Cancer--you suck. A lot.

I went to high school with a woman named April.  At some point we found each other on FB.  I never really knew April that well.  We had a few classes together and we didn't always agree on things, but she was still really nice.  After we connected on FB, she was one of those friends that you'd see updates on, but wouldn't necessarily interact with.

She had a little boy shortly after I had Belle.  Not long after that, she was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer.  She'd provide occasional updates on FB about treatment.  After being declared cancer-free at one point, her cancer returned.  I remember reading her posts and seeing all of the support that she received and thought, "wow, what a lucky woman to be surrounded by so many people that love her."  When I didn't see a post from her in awhile, I'd start to worry about her, but then she'd post an update and I'd know she was still around.  I was always relieved to see that.  I remember from her posts that she was getting treatment in Southern California for a while.   

After I was diagnosed, I thought of April.  I become more in awe of her as a woman and her commitment to surviving for her family and to see her little boy grow up.  I always wanted to write to her and tell her how much I admired her, but I never got around to it.  April passed away this week. 

April and I obviously have very different cancer stories, and I didn't know her that well even when I knew her 20 years ago, but I was so sad to hear that news.  It makes me so sad that she's going to miss out on seeing her little boy grow up, and he'll have to grow up without his Mommy.  He's only 3.5 years old.  And when I'm feeling morbid and wonder if I'm going to beat this, or if I'm going to find out in a few years that the cancer has metastasized, I immediately think the same thing about my girls.  I can't bear the idea of not seeing them grow up.  

There isn't a particular point to this post.  Mainly that it's so frustrating when cancer takes somebody, especially somebody so young.  Cancer--I've never liked you.  It's one thing to cause a lot of us a lot of pain, which we eventually recover from.  It's another to take an otherwise healthy young woman and take her from her family.