My Sister Had Cancer
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but my sister Beth has cancer.
Well, had cancer. We hope. She had surgery on Wednesday, March 15th, The Ides of March. We found out back at the beginning of November last year. It has been tense since then, radiation weakening her, killing enough of the cancer to make her operable.
This ordeal started when she had intense lower back pain. At first it seemed like normal back stress, but grew into a debilitating pain that kept her from sleeping. She also began bleeding at that time, and her doctor knew she needed a colonoscopy. It was then they found the advanced tumor. After some further testing, she began radiation in preparation for this surgery.
Because of the region of her radiation, her reproductive system has been irradiated as well. She can’t have children now, and she’s going through menopause. She has hot flashes with my aunt. I guess they bond like that.
She has a permanent colostomy now. She’s still in the hospital recovering, and when she gets out she’ll be going back for chemotherapy soon. After that, she’ll need to be examined every 3 to 6 months to make sure no more cancer is developing for the next 5 years.
I don’t know why this happened to Beth. The more religious members of my family ascribe it to the fate we’re all handed in “God’s Plan”. Beth thinks it’s nature’s way of thinning the pack. I think it’s just a miserable manifestation of the complexity of nature, an unstable system with very few dampers. Unfortunately, Beth and I have seen a lot of our family taken by cancer. Fortunately none had the vitality and youth Beth has.
We have hope. Medicine has made many cancers (including rectal and colon) curable. There are a lot of other people out there as well going through the same thing. It’s still hard to watch my sister go through this.
I love you Beth, we all do. We’re here when you need us.
March 24th, 2006 at 8:27 am
Paul, This is so frightening and so sad when in happens to young people. I sincerely hope that your sister makes a full recovery.
March 27th, 2006 at 9:15 am
Paul, I am so sorry to hear about your sister. Unfortunately there is a huge history of cancer in my family as well. Although I don’t understand so much why these things happen (my own mother died of breast cancer in 1998), I do think that if nothing else, we were put on this earth to learn and grow spiritually. I do think the hard times we go through help us be better people in the long run, and that we will be ultimately rewarded for it. Sending you, your sister, and your family my best wishes~
-Jen