{"id":279,"date":"2007-03-23T02:15:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-23T02:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jwalking\/2007\/03\/do-not-mourn-elizabeth-edwards.html"},"modified":"2007-03-23T02:15:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-23T02:15:00","slug":"do-not-mourn-elizabeth-edwards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jwalking\/2007\/03\/do-not-mourn-elizabeth-edwards.html","title":{"rendered":"Do not mourn Elizabeth Edwards"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve noticed the articles<\/a> appearing on websites discussing the statistics with people who have stage IV breast cancer – which Elizabeth Edwards apparently has. Walking through the airport last night on my way home I glimpsed one of the evening chat programs talking about Elizabeth Edwards as if she were already a past tense – showing photos of her in “better” times, behaving as though today’s news was that she had died. She’s very much alive.<\/p>\n

The news today is sad. It is a big setback for the Edwards family. It is not the end. It is the beginning of a fight that may last for a very, very long time. And that isn’t necessarily a horrible thing.<\/p>\n

Four years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Four years later, it is an ailment I still battle. For now the disease is “treatable but not curable.” I take drugs every few weeks. I don’t like them much but they seem to be doing the things they should be doing and I may end up taking them for a very long time. If they don’t work I may get my brain zapped. If that doesn’t work I may go to clinical trials. In the midst of all of it God may heal me miraculously. I have faith that I will live. It is not irrational faith. It is rational faith and many before me have lived for a very, very long time. I am in a long battle – but life is very, very good.<\/p>\n

Four years and a day ago I would have read the above paragraph with fear and horror. I would have thought of a brain tumor and thought instant death. What I have learned is that more and more cancer is being treated as a chronic disease like diabetes or heart disease – things that aren’t curable but that are treatable… like HIV.<\/p>\n

Is this simply the rationalizing of a sick man? No. I’m actually not an optimist by nature – just ask my doctors who have endured four years of me thinking every bit of news means that I need to start sending out “I’m glad to have known you” emails to everyone I know. This is the evolution of treating a horrible disease. Over time the treatments will get better.<\/p>\n

So let us settle in for years and years of prayer for the Edwards family and for Elizabeth’s healing. She needs your prayers. (Since I am greedy I will take them too.) And let’s look forward to many more happy photos of their very good life together – a life different than the one they once envisioned, but a life full and rich and beautiful nevertheless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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