I live my life in a series of one year leases. I have a form of Lymphoma, the specific name and spelling I can never keep track of. I underwent surgery in 2014 to have a mass removed from my abdominal area. Most people prefer the word, “mass” to, “tumor”. Makes you seem like you have a fighting chance, doesn’t it?
Anyway, that was the now famous surgery where 3 days later I flat-lined for 90 seconds when some intern allowed air to enter a port line they removed. Anyway…they removed most of the growth but had to leave a small piece, basically because it is part of my abdominal wall. So, I have a small lymphoma inside me. Always there with me, as a reminder.
Anyway, my doctors at the time wanted to follow up the surgery with chemotherapy and radiation to eliminate the small growth that remained.
I switched from Jefferson to Penn Medicine and Dr. Stephen Schuster. His opinion, at the time, was, “Why should I treat you when you’re not sick? Let’s take a look at it in six months, and then after that, once a year, to see if and when it grows. We can always treat you then.”
So, once a year for the past four years I have annual scans to determine the growth of the lymphoma inside me. And so far, there has been minimal, or no growth at all. So every year, my lease gets renewed. My friend is still with me, according to the scans. Like a sucker fish on a shark.
Needless to say, I try and live my life with a bit more purpose, a bit more thought. So it always affects me in a traumatic way when I see that others don’t.
When I visit the hospital for my yearly scans or when I visit the cancer center twice a year for check ups, it is a heart-opening event. When you’re in a waiting room and you know that every other person there is a cancer patient, and that most of them are sicker than you are…well, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. And at the same time, I wish everyone could experience it…just to know what that is like.
Watching and reading about man’s inhumanity to man, and the manner in which we treat our home, this planet, is mind-boggling. Are we, as a species, really that lost? It is a shame to admit, that yes, for the most part, we are. How did we evolve, or more correctly, fail to evolve, in this manner?
So, here’s some advice for the people who are not sick. Take 2 or 3 hours off of work one day, visit your local cancer center, and just sit in the waiting area with a newspaper. And while you’re in between reading stories about the horrible state our world is in, look around you. Really look. And listen. And when you walk out, healthy, and get back into your car, maybe you’ll have a little more patience behind the wheel. Maybe you’ll be more understanding about a story involving an immigrant. Perhaps you’ll be less concerned about, “anything for a buck” and more concerned about giving of your time.
Maybe not. Perhaps you’re too far gone already. But if that were true you probably would not go to the cancer center in the first place.
Facing your mortality does create a sense of decency in yourself. And towards others. It is tragic that it takes a life altering event to make that happen. That a parent doesn’t get involved in gun control until their child is gunned down. Or that someone doesn’t become an organ donor until their brother needs a liver.
And we shouldn’t be affected by life-altering events out of concern for a possible after-life. We should be concerned about this life. Here. And how we can and should make it better. If anything is to follow, that’s just gravy…or hot sauce, depending on just how bad you’ve been.
On November 6th, vote. And I’m not one of those who suggests, “No matter who you vote for, make sure you vote”. Quite the opposite. Maybe visit that cancer center earlier in the day, then go and vote. Maybe it will have an effect on your decision making. Election day should be a national holiday anyway. Why the hell do millions of people have off for a thug like Columbus and others have to struggle to get to the polls before or after work? Our elections are the most important events that take place in our country. Ask yourself why they aren’t considered national holidays? You already know the answer to that, don’t you.
So, in two weeks, vote. For humanity. For gun control. For the planet. For your children. For your grandchildren. Choose not to vote out of greed, out of hate, or out of spite. So one day, when you’re sitting in the waiting room for a reason, you’re life will make a bit more sense to you.
Trapped in a Happy Life 