancer, my simple advise is this: Be Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Present on their side.


1. Cancer patients tend to decrease their strength and immunity. Cancer tends to paralyze the body, and so it is but necessary that there is always somebody to assist the patient in almost everything that they do.

Assist the patient with delicate concern.


2. Due to the fact that a cancer patient thinks he/she already has a hopeless case in surviving the disease, his/her emotions will definitely be unstable. Always be there to support him/her. Strengthen his/her emotions and don't get affected when he/she turns his/her bad moods toward you. Be an understanding listener and advisor whenever a patient needs somebody to talk to.


3. There is hope, even when there seems to be nothing more! I like the saying:

God is too wise to be mistaken.
God is too good to be unkind.
When you don’t understand,
When you don’t see His plan,
When you can’t trace His hand,
Trust His heart.

There are things that our minds and our eyes could not understand. But the Lord is giving us an assurance that there is hope. We just have to rely on Him because He knows what's best for us.

Be an encourager. In times when you have to deal with Cancer patients, be the one to send the message that there is hope, because all things are possible with Jesus.