Giving As Part Of My Journey

Donations to charitable organizations have been one of the ways I give back to my community. After receiving my lung cancer diagnosis, I have added my support to fundraisers for lung cancer research and patient/caregiver organizations. However, monetary contributions are not the only way of giving back. There are other ways of giving through intangible actions.

Spreading hope

The future is often unknown to people living with advanced lung cancer like me. Hope helps me cope during times of uncertainty. Hanging on to hope is important for me to tolerate treatments, survive altered relationships, live with disability, and accept dependency. Through sharing my own experience, my desire is to spark hope in newly diagnosed and those living with lung cancer.

Extending prayers

I believe prayer energizes my heart and changes how to view things in God’s perspective. Being consistently praying releases the power of God’s blessing in my life and my circumstances. In my lung cancer journey, I have prayed for those who are diagnosed with lung cancer and still living with lung cancer. But there is also the grief side of a cancer journey, the loss of one’s healthy self or the loss of a loved one with lung cancer. Extending a prayer of encouragement bring peace and comfort.

Giving encouragements

Words that can lift a person’s spirit at their lowest point can provide them with hope during their journey. Sometimes it is a struggle to find the most calming and reassuring messages for a person who is just facing a lung cancer diagnosis. In my lung cancer journey, I have learned to prioritize what is important, not waste my time, and spread my unconditional love.

Giving time for others

A person living with lung cancer needs comfort and support. Isolation is real for cancer patients. However, COVID has converted physical contact into using social media and online tools. Video calling via different apps and Zoom calls are ways to connect with people without jeopardizing one’s health. I join lung cancer groups and advocacy work so I can share my time to make a difference.

Sharing my story

I have never imagined that I would have the courage to publicly share my lung cancer journey. Looking back on my diagnosis in 2019, there is full of gratitude for treatment options and great cancer care. It is my desire that other patients living with lung cancer can find hope and relevance in my story. There is a feeling of contentment on my part that I am living a life with a purpose.

Giving has to be non-stop

I will financially support in my capacity the lung cancer charitable organizations that have aligned their mission to my choice as a patient living with lung cancer. All funds raised must go to prevention, early detection, clinical trials, and leading-edge research and treatment.