It certainly is the year that just keeps on giving. Whilst not COVID, cancer has decided to visit my mother once again. In the late 90’s she was out shopping, buying food for my birthday, when suddenly pain struck and she was rushed to the local hospital. Wells later, at a bigger hospital they thought it was her back and she had an operation to fuse several vertebrae.
Despite the operation she didn’t improve and was transferred to a larger hospital for further investigation, the doctors were confused. On Christmas Eve the news came, she had non-Hodgkins Lymphoma; cancer. If there was any good news to be had in being told that news it was that this was the most treatable of all cancers; there was also benefit in finally having certainty of what was going on.
Shortly after she transferred again to a smaller dedicated treatment facility where she remained for around five months. There she received chemotherapy and radiotherapy, often causing her brain fog (far worse than that I described in my post the other day). She’s since been in remission for over 20 years, though the effects of treatment back then have started to impact in the few years.
Just last week news again that cancer was an unwelcome visitor in her life, a routine two yearly breast scan revealing cancer. She’s now having a raft of appointments at one of our newest hospitals as they try to ascertain where things are at. I decided to read up, a resource on a breast cancer website here in Australia, I only got halfway before the reality was too much.
Fuck Cancer (and 2020)
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