Tag Archive for 'breast cancer'

Courtney I do not support your decision to have…

…breast cancer. I’m telling you, this is a terrible idea. Just turn around now and forget about this whole nonsense…

Most of you probably know Courtney, if you know me. We’ve been friends for years. 12 years, I guess, which is a long time when you are young like us. Long ago we played opposite each other in the Music Man as Marian and Harold Hill (hint: I was not Marian).

Courtney was diagnosed with breast cancer about 4 weeks after I finished chemotherapy. I don’t mean to relate everything to me, but I just think it strange – we both think it strange – that’d we’d both be unlucky enough to get cancer in basically the same year. Before I was diagnosed, I hardly knew anybody with cancer. What happened to us?

Courtney, I’ll know you’ll read this, and I know I’ve told you this before, but I’ll say it again. This sucks. You’ll be ok, and you’ll live, and I’m proud of you for running head first into this mess with your characteristic confidence – but anyway – I’m sorry you have to go through this. I’d go through it all over again if it meant you wouldn’t have to.

Courtney will be ok. But it’ll take the rest of this year to get her there. Breast cancer isn’t as neat and clean as cancer as Hodgkin’s. Breast cancer fights dirty and tries to suck the life out of you like a late-summer mosquito.

And no, I couldn’t think of a better metaphor. Late-summer? Mosquitos? Anyone? Hush, it’s not that bad.

I brought Courtney a Chemo Care Package last week. It was a basket filled with digestinal aids, over-the-counter drugs, and books that helped me get through cancer. I also put a few books in there that I never read, that I feel I should have, and that I fully expect Courtney to read for me and tell me what happens (hear me Courtney? I want book reports).

Love you Courtney. No, I’m not getting sappy. Just beat this thing. That’s all I’m saying.

Courtney

Courtney, my friend with breast cancer, had her, I believe, 3rd chemo treatment yesterday. She goes down to a fancy-shmancy cancer center at Northwestern University for her chemo. As I understand it, she gets her own room and a nice view of the lakeshore out the window. Which sounds nice, I guess, but I imagine all she wants to do is hurl, anyway. Chemo does the same thing there as it does here. I suppose I regret a little bit that she’s not getting the great people watching that comes with community chemo (where everyone is all in one room), but she’s probably better off. You can compare my chemo experience to being a patient in M.A.S.H., and her’s to being a patient in Grey’s Anatomy. Well, either way, she’s still gonna want to puke, so what’s the difference (says the M.A.S.H. patient)?

She’s having many of the same problems I had when I went through chemo, and I think it’s nice for both of us to commiserate about it.

As I suspected, she’s a pretty tough chick.

Comments

Renee: “Thank you for sharing. My 2 year old just started chemo 3…“
May 1, 2012, 7:47 am
Leslie: “I can empathize. I am going through chemo now and I HATE…“
April 30, 2012, 8:32 pm
alanna: “Thank u so much for sharing. Ill be starting chemo either the…“
April 30, 2012, 4:58 pm
Judy: “Well, I just had my second of six rounds of Taxotre, Carboplatin…“
April 29, 2012, 7:28 pm
delta goodrem: “actress & singer. she is also a judge on 2012′s the voice…“
April 27, 2012, 9:18 pm
Sandy: “Thanks for sharing that exactly how I feel. I started chemo on…“
April 27, 2012, 5:23 pm
Sarah Yoon: ““Waiting for the show I guess” haha. But you’re quite calm about…“
April 27, 2012, 8:55 am
Sarah Yoon: “You actually look quite handsome on the right :) good luck. You’re…“
April 27, 2012, 8:42 am
Nikki: “;) it’s true….“
April 25, 2012, 5:05 am
Tina: “Thank you for sharing this. My mother starts Chemo soon for Pancreatic…“
April 24, 2012, 10:10 pm
Susie: “I am writing a book and one of my characters has cancer,…“
April 22, 2012, 1:33 am
Jon: “My dad’s going through chemo at the moment for a mesothelioma. What…“
April 21, 2012, 8:38 am
Missy: “Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m so sorry you’ve had…“
April 19, 2012, 3:04 pm
Rina: “Thank you for sharing your experiences. My Mom is right now recovering…“
April 19, 2012, 10:24 am
Victoria: “I couldn’t read through this. Having had the “pleasure” of experiencing…“
April 17, 2012, 8:03 pm