Will my stories I have written help?

[Guest cbysea1]

Dear Rick,

I agree with your message about putting a "face" on lung cancer patients.I am going to send copies of the letter from this site and add my story.

I am sending it to my towns hospital board ,to the LSU hospital where I am being treated with Chemo and Radiation and to the doctors who are treating me for cancer.

I am just an amateur writer. Actually I journal .Thats all.

Having this disease is so overwhelming .

I find I can feel a release from fear and pain when I can write my feelings.

A friend in Australia has been sending my letters and stories to a certain website's editor.I didn't know this at the time.

The editor contacted me and asked me if I would give her my permission to post one of my stories on her site.I agreed.

As a result I wrote one more story for the site.

I am now being asked for my permission for reprint's by a Texas hospital,a Women's Health Matters Sunnybrook and Women's Health Sciences Center, 2 Arizona magazines and a couple more that I have not had the time to investigate their credibility.

I only agree if there is no monetary reward going to the magazine because of my story.

The Google search engine picked the story up and I can actually be "Googled" now . *grin*

Type in these 3 words. Lung Cancer Cheryl.

I have have received hundreds of emails from all over the world.I am still answering each one of the emails.They come from cancer patients and from the patients families and friends.Some pray for me ,some ask for prayers.

Some of these stories break my heart.Some make me so proud to see the human spirit at its finest.Some want answers , some just needed to tell their story.

My stories are no more valid or important than any other cancer patient. I just accidentally got noticed.

Is there a way I can help with this issue of under the table treatment Lung Cancer patients receive,in my opinion?

I smoked and got limited small cell lung cancer.

Would overweight people be treated in a lowly way because they contracted diabetes? Would oil field welders be scorned because their equipment and supplies gave them lung cancer.The similar comparisons can go on and on.

I have had several experiences with some people's smirky and unkind reactions .

When these people found out I had lung cancer , they asked if I smoked.The minute I said yes I could see their whole persona change.

They more or less said I was to blame for all my cancer problems.

They were inferring I was weak and stupid.

I have to admit I still blame myself when I get down in the dumps.

But blame wont do anyone any good now.Let alone me blaming my own self.

I have to keep as positive as I can be in order to just stay with my head above water.

Then the tone of voice from these people sound's even more irate when they find out I am getting help from the state.

I pay tax's just like everyone else.

In my state I qualified for grants to pay my chemo and radiation costs because my medical bills have been so high these last few years.I have had several spinal operations and we always paid cash for the medical bills.I still pay for doctors and prescriptions.

We are self employed and had no insurance when I got cancer.

There was no way we could have paid for Chemo and Radiation without selling everything we own and then some.

Please tell me if I can be any help to this cause.

Cheryl