It seems in each of the past three years I have had to deal with some major health concerns involving cancer. The first situation was my mom dying of endometrial cancer. The second was my good friend dying from a brain tumor and now about a year and three months after my friends death I have to deal with another close friend and his fight.
Let me first say, I am optimistic about this friend. He is a fighter, he is young and he has a strong family and group of friends. He also has been diagnosed with a form of cancer that seems to be very treatable, Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
About a week ago, he called me up to tell me the news. I could hear in his voice that he was nervous and that he still had a lot of tests to confirm what the doctors first thought. A few days later his fears were confirmed when they told him that he had a growth the size of a softball near his heart and that he most likely had Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
The prognosis for HL is very good. The survival rate is very high and most patients survive for 25 years or more, what makes his situation a little worse is the location of the growth.
He started treatment this past weekend. It will be twelve weeks of chemo and another four to six weeks of radiation treatment. I believe it is called a dual modality treatment.
My friend is 23, just recently married and has not even moved into the house he just bought with his new wife. He started a new job this year and was excited about the prospects. All of that is put on hold now until he gets his life back.
We had a meeting last night for our club sports program, which he was involved with and his dad is the president. We talked about our end of the season party and the talk came back to our friend and how to honor him. His dad was a little reluctant to accept our support, he told us its hard for him to accept charity. I told him, in this situation you are just going to have to accept it. Our friend, his son, has been a mentor to all the kids for years and he and his family deserve the recognition.
As I get older, I realize that more people that I know will be touched by cancer. My assistant coach, who is nineteen, said this is the first person he has known to have a serious illness. A few years ago, I may have said the same thing, but that is not the case now. Three people in three years, that is not a very good statistic that I like to talk about.
So please take some time and think about someone who has been touched by cancer and send some good thoughts my friends way.
Thanks,
Jack
I lost a dear friend in December to skin cancer. I understand the sense of helplessness. BUT YES, my brother in law had HL two years ago. The treatments for it are some of the most responsive. Sending him some light and you, too. You're a good friend, darlin'.
ReplyDeleteKnowing all too well how the diagnosis of cancer, of any type, is terrifying, good thoughts and positive energy will be sent to your friend.
ReplyDelete23 is so young to already be fighting for your life. Not that it makes it "better" at any age; my younger brother died 5 years ago from melanoma. Sending good thoughts.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts and prayers are with your friend and his family.
ReplyDeleteI'm so very sorry, Sugar.
xoxo
~vk~