Stand up to Cancer

I started watching this historic program (shown on all three channels, tonight). I totally lost it with James Taylor and Sharon Crow singing "Fire and Rain". I will never forget my doctor coming in after my biopsy and telling me, "I'm sorry, but you have cancer." I never felt so alone in my life...

In spite of me knowing that they had just lost their daughter to cancer (my lovely niece, Linda), I drove over to my Brother Jim's office and asked for his advice. Why? Because I knew that they had exhausted every possible approach to treating their daughter.

He immediately called a contact at the Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit and got me an appointment with a doctor. While the treatment (radiation seeds injected in my prostate) was not pretty or painless, I am happy to report I am now cancer free.

But, I will never forget the hours I spent, sitting in the waiting room, with women wearing head scarves (to cover up their baldness) or with children, with shunts sticking out of their shirts (and chests), for their chemotherapy.

I recall a time I got confused, leaving the examination room. I was standing in the hallway, and said out loud to myself, "How in the hell did I get here and where am I supposed to go?" Unbeknownst to me, a woman was behind me and she said, "Hey, we all ask that!"