More Cancer News

This has been a very rough month for cancer victims I know personally, as well as the more famous variety.

On the national scene, we had presidential hopeful John Edwards' wife Elizabeth announcing her breast cancer had returned. And while the Edwards campaign has tried to stay upbeat about it, she will still be required to go through a gruelly series of chemotherapy treatments. My prayers go out to their family.

Now, we have Tony Snow announcing that his colon cancer has returned. Snow had his colon removed about two years ago because of the cancer. Now it has returned and metastasized to his liver. My prayers go out to him and his family.

That's all the national cancer people. On a personal note, we know a toddler who just had a cancerous tumor removed from his head. His family is now dealing with the radiation and chemo that will be starting for him shortly. His two older brothers are friends with my children.

The "C" word always throws me for a loop, ever since my mother's lung cancer diagnosis 11 years ago. She died from it 42 days after diagnosis, and, I suppose, because we didn't have a chance to come to grips with her illness before she died, I tend to overreact to cancer news. When my husband had thyroid cancer four years ago, it was hard to wrap my mind around it so that I could comprehend what was happening without getting totally freaked out by another cancer victim.

Four years later, he is still cancer free. But every year when he goes for his blood test, there is some tension in the house for a few days until we get the results back telling us he is ok. It is, however, a reminder that not all cancer is deadly and many are treatable.

Please go home and hug your loved ones, whether they be a spouse, children, friend, lover, parent, sibling, or pet. This news just shows life is still too short not to enjoy it.