The Fraternity

When I was in college I didn't belong to a fraternity, because we didn't have them, though I did belong to a house (Go Agape!). But more recently I have begun to feel that I do belong to a fraternity - the fraternity of those with cancer. It doesn't matter what type of cancer it is (there are so many different types), but I know that every time I hear of someone, famous or otherwise, who has been diagnosed with, or passed away from, cancer, I feel a sadness inside of me stronger than I would have were I NOT a member of this fraternity.

It's a fraternity because each of us can feel and understand certain things that non-fraternity members just can't. Maybe we don't share things to the same degree but we have more of an understanding of what others are dealing with. I was saddened to hear that Patrick Swayze passed away from pancreatic cancer (which seems to be very lethal). He put up a good fight, hanging in there much longer than predicted or than most similar patients seem to have. He was my age, too, born just a couple of months after me, so we're members of the same "Birth Year" fraternity as well, along with people like Christopher Reeve, Angela Cartwright (remember "Make Room for Daddy" and "Lost in Space"?), Bill Walton, Marilyn Chambers (hey, I just read about her age when she passed away recently), Roseanne Barr, and David Hasselhoff (to name a few). The former co-worker of mine who recently developed breast cancer has to go through 4 months of chemotherapy. I only had 5 weeks of chemo pre-surgery and now another 4 weeks post-surgery so it's hard for me to imagine four straight months worth. And when she apologized in a recent email to me for not getting back to me earlier because she was down for a week from the effects of the chemo, even though I never had symptoms that bad, I can understand a little about how wiped out you can become and knowing that there's not much you can do about it until you're unhooked.

Of course, I didn't choose to belong to this fraternity; rather, it chose me. But now that I'm a member, a feel a closeness and kinship with fellow members. To all my fraternity mates, I wish you well with all the success that I have had. God bless you all!

Speaking of being unhooked, I get unhooked tomorrow from Week #3 (of 4) of my post-op chemo treatment. As Cyndy related, I have fared better this week than the previous two, though I really can't complain much about how I felt any of the weeks. As I see every time I go to the oncologist, there are those patients who are faring much worse than me so I'm not about to complain. On the contrary, I feel very lucky and blessed, all things considered, and will be very glad to get disconnected tomorrow - but not half as glad as when I get disconnected for the final time in four more weeks!

Next week Cyndy and I are off for a well-deserved vacation in Florida to see our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson and to enjoy the surf. No hurricanes this time, please (last year when we came down was when Hurricane Ike was going through the gulf towards Houston). Our love and best wishes to all.