"When I'm Done"
At my last Zometa infusion, in the next cubicle a young woman's father visited with her during her chemo treatment. They were busy discussing plans for an upcoming family vacation in July, and suggesting possible future trips. Father mentioned an Alaskan cruise taken recently by a family friend; the young woman responded enthusiastically, "I really want to do that when I'm done!"
If a cancer is caught early, and there's an appropriate treatment available, and the patient is willing and able to pursue that treatment, is it possible to be "done" with cancer? My friend and sister C3 (not to be confused with my friend and sister C2) caught her breast cancer early, underwent a radical mastectomy and aggressive chemo, and has been free of breast cancer for nearly 12 years. She's had a couple of surgeries since, one removing a gland in her neck (negative on all counts) and one removing a growth on her cheek (positive for squamous cell). She's vigilant about checking on possible problems and works with her doctors to make certain that she, and they, are on top of things.
Cancer may go into remission, or be controllable through medication and treatments, but I don't think we can any of us ever relax that vigilance. I can think of renal cell as a chronic condition, something like diabetes or high blood pressure, that is just part of my life. So I'll probably never be "done" with it. That being said, I hope I'm "done" with being controlled by fear.
It's snowing here, at last; we got a couple of inches yesterday. Up to this point we'd gotten under an inch for the entire season - though if we'd gotten the equivalent in snow of the rain that we received in December, we'd still be digging out! It's great soup weather, hooray. Nothing quite like the perfume of soup magic, permeating the house and sealing it against winter's chills.
If a cancer is caught early, and there's an appropriate treatment available, and the patient is willing and able to pursue that treatment, is it possible to be "done" with cancer? My friend and sister C3 (not to be confused with my friend and sister C2) caught her breast cancer early, underwent a radical mastectomy and aggressive chemo, and has been free of breast cancer for nearly 12 years. She's had a couple of surgeries since, one removing a gland in her neck (negative on all counts) and one removing a growth on her cheek (positive for squamous cell). She's vigilant about checking on possible problems and works with her doctors to make certain that she, and they, are on top of things.
Cancer may go into remission, or be controllable through medication and treatments, but I don't think we can any of us ever relax that vigilance. I can think of renal cell as a chronic condition, something like diabetes or high blood pressure, that is just part of my life. So I'll probably never be "done" with it. That being said, I hope I'm "done" with being controlled by fear.
It's snowing here, at last; we got a couple of inches yesterday. Up to this point we'd gotten under an inch for the entire season - though if we'd gotten the equivalent in snow of the rain that we received in December, we'd still be digging out! It's great soup weather, hooray. Nothing quite like the perfume of soup magic, permeating the house and sealing it against winter's chills.
Labels: life in general
posted by rcclive at
3:02 PM
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