Sunday, June 10, 2012

I’ve been holding my breath and keeping good thoughts for a close friend since the beginning of last week. This friend was faced with the real possibility that they might be out of remission—again.  I’ve learned, from friends who’ve endured caner at its ugliest, that what shakes them most is when a blood test comes back with an elevated count, indicating they may be out of remission. 

To have that happen once and then have to endure the whole cancer-fighting battle a second time is enough to push many to their limits…and beyond.  But to have cancer.  Survive.  Then go into remission, only to find one’s self out of remission a few years later….  Then begins the fighting-cancer-uphill battle anew.  And…if a person’s lucky, really and truly lucky, the treatments are successful and they find themselves again in remission.  Victory.  But then…a few more years pass and yet another test result comes back, indicating the whole mess may begin anew.

Yikes!

That’s where my friend was last Monday.  The result?  A scheduled appointment Friday to be admitted to the hospital for more tests and biopsies.

Stressful to say the least….

This evening, I got word that my friend’s tests conclude they are still in remission.

Yay!

I couldn’t be more overjoyed.  My friend is ecstatic, knowing they’ve dodged a huge bullet.  One they weren’t ready to handle—again.

Life gets crazy.  We become busy.  Priorities can go astray.  Individuals can lose focus of what’s really important in this thing we call life.  And then there are times like tonight, when I learned that my friend is still in remission.  It’s amazing how that short sentence made all of life’s stress and pitfalls drop by the wayside—instantly—me sharing in my friend’s joy at their being granted the luxury of living…just…plain…living.