Never in my life has a six letter word had such an impact on me as this one does. You are probably wondering what six letter word I am talking about right? Well it is one that I am sure has touched all of us at one point or another in life. That word is Cancer. I can remember being a child and that word not even being brought into my vocabulary at all. It wasn’t until I was in my teens that I actually heard and understood what the word was. I think it was a point when my mother had a mole removed from her shoulder and she sat me and my brother down and told us that the mole had been a form of skin cancer. That alone scared me, knowing that my mother had skin cancer and knowing that my body had moles all over it. I was in university when I got a couple of my own moles removed for fear that they would lead to something more. I was always on edge when it came to that word. Always. It had come close to my home and it terrified me. What terrified me more so was the fact that the doctors where I grew up never took it seriously. Never took the time to look into it if someone was hurting and wanting it explored. I remember my Aunt was always complaining about pains in her back and how much it hurt. The Doctors seemed convinced at the time that it was just arthritis. However, it wasn’t until her Daughters flew down from Ontario and took her back with them that they realized that she had cancer and it had progressed far too far for anything to be done about it. One of the hardest things in my life had to be to watch my Aunt wither away from a disease that might have been caught at some point. Except it wasn’t because Doctors didn’t take her pain too seriously.

Now, I can’t remember how many years ago it was but my Mother kept having cancer cells creep up on her. Treatment removed them; however, they kept coming back. It was at that point her Doctor thought a hysterectomy might help relieve her of the pain and simple suffering. I thought that once they did that they would keep a close eye on her cell counts and make sure that they had, in fact, retrieved all the cells. I was mistaken of course. It was just last week that my mother found out that the cancer cells had returned. Now, as her daughter, and the fact that my mother was and always has been my best friend, it scared me to death to hear that. I cried for a good three hours, spent a whole night awake just thinking about things. People of course told me not to think the worse, to keep a positive spin on things. That is easier said than done. Just the thought of losing my mother sent me into a downward spiral. She has to have surgery now, and to go from there. Maybe I’m jumping ahead of myself. The Doctors found Level 3 cells. I would like to know how the cells were able to get to level 3, when they should have been keeping an eye on her. But alas, that was not done and we all have to deal with the fact that she will be doing under the knife again. I am praying that it is soon, however, because I do not want it to get worse than it already is. I think that alone would kill me in more ways than one. So, we sit and wait for the surgery and then go from there. I have already told her if she needs treatment that she will be coming to Toronto, so that way I can take care of her when she needs it. I far from trust any of the Doctors down home with offering her treatment.

I think the point of this article is to just tell you how Cancer has affected my life and to let you all know that you are not alone out there and that hopefully someday we will be able to look back on this disease and have beaten it down to the ground. I think with constant research and funding that it will be possible. We need to work together as a community and help get this disease a part of history and not as a part of our future. If you have a story you want to share or just need someone to talk to, please feel free to email me, I’m always willing to listen and to talk about anything and everything. I can offer a shoulder for you to cry on if and when you need it. We can share our stories and remember all the good times together. If you are a member of AIM and are up for sharing IM’s about it, just email me at soundfaction@gmail.com and we’ll talk that way.

If you want more information on Cancer and ways that you can help out your local chapter the links are posted below. Check them out.

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