Cancer:

In many forms affects persons of every race, creed and, color. People I personally know have had Uterine Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Melanoma, Lymphoma, Leukemia, Liver Cancer, and Lung Cancer…the clinical names may be different. In some it metastasized and moved on to death.  In others it was caught early and life goes on, at least for now.. For everyone the diagnosis was terrifying.

How would you react if diagnosed with cancer? Overwhelmed? Scared? Lonely? Denial? None of us can really know what we would do; whether we would act or react; calm or irrational?

Persons making drastic changes in their lives is very common. Last Holiday is a movie about a women who receives a terminal diagnosis. She quits her job, withdraws all her money and goes on, what she believes, is her last chance to do anything. This reaction is whimsical; a way to spend your final days having a really good time.

Then there is the opposite action by people who grow closer to their family and friends. With every step along the path of the disease you’re never alone. There are movies about this situation also.  Brian’s Song & Pieces of April. Families draw closer and true friendships are revealed. A sweet ending to pass in the company of those who you love and who love you.

We will all die, someday. Occasionally I think about dying; however, I try not to dwell on it. Receiving a ‘Cancer’ diagnosis would certainly reinitiate thoughts about dying. Several years ago I had fibroids. My Doctor said it wasn’t life threatening. I replied ‘perhaps not but I didn’t want to live with them either. Then I learned that both my grandmothers, as well as my mother, had had Uterine Cancer and my mother’s sister had had Cervical Cancer. On my next Doctor appointment I informed my Doctor that I would have a hysterectomy because I would not live the rest of my life wondering if the pain was just a cramp or…cancer