Last week there was an accident in town. A horrible, tragic accident in which a woman was killed by a car driven by another local woman who was pulling out of the library parking lot. Speed was not involved, it was just a horrible accident.
The funeral is today for the woman, who was only 50 years old or so, and her family and friends are grieving for their loss while trying to make sense of it all. I started thinking about the woman driving the car and how she will have to live with this for the rest of her life. How something so unexpected and so sudden can change your life forever.
As I was thinking about these two women, the feelings I had when Dr Dachman said, "Mike, you have cancer" came rushing back. My chest tightened, I started breathing more rapidly and could picture so clearly the doctor, Mike's face and our hands holding onto each other with everything we had.
Just when it seems that those feelings of fear and helplessness are finally gone something reminds me of what that day felt like and it all comes right back.
On June 25, 2010, at age 37, my husband was diagnosed with colon cancer. Following a right-hemicolectomy, genetic testing determined the cause was due to HNPCC/Lynch Syndrome. On December 9, 2011 he had a subtotal colectomy.
