Kirsten Backstrom

Many people fear the potentially severe pain of terminal illness and assume that such suffering may result in an understandable decision to commit suicide, states Kirsten Backstrom in the following viewpoint. However, Backstrom asserts, deep suffering should not necessarily be avoided. In discussing her painful and life-threatening experience with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Backstrom recalls that physical and emotional suffering did not make her life less rewarding. In fact, she contends, suffering led her to experience rich and profound spiritual insights. Backstrom is a clerk for the Committee for Living with Illness and Loss in Multnomah, Oregon.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What physical symptoms did Backstrom experience during her treatments for Hodgkin’s lymphoma?
2. What does the author define as her “deeper identity”?
3. In...