
Yeah, I know; doesn't make a lot of sense to hate a disease (or in the case of cancer, panoply of diseases that can be characterized by that one title), but I do. I HATE cancer!
This Sword of Damocles that hangs over all of our heads has stolen from me my Father, several good friends; has threatened others I know and love with death and is an ever present companion in my life secondary to our wonderful government’s intentional exposure of our military to varying degrees of radiation during the atomic tests in the Pacific and in our own country. My Dad was one whose aircraft was directed through one of the clouds mushrooming over some forgotten Pacific atoll and then followed through the years (surreptitiously) to determine the genetic and somatic effects of that exposure.
The reasoning must have seemed justifiable to those in power back then; this Cold War we were fighting against the growing power of the Soviet Union (hey, guess what, it’s baaaaack!) and apparently they wanted to learn if it was possible to survive a nuclear exchange. So, years later, long after Dad had retired, he was diagnosed with colo-rectal cancer that would take his life several years later. One of my sisters did some research on the genetic effects and as a result had her sons checked for something called Lynch Syndrome. Several members of the Shook family have tested positive for this and as a result we are at elevated risks for all manner of cancers.
Since Dad’s death I have lost a niece to cancer and my twin brother has been treated (so far successfully) for colo-rectal cancer. I have no idea how much money has been spent on the early detection and treatment of the various types of cancer; I don’t know if we will ever eradicate this threat to our health, but I doubt it.
Several days ago I saw some images posted on Facebook of a friend from my brief association with Go Realty who had been diagnosed with and was battling leukemia. The last I’d heard from her (or anyone at Go) was that the treatment was succeeding and she was improving. Seeing her image, I assumed that she was in remission and was looking forward to seeing her again. Then, while travelling with another of my Go friends, he told me that she had died.
Apparently the images were posted as a remembrance of this wonderful lady and I had misunderstood that until Tom had told me and I began to read messages on Facebook about her death.
I HATE cancer!
“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”
Revelation 22:20 ESV