A patient (let’s call him Mr. Y) came to see us again after a month. He said he benefited from our therapy. When he stood up to leave he whispered, can I not go into the video? Yes, the story of his cancer journey was featured in our website. I am glad that he brought up his “concern”. This gives me the opportunity to explain to everyone why we post your stories in our website.
Since I promised not to use his video, for this story I took the liberty to crop this video and also change the original image into “Chinese painting.” So, it is only about me talking!
Let me share with you what I said that morning.
Share your experience!
Since we started CA Care twenty over years ago, we held to the concept that patients who come to see us are encouraged to share their experiences with each other. Therefore patients consult with us in the open. Everyone can hear what is going on at our centre. There is no one-on-one conversation in an enclosed room. In fact, in our centre, we knocked off the wall of a room to make it an open space.
All our consultation sessions are video-taped and this is stated in the “Release of Liability” form which patients sign before they consult with us. However, we also assure you that if your video is used in our website, your identity will be protected. We close your face and do not use your real name.
So far we have produced almost 1,000 videos which you can find in the You-tube. I am most grateful that almost ALL patients would not object to us sharing their stories. But over the years we did encounter one or two patients who were not happy to share their stories. That’s okay, we took those videos down.
Let me tell all patients — you all are my teachers. I learn from your experiences. Your stories are something that are not written in the medical books. Without your stories, I will not be able to know what is really happening on the ground. What you said and went through had to be recorded. And if you don’t mind your experiences are written up and shared with others.
I am extremely sensitive to the fact that all stories must be genuine not fakes or manufactured. Therefore everything that we wrote must be backed by your very own words and experiences. So everything that I wrote are true, not made up.
Many years ago, I received some nasty emails from someone (he would not reveal his real identity).He accused me of making up stories and asked how much I paid those people in the videos! He even suggested the those “patients” are just actors, not cancer patients. I suspected this person is a cyber trooper who earn some pocket money to “disturb” us.
Anyway, in one of my replies to him I said something like this: The more emails you write to me accusing me of faking stories, the MORE videos I shall upload onto my websites! Let’s see how many fake stories I know how to write.” Not long after this, he stopped writing to me!
Albert Einstein wrote, The world is a dangerous place to live. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.
Yes, the cancer world is a rotten world not because of such cyber troopers but because of good and educated men playing dumb and do nothing. You and me, who know the truth should speak up and share our experiences! Tell the world the truth.
You never know how your experience may help others
I read a lot of books and gain wisdom from these authors. One of my favourite author is a Jewish rabbi, Harold Kushner. Reflect on what he wrote.
I have lived almost 41 years now and there is one thing I know for sure, … Life Stinks!! You can’t avoid bad things. They are a part of life. People will die, people will get sick and suffer! There will be floods, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, job loss, the list goes on. You name it, it’s bound to happen.
People of faith try to search for answers to why this stuff happens. Why was God doing this? I was angry! Bad things have been happening to good people throughout history.
I was and am still … looking for answers to why all this was happening around me.
I do have some good news to share. What I have learned and what I want to share with you today is, God Is Love! I believe that God doesn’t want bad things to happen to us … God walks with us and loves us through all the difficult times.
We are God’s jigsaw puzzles. Each experience we have, both good and bad are pieces of our puzzles. and God patiently and lovingly puts the pieces together.
| Life is like a jigsaw puzzle.
Everyone carries with them at least one and probably many pieces to someone else’s puzzle. No one has within themselves all the pieces to their puzzle. A certain piece you have appears worthless to you, but to others, that’s the missing piece he desperately needs. |
Life Stinks. I want to retract that statement; Life is full of so much to be grateful for. Things are going to be rough; we can’t avoid that, but YOU ARE LOVED!
Remember to pray, God hears you and loves you and stands by you through it all. We are who we are because of everything that we go through. We are God’s jigsaw puzzle! The love of God surrounds us ALWAYS.
One question I often ask all those who come to see us, Who ask you to come here? Most of them said they learned about CA Care from the internet. They listened to the videos in the You-Tube.
When Mr. Y was first diagnosed with cancer he did not know what to do — totally lost! He “swallowed” what were dished out to him. In spite of spending so much money he ended up in a “hole”. Then he found us in the internet. He decided to give up further medical treatment and came to us for help. Like many others, after a month, he experienced the benefit of our therapy.
Ask this question in your heart, don’t you want to share your blessing with others? Do you want others to fall into the same hole that you fell into?
Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.
By sharing your stories other people too may have the opportunity to come and seek our help. Like Rabbi Kushner said, each of us do not have all the pieces of jigsaw puzzle of our lives. Some pieces are missing and are in the hands of others. If your are holding the “missing piece” of my life, don’t you want to share it with me?
I am fully aware that at CA Care we have many missing pieces of jigsaw puzzle belonging to those who we do not know. But for those lucky ones, they find their missing pieces after coming to us. We are happy to give this missing piece back to you.
In the same way, each and every cancer patient could be holding someone else missing pieces. Don’t you want to share?
It is hard to do good
Over the years since we started CA Care, I realized that it is hard to do good. It is very much easier to be a dead fish and flow with the stream. To flow against the current is hard work and often very frustrating.
If you come to CA Care you will see the words of Mother Teresa (Saint Teresa of Calcutta) prominently displayed on the wall. Her words is the compass of our mission.
CANCER STORY 
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