Say What....
Mood:  silly
Topic: July 2005
Isn't it interesting how a certain phrase or word can mean different things to different people or be interpreted differently.

I was looking over the paperwork I picked up Friday from Doc Surgeon's office (you know, the "breast expert"). And on several of the reports it describes me as "well nourished" and "middle aged". Well nourished??? The first word that came to my mind was "fat" = "well nourished"; and Middled Aged = OLD. Yikes!. what's up with that?... I'm only 45, that's NOT middled aged. Only a few years ago, I was described as "young", when did I turn "middle age". Oprah say that 50 is the new 40. So, 45 is still "young" NOT "middled aged". And "well nourished". I don't know, but I certainly had less of a reaction from the word "cancer" then I did with the words "middle aged" and "well nourished". Besides, I took one of those on-line quizes a while ago and it said I was gonna live to 97, so I'm Not middled aged!

Earlier today, I was reading an article re breast cancer and it said that I should have my doctor write a prescription for a "cranial prostesis". Ah, er... isn't that a wig? But apparently, if I want insurance to help pick up the tab, it is better to use the wording "cranial prostesis". Now, that's an interesting word!

Finally, [yea, it's almost over]. Tonite at dinner with my sister and her family, we were all sitting, relaxing, drinking our chianti, eating our bread, waiting for our meal to arrive, when my 10 year old nephew asked, very seriously, "so Aunt Sue, how's your cancer?" Well, it was one of those moments where if we could have added sound effects, I would have added a record scratching [eeeeeeeeeeeeeek] and the entire table came to a screeching halt. Most of us started laughing, and my poor nephew, was embarrassed and wondered what he said wrong. Afterall, he was just being concerned. We quickly recovered the situation and I responded, "I'm doing well, thanks for asking". Come to think of it, I bet there were other people at the table wondering the same thing - just not sure how to ask. It's kind of a tricky topic. People don't know how to ask, or what to say, or if they should say anything. Heck, come to think of it, there was nothing wrong with what my nephew asked; it just caught us all off guard. It was so innocent and genuine.

How's my cancer? I really don't know, some times I think of it as tiny little slimmy men lurking inside me looking for a place to hide, a place to set up house, trying to dodge the helicopters and the immune police. Maybe when the chemo starts I will think of it as slimmy cockroaches, all running for cover yelling "Raid!!!" and poof going up in a cloud of smoke!