I just read this in the latest issue of The Oprah Magazine (July 2007):

"I have come to believe . . . that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal, and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood." - Audre Lorde

If I could have said this beautiful sentiment on my own, I would have. But I didn't, so I'll borrow it and profess that this is exactly how I feel.

Cancer is a physical disease. But it has striking affects on mental, emotional and spiritual wellness too. Worried Sick: The Emotional Impact of Cancer is a report done by Macmillan Cancer Support that illustrates the devastating emotional impact cancer can have for the patient and family living with cancer, and the lack of support services available to address these needs. Depression, anxiety, and isolation are common feelings. The entire experience of cancer can place a serious strain on the best of relationships. It can end less durable relationships. Divorce and separation can be an outcome of the stress of living with a life-threatening illness. Cancer patients report feeling alone and abandoned with no one they can really talk even when they do not live alone.

Personally, I know of a woman who was struggling through the grueling ordeal of chemotherapy. She had suffered all the physical side-effects of chemotherapy, such as hair loss, weight loss, weakness -- drained of any healthly glow. She was not in a good marriage to begin with, but at her most vulnerable and weakest moment, her husband actually turned to her and said, "Why don't you just hurry up and die." Up until that moment, she was not sure she was going to survive cancer. In that moment, she became determined not only to survive cancer, but her husband. Today, years later, she is a breast cancer survivor. True story.

For a surprising majority of cancer patients, the negative emotional impact of cancer far outweighs the physical reality of having cancer. The complete report -- Worried Sick: The Emotional Impact of Cancer -- is available as a PDF document.