Tuesday -- short post

Sometimes I get tired of writing the same things over and over again – and I’m sure you get tired of reading them. Suffice it to say that this is day seven and I will feel like poop for the next few days as I approach and pass through my nadir.

Odd things I’ve noticed –

Every Cancer patient’s doctor is the best doctor on earth. In past few months I’ve had the chance to talk to hundreds (I mean hundreds) of cancer patients and every single one has a Dr. Fabulous. No one has ever said to me, “Yeah, my doctor’s okay.  He’s pretty good – about average.” C’mon! There are average oncology/hematology guys running around. There has to be.

I wonder what sparks this phenomenon. Is it a hope-based thing? I mean if my doctor is Dr. Wonderful maybe it’ll rub off on my care. Not only that, who wants a knucklehead for a doctor? Think it might have something to do with pride of possession – go figure.

When I was first referred to my doc I was told he had a lot of experience with Burkitt’s Lymphoma. I remember thinking, How the hell is that possible? There are only 300 cases diagnosed annually in the U.S. Who can have experience with a disease that hits 300 times in a population 311 million? But then again this is Delaware so all 300 cases might be occurring here.

Everybody has a rare cancer. I can tell you exactly how many people I’ve met with a garden-variety cancer since this whole thing started – zero. It seems as though every cancer patient has a personalized illness – almost like a license plate. I have one – Burkitt’s Lymphoma. If everybody is getting the rare stuff, is there any really any rare stuff?

I think when you get cancer it’s such a shock that you really don’t know what to do or say and there is a certain denial, so you grab for things like names and reasons for getting cancer; the more exotic the better.  It’s as if the exotic gives you a justification, you really don’t need, for having gotten sick.

I guess that’s it for today,

Peace,

Bill