Up Close With Cancer

    She sat at the lunchroom table surrounded by a crowd of people , showing off her  medical pictures of the inside of her knee . She just recently came back from FMLA after having knee surgery .
    " Hey , I should have brought my cancer picture . We could have had a regular Show and Tell , " I said . Everyone laughed and soon lunch was over .
     Walking back to the office , my mind was flooded with memories of the past . It's funny how you remember certain things like the way something may have smelled , or tasted , or how raw the emotion you felt , as if it was yesterday .
      I remember the day , the doctor came in smiling down at me , holding in his hand an 8 1/2 x 11 glossy picture of my tumor . My cancer . The colors were so bright they bounced off the print . I looked at it and wondered how anything so ugly could grow inside of me . Where did it come from ? How did it happen to be there ? Why did it grow ?
     Back then , I wanted to frame that picture of my 7 1/2 lb. tumor so I would never forget the journey I was forced to make . I remember showing it to my Aunt and how closely she stared at it as if she was examining every inch of it . This was what cancer looked like up close and very personal . It happened to her niece . You can't get anymore personal .
    We fear cancer and when that ugly word is whispered annoucing a new victim , we all hold our breath . We realize what cancer represents and what it will cost us to face it . I don't know any other disease that has that kind of effect on people .
    I never framed that glossy print . It holds a meaning only to me . I was afraid of the reaction it would cause when people laid their eyes upon it . To them an aversion : to me a bittersweet journey .
Have a Blessed Week everyone .