The C word

We had a health scare these past few days with the C word threatening to rear its ugly head. It’s interesting how, even though we are surrounded by stories of people with cancer and may even know one or two who have survived or have succumbed to the disease, the prospect of it ever affecting a loved one doesn’t really enter our mind. And when it does, it brings with it an explosion of grief and anxiety. To seriously think about cancer is to confront your own mortality. No words can ever explain the feeling of being faced with the diagnosis. But those who have been through the experience, or who have a loved one who has been affected by it, know that the diagnosis of cancer engenders a language all its own. We on the outside can only hint at it, with words that know nothing of its provenance. We are too naive to know, too lucky to be alive. Thank God.