With Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow's recent announcements that their individual fights with Cancer are not over, this weeks edition of NEWSWEEK has a pretty good spread on "Living with Cancer." Lance Armstrong writes on his site's blog about keeping Cancer a national priority. I think this is a pretty good indicator that the Nation is still talking about it.
It's sobering for me to read how Elizabeth Edwards' cancer can't be cured, hers can only be treated and she admits in an interview in the magazine that she will not beat the cancer, the cancer will eventually kill her.
Maybe it's sobering for me because my discussions with my doctors about my cancer was rather up-beat and positive considering my situation. Cancer is cancer and I'm not discounting either of mine; Renal Cell or Hodgkin's. Remember, according to my Doctors I'm a lucky bastard. (Renal Cell being the worst of the two I had/have)
Elizabeth Edwards will live a productive life for as long as possible. Not to be too cynical about it, but she probably doesn't have Aetna as her insurance company.
One of my oncology nurses said during my last treatment while we discussed the news coverage about the Edwards' that once diagnosed with Breast Cancer you always have breast cancer. She said breast cancer is never cured, and you can live a long time with it, but you never quite beat it.
I had never heard that before.
