Leonore remembered that today marks the tenth anniversary of her mastectomy. What's odd is that we had both forgotten. Especially during the first few years, we were very conscious of the anniversary and that each year meant the odds favoring her increased.
Ten years -- knowing that, I'm breathing a bit more easily today.
So we didn't even have some kind of celebration set aside. Maybe we'll do something special next weekend.
7 comments:
Congrats to both of you.
Thanks, Travis.
Most of the time, it doesn't seem like it all really happened. I think that's mostly because of Leonore's attitude -- energetic, optimistic, and forward looking. She never wanted to define herself or be defined by others as "that breast cancer survivor".
I'm glad... and I understand that not wanting to be defined... it took enough of her life and time up.
Congratulations. This is not a blessing (using that term in a secular sense, if that's possible) to be taken lightly. Having just lost an 56-year-old uncle to cancer just a couple of months ago, and staring at the prospect of losing a 54-year-old friend to cancer in the next few weeks, I know all too well the toll that cancer can take.
I hope that didn't come across as sappy/preachy as it almost certainly actually did.
I also understand Leonore's point of view. My friend has been "in the closet" with their cancer, precisely because that friend doesn't want to be treated differently or (worse) pitied because of it.
Thanks, all.
Leonore didn't fear being treated differently, so much as she feared becoming what she calls a professional cancer survivor. She ran into some of them in the support groups she tried at the beginning. She met women who, despite years of being symptom free, acted like semi-invalids and solicited special treatment. It's true that she didn't want to be pitied, but she also didn't want to seem to be asking for it.
P.S. You have been blogrolled.
Thanks for the blogrolling. I appreciate that greatly. I've already seen a number of hits from Leanleft.
I need to add the choicest political sites to my own blogroll. I'd hoped to get to that tonight, but suddenly it's less than 7 hours until the alarm goes off and another day blasts into existence.
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