Several months ago, shortly after I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I received an e-hug via Facebook from a complete and total stranger. It was in a response to a post I put on a Facebook page regarding my cancer. The e-hug I received contained a poem titled What Cancer Cannot Do by an unknown author.
The person I received the e-hug from was sharing this with me as her mom had just lost her 11 year battle with lung cancer. Like so many cancer survivors do, this woman kept her head held high and remained compassionate about life. She lived her life and didn’t let the cancer diagnosis live it for her. She had several plaques around her home with this poem on it to remind her of some of the things that cancer cannot do. In the same spirit that this was shared with me, I share it with all of you. Some of you may have heard of it before, but I think it’s a great reminder of what cannot be taken away from you when it seems like so many things are.
Cancer is so limited…
It cannot cripple love
It cannot shatter hope
It cannot corrode faith
It cannot destroy peace
It cannot part true friendship
It cannot suppress memories
It cannot silence courage
It cannot invade the soul
It cannot steal eternal life
It cannot conquer the spirit
I know that sometimes cancer and cancer treatments can impact our mental, emotional, and physical health whether through chemo brain, side effect pains or the overall draining it can do on a daily basis. You may not agree with every aspect this poem says about what cancer cannot do, but I encourage you to take a moment and come up with at least three things that cancer cannot do. Cancer can change a lot of things in our lives, and sometimes we need to remind ourselves that it doesn’t have power over everything in our lives.
Originally published by Katie on 12/31/2010
Updated by Fight Like A Girl on 1/21/2021
This article is intended to convey general educational information and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.