Hi Peter. Thank you very much form your post and for what you shared about the spiritual side of life. I'm sure you are right that people can vary in how they react to the chemo.
When I retired early from the church, aged 61 back in 2003, my mother became ill with dementia. She lived a 3 hr journey away in Liverpool and visiting her occupied a lot of my time. I also had made the decision that when I retired I would really retire from church duties, although for a few years I did take the occasional funeral.
It was only through having cancer that I got involved in mindfulness. After my initial treatment the hospital physiotherapist thought I might benefit from mindfulness. I have always suffered from anxiety. She put me in touch with a lady who worked in another department in my local hospital, who happened to be a mindfulness teacher. Over the last 5 years she has become a very dear close friend. She is a truly beautiful soul, one in a million, the kind of person you might only meet once in a lifetime.
One of the key aspects of mindfulness is living in the moment, and being present with what you are doing. Mindfulness does give one a greater appreciation of the preciousness and beauty of life. In a way getting cancer was a blessing because through it, by meeting my friend, I discovered mindfulness.