I spend a lot of time these days talking about life after treatment, reconstruction, weight gain, weight loss, fatigue...if you're a regular, then you know. One thing I haven't talked about in a while is C word...cancer. How it changes your life, how it makes you part of a club...and not the fun kind. I have made connections...correction, I have made FRIENDS, that I would not have made if it wasn't for cancer. (Stop reading Mom, I'm about use bad words) The shitty part of that deal is that many of those friends are battling some form of cancer, too. Regardless of where you are with the disease and/or treatment, you end up with segment of your world revolving around cancer. You have new Facebook friends. You meet new people at the clinic while you're waiting to see the doctor. You share a chemo room with a fabulous person. We all have stories, we all support one another, we all fight every damn day to stay positive, stay healthy and stay alive. Whether you were stage 0 or stage 4, you are part of the family. Cancer is cancer is cancer is cancer.
Now, for those of you who have been blessed with a life that has not yet been touched by cancer, let me put this in perspective for you. Imagine you form a small circle of new friends. You were brought together because you have something in common. Imagine that when you connect, you chat about how your week is going, you get some advice from one person, you share your own advice with another person. You welcome new people with that common interest into your circle. You are constantly praying for the well-being of your new friends and only hoping the best for them.
This is what happens when you get diagnosed. You start growing a circle of friends who have or have had cancer. Some of my "cancer friends" I get to see in person, many of them are friends of friends who became my friends (and yes, Facebook counts)...because of CANCER. Now imagine that circle of friends we were discussing earlier consisted of 6 people. How hard would it be for you if within 9 months 2 of those friends found out their cancer had recurred and 2 others passed away. It's not easy, my friends. It is not easy at all!
I'm really tired so I'm going to stop here but I'll be back tomorrow to finish up this post.
Stay strong, my cancer family! Love you!
Love to all,
Andee
Now, for those of you who have been blessed with a life that has not yet been touched by cancer, let me put this in perspective for you. Imagine you form a small circle of new friends. You were brought together because you have something in common. Imagine that when you connect, you chat about how your week is going, you get some advice from one person, you share your own advice with another person. You welcome new people with that common interest into your circle. You are constantly praying for the well-being of your new friends and only hoping the best for them.
This is what happens when you get diagnosed. You start growing a circle of friends who have or have had cancer. Some of my "cancer friends" I get to see in person, many of them are friends of friends who became my friends (and yes, Facebook counts)...because of CANCER. Now imagine that circle of friends we were discussing earlier consisted of 6 people. How hard would it be for you if within 9 months 2 of those friends found out their cancer had recurred and 2 others passed away. It's not easy, my friends. It is not easy at all!
I'm really tired so I'm going to stop here but I'll be back tomorrow to finish up this post.
Stay strong, my cancer family! Love you!
Love to all,
Andee