I Hate Cancer!

I hate cancer. I really do. Don’t you hate cancer? My lovely MIL is at the tail end of treatment; I’m her advocate with the docs and nurses and insurance company. My husband is a survivor, too, and the memories of his treatment and recovery are easily triggered. Friends and clients, my sister’s beloved when they were 16, a courageous young woman . . .

People say cancer can teach us what’s important in life and change our focus or direction. F*** that! Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, but it still sucks.

Prevalence

My grandma, Anne, her sister, Libby, and my mom all had breast cancer – and survived it. My mom finally succumbed to lung cancer in 2003. My grandma lived to 90, and died of old age, and Libby just turned 98! A friend’s spouse beat the 1% odds of survival. So I know cancer doesn’t take every person it hits.

As I’m writing this, I hear my anger and frustration. I hate for people to suffer. And they do. The patients suffer, along with their caregivers, and loved ones.

Cancer is this greedy, invisible, invading scourge. Ugh.

Grace and Strength

AND, I mostly see in people that have cancer and those who are caring for them: grace, a “Let’s take care of this” attitude, an occasional snit, strength and fortitude.

Love well, live well, and get check-ups.

Gotta go, I need to schedule my annual mammogram.

An update: I had lunch with my MIL today. She felt strong enough to meet me and enjoy a bit of “girl time” as we like to do. I think she wants to feel stronger than she actually does (don’t we all?). In any case, it was lovely to be in the sun, see her (now) curly hair, and just bask in the love we feel for one another.

For today, I’ll take that!