We all Have Cancer Genes

Image courtesy of www.oceanchampions.org

Last night, I found out that my sister's good friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is a 32-year old lawyer, a beautiful wife and mother. They have no history of cancer in the family. She has always been slender even after she gave birth; she eats the right foods and exercises regularly. It is so inconceivable that someone like her would have cancer, but she did. It's a big wake-up call that we all have cancer genes, anyone can have the Big C.

I shed a few tears last night knowing that she and her family will go through the same journey that our family has experienced and is still experiencing because of this wretched disease. I wish no one will have to go through it, because nothing in the world can prepare you for battling cancer emotionally, physically and mentally. My sister told her that cancer is a family disease, in the sense that everyone in your family will go though this battle, not just you. They may not experience what you have physically, but they will also have sleepless nights, and stages of denial, anger and even regret. They will be more religious than they had ever been, and they will suddenly be paranoid that everything in the environment has germs or causes cancer.

I do pray for all cancer fighters to have a strong support team--family, fries, loved ones, doctors, even strangers they meet along the way. I pray that no one will have to go through it alone, that someone will always be there to hold a cancer patient's hand during chemo, or gently rub his/her back when he/she's vomiting and to give him/her a big hug whenever he/she needs one.