I sucked in every molecule of air in the room when my dad’s doctor confirmed it was prostate cancer. After weeks of testing, we finally had the clarity that comes with results. Despite anticipating this would be the news, the tears streamed down my face. My dad had been through enough in the last seven months by going through two hematoma surgeries on his brain – didn’t he get a pass for this add-on?
In the weeks that followed, I took detailed notes and read the summaries for multiple doctor appointments, my mom supported my dad with everything from his meals to his moods, and my dad did absolutely everything that was asked of him by his newly expanded medical team. Last week, after months filled with daily worries and what-ifs, we got the news that he was in remission. Remission. I didn’t know how much I could love a word until Dr. Bud Pierce said it.
As anyone who has heard this word uttered in relation to their own or a loved one’s cancer diagnosis, the sheer relief and joy cannot be confined to even the best descriptive words. Remission is the release of fear, grief, sadness, anxiety, and anger. It provides an automatic mind shift to the more optimistic feelings of elation, happiness, freedom, delight, and peace. Renewal feels possible and within reach.
After my divorce, I experienced my own feelings of remission. The moments that come with the knowing that the hardest parts of this tribulation are over, and this specific “hardness” will not be lived again. Post-divorce remission starts in small ways and progressively builds with each new act of independence and ownership over a different way of living.
