I have to admit I think about death a lot more since my two cancer, and I think that is okay.
BY Barbara Tako
PUBLISHED November 23, 2019
Barbara Tako is a breast cancer survivor (2010), melanoma survivor (2014) and author of Cancer Survivorship Coping Tools–We'll Get You Through This. She is a cancer coping advocate, speaker and published writer for television, radio and other venues across the country. She lives, survives, and thrives in Minnesota with her husband, children and dog. See more at www.cancersurvivorshipcopingtools.com,or www.clutterclearingchoices.com.
Death and dying are reality for everyone, yet our western approach to life often prefers to gloss it over. Honestly, facing my fear of death has helped me to become, well, a little more comfortable with it, and even somewhat less fearful. Maybe the younger a person is at the time of cancer diagnosis, the more fear will be a factor, but I don't think that is the whole story.
Death is a universal and yet a very personal experience. I gained an understanding of that from my cancer talk therapist and also from my mom when she died of cancer two years ago. When my mom learned that her breast cancer had advanced past treatment, she commented, "Everyone has to die from something, I suppose." Her words at age 84 seemed very stoic compared to my intense fears and tears when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 46, years before my mom ever had cancer.
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