It is all CANCER to me – this was my original title for this post.  Then I received a package from a friend with the necklace shown in the photo.  I loved it just like she knew I would – both the necklace and the saying.  No matter how tall the mountain is, it cannot block the sun.  Some mountains are indeed very tall – but the sun always rises.

Occasionally I will be in a conversation and one or another of our cancer experiences will surface.  In reference to a particular tumor they will often ask, “Was it cancer?”

I know that they are asking me if the tumor was malignant or benign, meaning was there danger of it spreading throughout the body or not?  When something is benign there is a sigh of relief as though there was no danger. 

There is always danger.  There is always fear.  It is all cancer to me.

Cancer is a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells somewhere in the body.  A malignant cancer may spread and cause trouble throughout other parts of the body.  A benign cancer may stay put, but still wreak havoc with pain and any number of symptoms including death.  

Here is a list of the tumors my children have experienced over the past 12 years.  I am not going to list the children by name but many readers will recognize the stories.  

• Osteosarcoma – malignant, treated with seven months of chemotherapy and intense surgery
• Melanoma in situ – malignant but caught before it penetrated the skin, treated with surgery
• Synovial chondromatosis – benign, right shoulder, very painful, treated with surgery
• Chordoma – malignant spinal tumor, treated with intense surgery
• DNET (Dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor) – benign brain tumor, treated with surgery
• Osteochondroma – benign, left scapula, treated with surgery
• Colon Cancer – malignant, stage 3, treated with surgery and four months chemotherapy
• Colon Cancer – malignant – oops it was actually stage 4 and traveled to the lungs, treated with three years of chemotherapy
• Endometrial Intraepithelial Neoplasia – precancerous condition of the uterine lining with a 40% chance of becoming cancer.  Treated with surgery twice
• Ovarian tumors – benign, treated with multiple surgeries on an annual basis for 3-4 years.
• Bone tumor – benign, right humerus, treated with surgery (I don’t know the name of the tumor)

I listed eleven conditions and they are equally split between malignant and benign cancers.  They are all cancer.  Each one was worrisome and many of them were quite painful.  Treatments were often intense.  

At this point we are watching liver spots in two children, a brain spot in one as well as a few things which have shown up year after year without changing – so we leave them alone.  During our last hospital stay I spent a couple hours with one of my children visiting an oncologist to discuss some pretty serious preventative measures.  I believe we will soon be writing about this again.

I will also write about Mark’s cancer history.  

My children have faced some serious situations in their relatively young lives. Not just these three – it affects all of them as they watch their sibling suffer and worry about what might be in their future. They have a tendency to lose patience with their peers and prefer older company – probably because they had to grow up more quickly in many ways. Yet to know them is to know they are positive people. They love to smile and be friendly. Taking the time to learn life’s lessons (at any age) has a transforming effect. I do not believe they would change things if they could.

To the east of us is a large mountain range. The sky lightens quite awhile before the sun makes an appearance and we have to wait to feel its warmth. The mountain is quite tall, but the sun always rises… and it feels so good!