The Shadow

Gaaaaahhhhhh!!!

Breast Cancer, like any other traumatic event, will not go very far out of its way to gift you with its very own brand of PTSD whether you like it or not.

A wise man I know calls one aspect of this "the shadow of cancer." As in, once you're done with treatment, you're never "really done," because you have no way of knowing if it will come back or if you'll get a brand new one, or .... not.

That is something you have to learn to manage, and 30 days of 24/7 ubiquitous pink can get in the way of that.

As a fellow traveler on the verge of tears said to me the other day, as we both left the oncology office, "I'm just trying to live my life, and everywhere I go, it's PINK."

This brave woman is in great health. She's 3 years out from her battle with BC, but that relentless shadow still terrifies her. (October, 2010)