The Face of Cancer in My Life

When my husband developed medullary thyroid cancer in 1993, a doctor told me that, within ten years, two out of every three people in the United States would either be a cancer patient or would know a cancer patient. Well, we are now fourteen years from 1993 and I believe his prediction may be coming true. I recently took stock of the people I know, or have known, and the people I know of through other people, who are either fighting the disease, have survived the illness, or have died from it. This is only a partial list:

Wife of my high school English teacher
My high school orchestra/choir director
My high school physics teacher
Homeschool friends (2)
My husband
Husband of waitress at local restaurant
Waitress friends from local restaurant (2)
My maternal grandfather
My fraternal grandmother
My godparents
My uncle
Sunday School teacher at my former church
Parents of my best friend
Father of musician friend
Father of a dear friend from high school
Music teacher
Neighbors from Minnesota (3)
High school classmates (2)
Mother-in-law of handbell choir member

What does the face of cancer look like in your life?

With every minute of 2006, two Americans were diagnosed with cancer and one died. Think about that! That is like re-living the horror of 9/11 every two days for the entire year. --- Lance Armstrong