Cancer Couple

We, David and Jana, were diagnosed with cancer within an 11 day period in 2010. What a surprise! I have mesothelioma, and Jana has chronic myelogenous leukemia, and this blog chronicles our experiences with these diseases. To get started, first take a look at the back stories on right below. Most posts are straight reporting of our experiences; however, a few are more analytic and philosophical (perhaps of more general interest) and can be found repeated in the Selected Posts list.

June 25, 2016

The Boxer

To all of you cancer survivors out there.

Yesterday, the lyrics of part of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer" came to me.

In the clearing stands a boxer

And a fighter by his trade

And he carries the reminders

Of every glove that laid him down

And cut him till he cried out

In his anger and his shame

"I am leaving, I am leaving"

But the fighter still remains

After my rounds with cisplatin, my chemo has never been awful. I've never lost my hair or suffered from uncontrollable nausea. However, there have been times in my 50-odd round of chemo when I thought, "I'm not going through this again. I'm leaving." but I remain. Here's to all of you who have remained until it was over.

David

PS I'm not leaving, but today I start a one month chemo break, a sort of "leave of absence."

July 1