Cancer is a Thief!

Wednesday - December 12, 2012

Sometimes I am simply enraged by the roster of people impacted by this fell, dread, bodily invasion.  Sometimes I simply have to stake a spot in the house, claim a moment, and cry.  In the seven months since stage 4 lymphoma was branded onto my essence / my identity, Megan's circle of youthful, just-starting-out-in-life friends has twice been visited by cancer - TWICE!  Two wonderfully vibrant, talented, energetic, and intellectually gifted recent college graduates have been robbed of their gift of health and peace of mind and been kidnapped into infusion rooms and oncology suites ... by cancer.  Thankfully both have come through the inferno with their spirits intact and their cancers beaten solidly / squarely / fully into remission.  "Life, Interrupted" is how the eloquent and fierce Suleika Jaouad (two weeks older than our Megan) describes the impact of cancer in young adults. Cancer has assaulted these youth, skulking away with their ability to take health for granted, thieving off with their sense of endless, easy "no worries" shrugs when a cough or an ache or a bruise or a lump may arise.  An outrageous siege on carefree days.... 

Today my tears are flowing for an older individual who has just embarked on her own cancer struggle, who has been mugged by this unheralded scourge.  I am comforted that she will be able to rely on the stalwart support and unequivocal love of my sister Carolyn.  I am baying at the moon in fury that the precious relationship she and Carolyn share - that rare genuine gift of deep found love and friendship - is being redirected from cheerfully mundane life outings into fraught cancer clinic visits.  I am infuriated and terribly terribly terribly sad.  My heart is full and my prayers are urgent.  I hold close this lovely woman who has opened her heart to my sister.  I remember and cry for Sylvia, my own surrogate mother, who parented me and loved me without reservation or the need for familial ties.  Remarkable Sylvia, who was also burgled by cancer, robbed of time, embezzled of experiences.  Cancer is a THIEF!  I pray that we can steal back our time, our years of experiences, our decades of opportunity to deepen and enhance our love....