The past week seems to have been characterized by several small disasters. My car has been both sideswiped and towed (sadly enough, of my own doing!!), I've nearly ruined my cell phone by dropping it in the toilet (thankfully full of just water!) and there is far too much "penny-pinching" to speak of.
However, the most affecting part of it all was discovering last week that my paternal grandfather has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, only to be greeted the next day with the news that Jeff's grandfather had lost his own battle with cancer. It's comforting, of course, for each of us to have eachother at times like these, but the abrupt 3 PM pack-and-drive-to-West-Virginia solution didn't leave us with much time to really "talk about it." As much as I may feel for him at a time like this, I can't help but think of the fact that in a matter of time, my family and I could be going through the exact same thing.
Jeff called it a coincidence that the two events coincided so closely, but the fact is that millions of people are diagnosed with cancer every year. According to the American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org), 7.6 million people died from cancer last year alone.
It's no secret that cancer is a terrible, terrible thing, and I'm sure that most of you have had your own experiences with it. A teacher of mine (and a breast cancer survivor, at that!) once told me that cancer can sometimes be more difficult for those around the patients than it is for the patients themselves, a fact that I think about from time to time. The word "survivor," in my opinion, can apply just as well to those close to someone who won or lost the battle with cancer. When I see, for example, amateur atheletes dedicating their charity runs to a family member or friend with cancer, whether they beat it or not, it really pulls on my heartstrings.
If any of you have any stories on the subject, I (and my readers, I'm sure!) would love to hear them. Please feel free to share!!
A few useful links:
The American Cancer Society
AACR's Survivors and Advocates
The Association of Cancer Online Resources
Subscribe to this blog
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Re: Katiegirl
I remember being too young to really understand it when my mom told me that Grandma had breast cancer... it wasn't until much later that I really understood what something like that meant!
Katiegirl
Sorry to hear about your Grandpa and Jeff's Grandpa too. You all ready have your Grandma's story of being a breast cancer survivor for 11 years before the heartattacks took her. But, you are right! Cancer is hard of the relatives of those diagnosed. I cried everynight for weeks when my mom (your grandma) was diagnosed.