We talk a lot here about the fight. To battle cancer, to pull out all the stops, to search for protocols that are cutting edge, to allow for years or even just a few months. Your oncology team, your family, your friends, everyone is all in, making every effort for a successful outcome. Today we can explore what success looks like. While we champion every new nuanced therapy, there is so much more going on.

Change in life and circumstances can be dramatic. One of life stressors is moving and this also occurs frequently in patients who are undergoing care and need more support. Immune systems are dramatically affected. The blessed patient is one who can be near home and the comfort with family surrounding. When the battle is over for any reason: health, aging or otherwise, there is time that is so much more important than the treatment time. Yes there was frenzied activity, but now the slowing down requires undivided attention and even effort.

Loss is terrible. No patting of the hand or the head can help when it is the heart that grieves. We each must take our own internal fortitude and apply it with deliberateness. Watching a loved one pass, holding their hand and whispering words of comfort and love, is the best we can do to help them achieve their new goal. While we beg for more time and wish for more strength, our loved one is often ready. Guiding them with patience and love and kindness is a gift everyone would hope for.

Know that in this endeavor and in your families and among your friends, you are not alone. We are grounded in this earth, which joins us all, and the energy transforms into each of our hearts and minds as the collective spirit raises us up. When you are there for another, you are the biggest blessing in the world. There is not one treatment, one doctor, one hospital or one protocol that is as important as your hand on theirs at their time of greatest need. They will transfer their own great spirit, peace, and love into your hearts where they will live forever. God bless each of you as we journey this course together and know that you are never alone. To family and friends navigating this terrain the past few months and weeks, be comforted that your loved one wants you to find peace and remember them with gratitude, gentleness and love.