Nothing is more certain than death — so why does the approach of death always surprise me?
People die of cancer every day. The disease is so common that most of us don’t even think much about it. I certainly don’t. Even though I had breast cancer more than 10 years ago, I still don’t think about getting cancer and dying from it. And I don’t think about it happening to my friends.
I have a friend who had a routine cancer screening — a lung scan — about a year ago. He was a smoker, so it was supposed to give an early warning if there was anything wrong.
The scan showed what could be a couple of small tumors on his lung. After a biopsy confirmed it was cancer, those two small nodules were removed through surgery. Then he went through months of chemotherapy. And now he’s had another scan to see whether it worked.
He found out this evening that the cancer has metastasized — to his lymph nodes and his liver. And now that I fear death might be coming for him, I don’t know what to feel. In the end, nobody cheats death.
I am angry that life doesn’t work the way I once learned it should
Experimentation produces beauty that won’t come from slavishly following One True Way
If a bad relationship needs to end, fake Facebook posts won’t fool us
Love & Hope — Episode 6:
As my path keeps changing, I can now admit my plans are useless
Briefly: Sufjan Stevens album always evokes old feelings about my mother
Memo to Republicans: Your serious contenders are hypocrites, too
Should I become prophet of doom or fade quietly into the darkness?
Son’s prayer for dying mother awakened emotion for NYC doc