Turbo Cancer: Day 100 - September 19, 2022
Faith and Awareness
On this day last year, my mom wrote:
Finally feel better today! Little to no nausea.
John fixed the leak in the shower.
Trying to cancel PT for tomorrow. No answer. Did exercises.
With this chemo treatment, my mom’s nausea was the worst it had ever been.
Thankfully, her breathing was unaffected. Our biggest fear had been another episode of congestive heart failure.
There were so many fears.
It had been months of trauma.
Most of us are familiar with the term: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We associate PTSD with war. After returning from battle, soldiers often have difficulty assimilating themselves back into normal life. Their brains, having been in a prolonged state of stress, are still expecting threat. Even in environments providing absolute safety and peace, the post-traumatic brain perceives danger.
PTSD is a biological, self-protective, response to an event that threatens suffering or death. In order to survive, humans must recognize danger and react quickly.
Early man was in a battle with nature. With no protection other than intellect, humanity had to survive predators, disease, weather, and the unforgiving, untamed planet Earth. An automatic, fast, threat-response was our only means of defense.
The will to survive has kept the human race alive for three-hundred-thousand-years. Above all else, our existence has depended on our ability to recognize, and respond to, danger.
When we perceive ourselves to be unsafe, stress chemicals are released into our brain. These chemicals enable us to react without thinking. In the face of danger, we either stand and fight, or we run away.
The stress response is the oldest part of the brain. It is who we were, mentally, before we were conscious.
At birth, the human brain is new. It lacks experience. It is through living that the brain develops and matures.
Babies are born with two main attributes: the ability to learn and the will to survive. When the infant brain senses danger or discomfort, the stress-response kicks in, and the baby cries.
A baby, in a healthy social environment, will receive help every time he cries.
We are born with the stress-response. We have inherited it from our earliest ancestors. We keep the same brain from six weeks post-conception until death. Unless the brain is damaged, humans retain their original attributes: the ability to learn and the will to survive.
Brains have chemical reactions that guide them. When a nerve senses pain or discomfort, it sends a signal to the brain. Upon receiving the signal, the brain instructs the body to react.
PTSD occurs when the trauma that we experience is so intense that the stress-response chemicals continue to be released, long after the danger has passed.
Extreme trauma can come in the form of threats to our body, our mind, our emotions or our spirit. No matter what form the trauma takes, it activates the infant core of the brain. It puts the automated stress-response in control. Emotion overrides reason.
In this state, human action is no longer controlled by rational thought. A brain that is in an active state of trauma-response is not capable of critical thinking. The stress-response state must end in order for reason to be reinstated.
There are different types of trauma that lead to PTSD. Sometimes there is a single, colossal , sudden, devastating event that causes a long-term stress response. At other times, such as in war, people experience a series of traumas.
My mom was in a state of perpetual trauma.
The suddenness of her disease was trauma. She hadn’t seen it coming. She was just living her life. She was swimming laps and being kind to her neighbors. She either couldn’t see, or she didn’t want to see, that she was surrounded by evil.
She remained peacefully ignorant of the threat.
She refused to recognize that we were under attack.
Turbo cancer hit hard. Turbo cancer hit suddenly. Turbo cancer also lingered.
Seemingly, it came out of nowhere. It was a tiny bomb that exploded in my mom’s groin, causing a shockwave of traumatic events.
The debilitating pain was trauma. The belittling attitude of the medical establishment was trauma. The time spent without a diagnosis was trauma. The inability to find and obtain effective pain management was trauma. The terminal diagnosis, after having had cancer ruled out, was trauma. The multiple medical mistakes were trauma. The invasive tests were trauma. The treatment was trauma.
The fear of what was to come was trauma.
My mom hadn’t seen it coming. Suddenly, out of the blue, there was danger everywhere.
Danger leads to fear.
Fear leads to the ancient, automatic, stress-response.
The stress-response enables fear to control our actions.
My mom’s life had become a series of traumas. It was one thing after another. Visions of the future held nothing but pain, suffering and death. She was caught up in a trauma-cycle, searching for unattainable pain relief while preparing for death.
I remain in awe of her ability to remain positive and faithful.
However, faith ought to be combined with awareness. Heaven promises absolute safety and peace, but we are here, on earth.
The Bible is filled with stories of tyrants and slaves. Mythology is filled with stories of tyrants and slaves. History is filled with stories of tyrants and slaves. Shit, even Hollywood is filled with stories of tyrants and slaves.
The stories connect us to who we are. The stories inform the spiritual purpose of our existence. In the stories, it is when the slaves gain awareness that they overcome their evil oppressors.
When the people are awake, they will see the danger. Their ancient will to survive will be activated. They will fight to be free.
The only other option is accepting that we, the living of the year 2024, are the last generation. We are those who allowed the suicidal end of the human race.
>The only other option is accepting that we, the living of the year 2024, are the last generation. We are those who allowed the suicidal end of the human race.
Yep.
Thank you for writing all this. Her story represents many others. We can't let this go. What those in charge have done to the people of the world is monstrously criminal.