Good Attitude - A Miracle nonDrug

Pat, my husband, was found to have a large colon cancer 19 years ago. We were told he had only a 20% chance of surviving five years. This cancer had spread into the liver and lymph nodes. There was no warning except Pat thought he had a bug. The doctor pulled no punches with me, he told me Pat had a slim chance of long term recovery. My initial response was anger! Once Pat absorbed what was happening, his initial response was "Well, I'm going to make the best of each day!"

I greeted each new day with hostility! Pat was my second marriage and I loved him with a fierce intensity - my first marriage had been dismal. Pat greeted each day with "Well, what can we do to help someone else today and have fun too!" He drove me crazy!!

I called the children and my sisters and cried on their shoulders. I lashed out at God! How could He do this to me? After so much crying and lashing, no one wanted to talk to me again. Pat would watch I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith's Mayberry and chuckle to himself even as his hair fell out and he felt horrible from the chemo and radiation. People would call or come to visit him and he'd make them laugh. I remember one man remarking as he left "Well, this wasn't how I expected this visit to go."

Pat improved his chances of long term survival by adopting a positive and optimistic attitude. This has been documented again and again, such as the book below "Healing and the Mind" by Bill Moyer.

Pat and I both retired from support positions at Texas Tech University. Pat says he's not very smart because he never got a college education. I personally think he's the smartest man I know. image available at allposters.com