May is National Cancer Research Month, which gives those of us here at Survivors Cancer Action Network a chance to talk about a key piece of our mission. If you’ll notice, our goal is to champion those who have battled cancer in many realms — in their own bodies, in homes with their loved ones, in hospitals and oncology offices, in advocacy work in the halls of government, and in laboratories.
If you’ve been treated for cancer, chances are that there came a moment — maybe a moment of triumph when success was in sight or maybe a moment of utter fatigue when the journey seemed to be taking too long — that you thought about “them.” That is, you thought about those people who had developed this treatment giving you a chance at remission, or a cure, or even just a little more quality time. You thought about the patients who came before you who took a chance on clinical trials that brought your treatment to the market. You thought about the people who tried the “other” treatments — those that didn’t pan out. You thought about your debt to these people you’d never meet or see. And you whispered “thank you” into the air, hoping your gratitude would somehow reach them.
How cool is it that we have a special month set aside to thank them again?
We know there continue to be too many casualties, and as we all know, there is still more work to do.
And so, as we write this, researchers somewhere are hard at work behind the scenes, looking for that next weapon we can put in our arsenal to use against this terrible disease. They’re our allies, our secret weapons, our hope. They’re the reasons more and more of us are alive to tell our stories.
On behalf of cancer survivors everywhere, thank you.