At least we are all here to talk about it

Yesterday afternoon I was at the gym. While changing, I started chatting with two other women in the locker room. One woman, A.,  I had spoken with before and knew she had breast cancer at one point but the other woman, B., I had never met. She told us openly that she had had breast cancer before as well.

A. had breast cancer 25 years ago and B. had had breast cancer 12 years ago, plus another cancer, and another scare about a third cancer. Between the three of us, we had all been through radiation. A. had a double mastectomy and B. a single. B. was also a therapist who had lead a breast cancer support group. As she is winding down her practice, she wants to restart her group again.

That lead to a big conversation with A. stating, "at least we are all here to talk about it". This is oh so very true. And I think we often forget it.

As we go through life and ride our medical roller coasters, we need to remind ourselves to take a step back every once in a while and say "I am still here to talk about it". I may bitch whine about my doctors, the state of my health, , aches and pains, and other annoyances, but I need to remember I'm still here.

Some people still consider cancer a death sentence. It is not as we are here to talk about it. And we must remember the ones who are not.