Cancer is an uncomfortable subject for most people. Either because it's outside their personal experience or because it hits too close to home. I'm glad we have a cultural shift happening to tear down the veil that hides all kinds of cancer from our collective awareness. We have to admit that we can only change problems by acknowledging they exist. That's what this documentary and the people in it have done: they highlight the fact that for much too long, there was a void when it comes to dealing with the long-term effects of fighting breast cancer.
In recent years, that has started to change at the ground level, with those who care for and live with breast cancer patients stepping up to make a difference for their loved one. The community at large still has blinders on, however. Thankfully, this film encourages us all to shake off those blinders and see what has always been right in front of us: human beings dealing with breast cancer (either as patients, caregivers, or family and friends of patients) and many being willing to admit they need help. I can't imagine how hard that must be, to humble yourself so intensely, to make yourself so very vulnerable to total strangers. But that's what it takes to change the cultural attitude about cancer, and that's what these Courageous Warriors and others like them have done. They bared their souls and even their embattled bodies so that we can all learn to do better, be better. In other words, they have reminded us that cancer is everywhere and affects everyone, so we need to accept that, stand up straight, and face the challenge.
The most moving part to me about the film is seeing the beauty they create from the ashes of their lives... patients and their caregivers walk through a personal nightmare, then go on to help others' dreams come true. Instead of crashing, crumbling, and giving up, they wiped their eyes and saw there are ways they can use their God-given gifts to help others who are also living with cancer. There was a need they could fill and they went after it with gusto. Good on them! The charities spotlighted in the film do great things for people who really need their help, and the warriors behind those charities truly amaze me. Forgive me for using another beauty/ashes metaphor when I say they went through hell and now help others find their heaven.
It's thanks to them that the rest of us can have hope right out of the gate on the very day we are diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease, should that terrible day fall upon us. Thank you to every Warrior out there! Each one of you is a gift to the world.
In recent years, that has started to change at the ground level, with those who care for and live with breast cancer patients stepping up to make a difference for their loved one. The community at large still has blinders on, however. Thankfully, this film encourages us all to shake off those blinders and see what has always been right in front of us: human beings dealing with breast cancer (either as patients, caregivers, or family and friends of patients) and many being willing to admit they need help. I can't imagine how hard that must be, to humble yourself so intensely, to make yourself so very vulnerable to total strangers. But that's what it takes to change the cultural attitude about cancer, and that's what these Courageous Warriors and others like them have done. They bared their souls and even their embattled bodies so that we can all learn to do better, be better. In other words, they have reminded us that cancer is everywhere and affects everyone, so we need to accept that, stand up straight, and face the challenge.
The most moving part to me about the film is seeing the beauty they create from the ashes of their lives... patients and their caregivers walk through a personal nightmare, then go on to help others' dreams come true. Instead of crashing, crumbling, and giving up, they wiped their eyes and saw there are ways they can use their God-given gifts to help others who are also living with cancer. There was a need they could fill and they went after it with gusto. Good on them! The charities spotlighted in the film do great things for people who really need their help, and the warriors behind those charities truly amaze me. Forgive me for using another beauty/ashes metaphor when I say they went through hell and now help others find their heaven.
It's thanks to them that the rest of us can have hope right out of the gate on the very day we are diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease, should that terrible day fall upon us. Thank you to every Warrior out there! Each one of you is a gift to the world.