The blessing of chemo

There is a posting dating back to 2010 on the cancer.org site that has been really inspiring to me, so I want to share it here too, in hopes that it will encourage those of you struggling with the unpleasantness of cancer treatment, or other illnesses you may be dealing with.
A woman using the sign-in name TawnyS posted in response to another woman's post about how hard the Adriamycin/Cytoxan regiment was on her. Here is what she wrote:

Reading your words takes me back to my chemo days. I tell ya, I absolutely thought that AC was going to kill me. I couldn't move, eat, even talk for days. Then as the AC built up the days I was sick added to where I just couldn't bounce back. I don't know if this will help you, but what always got me through was thinking how lucky I was to be able to receive treatment when there were so many women out there diagnosed with cancer that wasn't treatable. I always thought even though I thought my life was the absolute worst that these women would love to be in my shoes. The chance for their life to be saved. I always would think about the people that were diagnosed terminal. I kept going back for them, for my husband, for my 8 year old daughter, for my grandmother that died from breast cancer in the 70's where she didn't have a chance with the treatments they had then.

http://csn.cancer.org/node/193602

Life is a matter of perspective. Yes, chemo/surgery/radiation, etc are brutal, and yet, at the same time, they are a blessing. How many people would love to be in our shoes right now? What would people give to have access to the treatment and the potential decades more of life that we will have as a result of this grueling ordeal? So on those days when we just can't do this for us anymore, let's do this for them. Before we know it, we will be done and moving on with our lives, stronger and with a much deeper appreciation for life as a result.