Cancer Chameleon or The Flavor of the Month

Today I am attending the wake of my good friend’s mother who died after an extremely cruel and long bout with ovarian cancer. There is too much cancer in this world and the numbers are climbing.

My psychology professor works at Dana Farber Cancer Institute helping children with cancer and their families work through the heinous disease. There is too much of it. It’s everywhere and anyone at all can become afflicted whether or not the gene is passed down within families. Cancer has to start somewhere.

So, of course I think I have cancer. “Why?”, you might ask. My menstrual period lasted ten days a couple of months ago, then regulated for two months and is still lasting this month on day six, when it should have ended on day five. So this month, I am paranoid that I have ovarian cancer. After all, it’s the cancer I am in contact with at the moment, the flavor of the month.

Basically, I have whatever cancer anybody I know is dealing with. I used to be certain that I had a tumor in my stomach during Chris’ illness. Back then, nothing was scarier to me than the thought of finding out I had cancer when the task of taking care of him was on me. The thought of being disabled when he needed me most was terror inducing.

Now, in the wake (no pun intended) of my friend’s mother succumbing to ovarian cancer, I am filled with anxiety that I have ovarian cancer, too.

I am a cancer chameleon, taking on the illnesses of everyone around me and this month, the flavor is ovarian.

Carol’s Addition...

Cancer cancer cancer cancer cancer-chameleon
You come and go
You come an go-oh-oh-oh
Cancer cancer cancer cancer cancer-chameleon...