Cancer.

The very word brings fear to just about anyone who hears it.

Seventeen of my friends and family members have been diagnosed with it; four have died.

But cancer doesn’t necessarily mean a death sentence these days. Thanks to improvements in treatment, more people are likely to survive, and their quality of life during chemotherapy doesn’t have to deteriorate.

Take Barbara Brandt, who is like a mother to me.

She is going through cancer for the second time in 12 years and the most optimistic woman I have ever met.

When she was first diagnosed, her children were still young, and the side effects of chemotherapy were brutal. Indeed, the exhaustion, nausea and vomiting (which led to dehydration, and other health problems) were almost more difficult to deal with than the disease itself.

After six months of treatment, her cancer went into remission only to come back in April.

This time around, however, there’s a huge difference.

She takes a wonderful little pill, Emend, that wasn’t around a decade ago. It significantly has improved her quality of life during these months of chemotherapy. Although she still suffers the side effects, she is well enough to make it to church functions, the grocery store and even play with her 4-year-old grandson.

Medicine still hasn’t come far enough, but I am hopeful a treatment will be developed soon that does not require the patient to poison her body in order to rid it of the disease.

In the meantime, a positive attitude and a strong support system are vital to surviving the treatment and healing.

I asked Barbara how she manages to get through it all, and she responded, “I live in an eternal journey with God, not limited by life on earth.”

She has an e-mail journal she sends out at least once a week to family and friends. And with every e-mail, she lists four blessings in her life.

Barbara does not dwell on the negative or look up mortality or survival statistics. She simply believes God will pull her through, and she will get better.

Chemotherapy and radiation help, but optimism and a trust in God are the foundation of her healing.