Cancer.
It's everywhere I look right now.
You've all read of the fight my July '13 brother Trauma is going through right now. Man, that one hits close to home for me because of our shared quit... He's just 1 day ahead of me and only a few years older. Continued props and prayers to/for him...
Today... I learned of another case close to home. It's a guy in my dept.
6 weeks ago he noticed a coldsore on his lip and started treating it as such. A week goes by and there is no change. In fact, it might be a li'l worse. So, he goes to the doc. Doc says, "no sweat" and prescribes him an antibiotic. Another week goes by and it's not better. In fact, it's spread and he has a little lump on his throat under his jawline. Doc says, "hmm, weird. Let's get that checked". Week 3 they do a biopsy and, yup, he's got cancer. In fact, they need to take a portion of his lip off and rebuild it with tissue from his neck... They schedule surgery for the following week. Come pre-op time and the little lump has swollen his jaw and entire neck. Doc says, "hmm, weird". They do another biopsy... An entire scan. The cancer has spread. They need to do part of his jaw now. Surgery is modified and they reschedule it in another 3 days. They give him another year of life with this diagnosis.
2nd surgery date arrives and his entire neck is swollen and he can't even swallow water. They scan him one more time... The cancer is everywhere. It's literally chewing through his body like an alien invader. It's in his lungs, his lymphatic system, it's wrapped around his spinal cord, and his system is shutting down. They decide... Surgery is futile.
A year of life left becomes one month.
Maybe.
Coldsore to hospice in 6 weeks.
He's 56 and has smoked for 40 years.
He's still smoking.
Fuck.
If you haven't... Quit now.
If you have... Stay that way.
