Importance of Family

One of the most important aspects of my successfully surviving cancer outside of the monthly treatment regimens is the fact that I have a spouse that REFUSES to let me get worse and pushes me constantly to get involved in other things, leaving me little time to think about my cancers.

Why is this so important to me?

Because, I have no network of support other than my spouse...  pure and simple...

Is this my fault regarding the lack of a support network?

I suppose it is but there was absolutely no one with whom I trusted enough to be friends and as sad as that my sound, it is true.  Throughout my 72 years of life, I have only had two REAL FRIENDS and one them died about 10 years ago from colon cancer...  He was my oldest and deadest, having met in the 3rd grade.

My second friend is a couple years older than me and lives in another State and I believe over the last two decades we have gradually grown apart and it has gotten to the point where we do not stay in touch at all.

C'est la vie...   as the French say.

Both my parents are dead, so there is no support there.
My 47 year old daughter lives in China and we rarely communicate.
My brother and sister live in different States and we have no desire to communicate either.

Since I do not believe in institutionalized religion, I have no minister/pastor with whom to share confidences or ask for advice.  This is not to say that I do not have faith because I do and my faith is strong, and it is God, not my wife, who has given me the will, the strength, and the desire to live in spite of the cancers inside my body.

God controls my fate, my life, and my death.

While I wish that I had a more supportive family arrangement, I am confident that my spouse and God are all that I really need.

My family does not just consist of my wife, but we have 3 cats that provide me with love and attention, especially the Siamese who, for some reason, decided to bond with me when he first arrived.

All three of these cats, without fail, wake us up in the mornings by jumping on the bed, gradually raising their voices until we acknowledge them...  and, if we shut the bedroom door, they congregate outside the door, acting the same way until we open the door and let them in.  And, while cats are supposed to be aloof and independent, these cats behave just the opposite and spend more time with us than away from us.