Woman battling breast cancer for a decade shares one thing she has learned about life — it’s surreal
For people fighting the battle of cancer, life is brutal and dim. It takes everything in them to bring out positivity and hope for the best. A woman named Mel O’Neill, who has been battling breast cancer for over a decade, has had quite the journey, per the Warrington Guardian. With treatments, medications and a whole lot of ups and downs, it has taken everything in her to fight the disease and live through. In the many years that she underwent chemo and other treatments, O’Neill learned a life-changing lesson that she holds on to as she continues to battle the disease. She shared this lesson in the hope that people will appreciate life better.
Giving a little backstory, the woman mentioned that she had been going through rigorous chemo and medication to treat her cancer. However, the only recurring diagnosis she recalled was that the cancer was back. In addition to her health struggles, the passing of her dad and other life-changing realities drained the light she had in her. She recalled a time when she felt weak physically and mentally. “But my thoughts and language turned to ‘if I’m still alive then,’ whenever we’d book anything or ‘if I can still see then,’ as my eyesight began to rapidly deteriorate,” O’Neill noted. Life went on revolving around medications, symptoms and so many health challenges that were just too long to list.
The cancer patient recalled her daughter, Darcy, who was only 4 years old when she was first diagnosed. Mel was recently able to celebrate her daughter's 18th birthday. She noted that it was “a moment in time I feared I’d miss.” With loved ones supporting her and a dash of hope shining from strangers here and there, O’Neill learned to make it through. The woman, however, pointed out that there was one thing she realized over the many years of her illness. “So what have I learned? To pace myself,” she remarked. She noted that life is unpredictable, but that should not stop a person from living to the fullest.
She learned “to plan things normally and know I’m still going to be here, albeit with poor eyesight but still with eyesight and here!” She realized she needed “to rest when I need to. To work when I can because it lifts me up and has a wonderful effect on my mental health.” The woman shared a motto she stuck with—"To celebrate the good and learn from the bad, I’ll continue to do the best I can whilst my body allows me to."
She poignantly revealed that for the last 12 years, she had heard a lot about her cancer, mostly that it would be terminal. However, she refused to “let it define” her. “I’ll continue on the good days and take every opportunity I’m offered,” O’Neill proudly said. She concluded, "I’ve been proven wrong so many times before when I worried so much about this, but I’m still here, maybe not thriving like I was last year, but I’m still here and have so much to be grateful for.”