The purpose of the book is to create awareness and to encourage others that our God is still in the business of performing miracles.
Bayo & Yinka Oladele
About the Authors
BAYO & YINKA OLADELE
“Only the affected knows the impact”.
My name is Adebayo (Bayo) Oladele, I am a cancer survivor and would like to share my experience with you, the reader of this text, regarding the series of battles I fought against cancer, the barrage of treatments that I underwent, the notions which people have about cancer, the art of Caregiving to cancer patients and how God rescued me from the cold hand of death. My wife and I co-authored the book – “Second Chance: Surviving the Battles of Cancer”.
“Only the affected knows the impact”. In this case, “only the patient can tell” is the summary of cancer treatment experience, and the same may be said for the primary caregiver. It’s almost impossible to describe the real feeling of a cancer patient, especially during the critical periods of the treatments, and there are indeed many critical times for any cancer patient.
This text covers some preliminary information most people look for either as a patient, a caregiver or as someone who is interested in cancer or cancer treatments. It gives a simple, clear and reliable information about cancer, its causes, and some signs and symptoms, to watch out for. It might be important to state here that at the initial stages, signs, and symptoms that are characteristics of cancer can be mistaken for a non-cancer disease and vice versa. This is why it is advisable to seek expert opinion when you see a sign or experience a symptom.
Lastly, this piece also offers an overview of the art of Caregiving. It is important to note that Caregiving is a thankless job, especially when the primary caregiver is a close relative of the patient. Caregivers require as much attention and support as the patient.
By having a clear mind, taking every sign and symptom seriously and acting on them at their early stages, and following the established and scientifically proven medical processes, we hope that certain cancers will soon be downgraded to a non-terminal chronic disease. It is my hope that this write-up will help to shed more light on the subject of cancer and remove some of the superstitions around it.
The practical experience detailed towards the end of the text is to help readers “see” from the eyes of the patient and to share in the patient’s ordeal and by so doing lifting some of the weights from his/her shoulder, for “a burden shared is a burden halved.”
Our prayer is that none of us will ever pass through this kind of ordeal again. But if we have to, it will not be in utter darkness; we will have a manuscript for the road.
