tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post7741166997897659231..comments2024-02-20T00:10:20.214-06:00Comments on KatyDid Cancer: Day 730: 2 Years and CountingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-46997716400298653652012-05-04T17:40:47.817-05:002012-05-04T17:40:47.817-05:00I think that there are some people who choose to b...I think that there are some people who choose to be inspired by a cancer survivor BECAUSE they survived, and some (like me) are inspired by the way the person handled the monumental challenges that come with it along the way, even if it's the same way they would handle any other challenge. <br /><br />I'm keeping everything crossed that Tuesday goes well.Melisa Wellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14252498482861679154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-29462304391384415112012-05-04T12:17:07.332-05:002012-05-04T12:17:07.332-05:00Some other people call this limbo land .... being ...Some other people call this limbo land .... being NED, but still fearing recurrence. It sucks. It's a terrible place to be. <br />And, I get really annoyed because sometimes, when I talk about recurrence and how I'm high risk, people will say "Oh, just be positive. It will be fine." And I want to punch them and say if positivity could prevent cancer? We'd have bottled it up and started selling it by now. And also, how the hell do you know it will be fine? Do you have a crystal ball and can see me 50 years from now? Or what?<br />I do not understand our "pink culture" in which people are paraded around and held up as strong, saying they fought the disease, or when we say people lost the battle to cancer. No, that person did not. Medicine and science lost the battle. And I hate how we set up as winners and losers. Because it's not. But people want a happy ending, and they want to believe you had some special power to beat the cancer, because maybe that means if they got cancer they have that same moxie and will beat the cancer too. Metastatic patients do not fit that happily ever after pattern. And so they become marginalized. And it sucks. And puts pressure on those of us going through treatment to swallow the pink crap and be thankful for it, when in truth, pink makes me want to hurl.<br />But. Still.<br />I hope the tests go well. I can't imagine the trepidation of having to go for mammograms right now. It would freak me out (on the other hand, I can't lie. I'm jealous you still have boobs left to mammogram. But not jealous of you in a mean, bad way, if that makes any sense at all? I mean. You had cancer. And cancer sucks whether it takes your entire breast or not. Whether you have chemo or not. Whether you get radiation or not. Cancer just sucks). I'm rambling though. And I'll stop for now.<br />Anyway ... I hope the tests go well. And that there is good news. And that you get another year of peace.Brandiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09181341595095947329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-3602312607278376102012-05-04T09:19:37.670-05:002012-05-04T09:19:37.670-05:00How do you compliment someone when saying "Gr...How do you compliment someone when saying "Great Poem!" sounds so flippant? That's not what I want to say and I don't want to say I like it, because I don't WANT to like it (you know?) but it was really moving...<br /><br />I'm glad you're still here after 2 years. Anxiously awaiting your results on Tuesday...tracey.becker1@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09606831315390042198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-90493861129722564592012-05-04T08:38:15.739-05:002012-05-04T08:38:15.739-05:00The Chief Oncologist at Swedish Covenant Hospital ...The Chief Oncologist at Swedish Covenant Hospital once told me, "If you live long enough, you will get cancer." Because of the nature of the beast. Because of the way cancer works - how it starts - what causes there are that are known.<br /><br />Many people don't live long enough to get cancer. Other thing get them first - Heart Disease, Diabetes, Automobile Accidents - even old age. But cancer is out there, somewhere, for all of us - according to him.<br /><br />That said, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you have the courage to speak about cancer in the manner you do. My Mom is a survivor - she had a radical mastectomy of her right side more than 30 years ago. She never talks about it, but I did hear her mention, once, just once, how proud she had been of her breasts. She said it almost in passing, in conversation with another woman, in a voice tinged with regret. It's the only time I've ever heard her talk about it. I wish she would talk more - because I know it still bothers her.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13024392628362568010noreply@blogger.com