CANcer. The word that strikes fear into people's hearts. I am resolved to not give it that power. It is one of the many ways that people can die. Well, no. It is not one disease but many. It is not really preventable and it is. What I mean by that is that some people are more susceptible to some forms of cancer than other people and there are things in the environment that can increase your chances of getting cancer. There are things that you can touch, ingest, and breathe that can all increase your chances of contracting cancer; there is even a special word: carcinogen, for these things.
People die from cancer every day. People also die of heart disease, strokes, car accidents, and hundreds of other things. But none of those strikes as much fear as Cancer. People even talk about fighting Cancer, and winning wars against Cancer and most often losing wars with Cancer.
Cancer is a replication error in our DNA. The affected cells uncontrollably reproduce and grow and stop the normal use of the cells. It spreads and affects other cells in the body and then you die.
There is tons of research being invested in search for a cure for cancer, but should it be framed in terms of fighting? I mean is that useful. No one really wants to die, but we all do die. It is the first fact of life. Life means death. Life consumes life to stay alive. And one day you die. And cancer is not really preventable, at least not in the sense that you can do anything to prevent it from happening eventually. You can live healthily for your entire life and then still get cancer. You can conversely live poorly and drink and smoke to excess and not ever get cancer. Because that's life.
It is sad when a child gets cancer, tragic. It is sad when a family member gets cancer. It is sad when a friend gets cancer. But we all die eventually, some sooner than others. It is a fact of life. It is also a fact of cancer that sometimes the treatment is worse than the disease. Unless you have children then I don't think anything is worse than the thought of leaving them alone in the world.
This year I have a family member that got cancer. I also have a friend my age who got cancer. What you need to know is that you discover what is important in life, with your life, and try to make the best of it. Tomorrow you might step of the curb and get creamed by a bus and never know the things that are really important in your life. That is a gift of knowing that you are going to die, before it happens.
But really get treated for cancer. Try to get better. But don't fight it. Don't declare war on it. You are declaring war on your body when you fight cancer, remember that. But still, we want you to live longer with us. We want you to live.
I want my family member to live many more years, and I want my friend to live to an old age too. I hope they crack the problems of cancer before another person close to me gets it… before I get it, so I can look forward to being hit by a bus, or a car accident, or heart disease, dementia, or a stroke.
I will die one day. Before I do, I want to learn my friend's lesson of valuing the important things in life, friends, lovers, and family. Not work. Not video games.
Now back to that video game…
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