LuluSLR: Touched by Cancer - originally published in 2013

They used to say that 1 in 4 people would be touched by cancer - now I know that might be an old and out of date statistic - but it has always stuck with me. Scary as it is the bit that gets me is the touched part; cancer doesn't touch; it devastates, it rapes, it hounds, it kills people. Cancer casts a far-reaching shadow that lasts longer than the disease itself. A touch is a caring thing. One in four will be affected - this doesn't provide enough depth. Cancer be it affecting you directly, or a loved one, does so much more than anyone knows - until it happens.

I am a firm believer that cancer has been around for years and that in the past many of the people that were recorded of dying of natural causes or old age actually died of some form of cancer or another. It is just that nowadays we know it's name - or we have given this monster a name. Maybe it it nature's way of culling us, but does it need to be so cruel, so brutal?

Cancer doesn't care how old you are or how many dependents you have, whether you ar happy or in the prime of your life. Cancer takes no prisoners - it has a course to follow and it does it to the T. We can try and halt it or prevent it and we are researching ways to eliminate it.

Until that point all I can say is just be ready for it - never think it won't happen to you.

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