The Big C – Second Time Around

Some things are not good the second time around.  Cancer is one of them.

April, on the Damp Coast, is cancer month.  So for the whole month of April there are events, fund raisers, people begging for money on behalf of all things related to cancer.  For me, it’s very irritating.  I understand the need for people to try to do something about a disease that makes people feel completely helpless.  But my experience is that it seems all the money collected doesn’t always make it down to the patient level.

I’ve had cancer twice.

The first time was colon cancer, which was caught early.  It was a simple slice and dice to remove it.  Had my then doctor been a little more conscientious, the polyp would not have developed into cancer and I wouldn’t have lost a baby because of it.

The second time round, it was the scary one:  breast cancer.  This time I didn’t get off so easy.  I was put into the cancer agency’s machine, chewed up and spat out.  I was lucky though.  My cancer was treatable and I live.  It also made me more resilient.

It was not a positive experience.  

This past month has been a bit overwhelming with lots of not so nice things going on.  The last time I felt this much stress I was dealing with cancer for the second time.  Perhaps it’s time to talk about my experience with the Big C – Take 2.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll go through the whole experience.  Partly so that I can finally get over it but also partly to let other people know how I made it through a de-humanising system with some of my dignity intact.   My naturopath thinks that writing about it will lift a great weight and will benefit my health and mental well being.  Let’s hope, shall we?

Take 1 is still pretty painful so it will have to wait.  Maybe next year.

Different people have different experiences.  This blog will be about my experience, no one else’s.  If someone doesn’t appreciate my opinions about my treatment or experience, that’s fine.  They’re entitled to their opinions.

So prepare yourselves for a strange tale.  Honestly, ya can’t make this stuff up.