Cancer, Go AWAY…
Two strong voices in Al’s life have been silenced by cancer, in heatbeats of each other. I’m so sorry. It’s overwhelming when you think of it. These were two people who had full lives and shared them with Al and his wife, in what seemed an almost daily event. Those voices are gone now because of this disease that seems to be running wild within this community these days.
Laurie just went through her ordeal, Mo is in an emotional hurt because of cancer, I’ve got three friends battling this beast at the moment and now Al and his wife have lost dear friendships and the list just goes on and on.
I hope this isn’t a window into what cancer is doing ‘out there.’ I hope cancer hasn’t broken free and is running unrestrained through the streets. What is going on?
Are we just in a bad place at the moment? Will all this turn around soon and we’ll hear that our friends and family members are responding to treatment or that the lab coats have found a way to prevent a cancer? Wouldn’t that be a treat to hear about “prevention” in cancer world instead of treatment options?
Right now, I’ll settle for anything other than what we’ve been coping with, these past few days.
So much loss….too much cancer.
August 16, 2011 @ 2:51 am
I went to tons of links before this, what was I thkinnig?
August 9, 2011 @ 10:46 pm
I’m at a loss for words, I have been running from cancer for over 3 years now. I dread the pain that conjuors up in my mind whenever I hear the word. Losing Dom i thought would bring all that pain back, but it only sent it deeper. I want to think it is because my job as a care giver is not done. I often wonder where the strength comes from to keep up our own existence in the ugly battle and I know what my answer will be. I am grateful I have that connection to God and he is watching over all of us. He holds my right hand right now, leading me on a new path, not sure where I am going again.
I am just grateful I was able to hold the hand of a man I loved dearly, a father, a grandfather and an amazing friend. Cancer seems to be all around us, we have to look around the corners for the beauty of what surrounds us, not the ugly. The birth of a new baby, the view of the mountains, time with our family, celebrating a birthday, an anniversary, a job that we love that we go to everyday, a chance meeting to share a special moment with a stranger that after they walk away, you wonder, was that an angel? A lot of life still continues here and all around us, in the midst of all the sadness we need to remember to count our blessings, the ones we lost were not ours to keep, they were a gift of love and friendship! And man what a gift that is!
I cannot thank all of you enough for touching my heart and lifting me when I needed it most. It’s good to be home again and surrounded by friends….
August 16, 2011 @ 12:12 pm
Kudos! What a neat way of tinhikng about it.
August 17, 2011 @ 11:26 am
Articles like this are an example of quick, hefplul answers.
August 9, 2011 @ 8:28 pm
I think we are all feeling defeated at the moment. There have been so many losses just in our little family that it is almost overwhelming for me. For all of you I am so sorry. Like Al, I often think of all the things that seemed impossible that have been done and something that is so devastating to mankind is running out of control. Where are the answers?
August 9, 2011 @ 7:25 pm
Sadly I don’t believe that what we’ve just experienced is an aberration. It is the norm in the cancer world. On our church prayer list the number of newly diagnosed patients is probably 5 – 10 per month. This is just a snap shot, a moment in time but nevertheless a very significant moment for those patients who are newly diagnosed and their families. Is it that the diagnostic techniques and early warning signs are more sophisticated now or is it that cancer is more prevalent …..I think YES to both questions. A young woman, a friend of my daughter, just diagnosed with early breast cancer…two little children…has elected to have a double mastectomy now, no waiting for another shoe to drop. She should do well after reconstruction and hopefully never have to confront the beast again. But what a price.
I have exhausted my rant so I will not burden you again. The war and it is a war is being fought as best everyone can but is there progress….how do we or should we measure progress in this fight……it is at a glacial pace and almost imperceptible to those in the fight. We have thrown money at it but seemingly to little avail. There seems minimal collaboration among the doctors and scientists. We have shown in the past that we can build “the bomb” in record time; we can put a man on the moon but with all of the collective minds, we cannot solve the riddle wrapped in an enigma…a Rubiks cube. Meanwhile, each day brings another thousand or so of newly diagnosed patients and another thousand or so lose their lives to the beast.
What can we do, each of us…be attuned to your community, your neighbors and reach out to those newly diagnosed or already in the fight to let them know that they are not alone and that we know just how they feel. We can direct them to Our Cancer for support, information, understanding and care. Sadly, Our Cancer will never go out of business, at least in my lifetime. So my friends, we all must reach down once again, get a better and perhaps tighter grip and lift. We have much work to do. We have patients and caregivers who need us!!!!
August 9, 2011 @ 4:49 pm
Every loss is a heart-breaker, experienced as if for the first time. I am so saddened by your loss, Al.
When the taker is cancer and the cancer keeps taking, I find myself really struggling. When I read in the Post that there are shortages of some of the most inexpensive and effective cancer drugs, because their patents have expired and there’s no money to be made on them, I want to just scream. When my sister tells me of how a friend who is not one of her patients asked how much medicine she needed to take to end her life because the cancer pain is so great, I have no words; my sister knows the answer but cannot share it. I read last night about Bernandine Healy, a graduate of my college whom I deeply admired, not even a decade older than I, who died of brain cancer, and I wonder, how many more? How is it the heart keeps expanding to absorb our losses?