If the day after you tell one of your oldest friends (and Hodgkin's survivor) that you have cancer and he tells you, "welcome to the club. Now get over it," your tone sort of changes.
The wallowing, self-pitying, curl up on the couch and wait for the end to come thoughts you may have had become terrified and scurry to the far reaches of your mind. That cements it, really. Despite setbacks and tests and appointments galore, if you take his advice, you don't really have a choice. You move forward. Fast. And with energy, even on the days you don't have any. You move if for no other reason that you're maybe a little scared your friend may show up in your driveway and beat you. Ok, not really, but you get the idea...it's a big motivator.
That's kind of what tomorrow is about. October 2nd is the anniversary of Lance Armstrong's very serious cancer diagnosis. I latched onto the LIVESTRONG ideal from the beginning, not only because his bright yellow wristband is the sarcoma color, not because I look better in yellow than baby pink (though surprisingly, I do), but because his attitude and stickwithitness inspired me. Does that sound cheesy? That's ok. Cheese is yellow, too.
Not everyone loves Lance, but take it from me (and my oncologist), the attention that he has brought to a disease which one out of three Americans will be directly affected by is pretty darn impressive. Many forms of cancer are preventable. Other forms don't have to be life-threatening if they are caught early enough and treated correctly. Regardless of the statistics and soapboxes and insurance and medical issues, there's one simple fact: cancer sucks -- yellow is pretty. (I guess that's two simple facts, whatever, I don't teach math).
So, wear yellow on October 2nd to show your support for people everywhere affected by cancer -- people who might need just a LITTLE more encouragement to LIVESTRONG.
We could all use a little more sunshine.
Carpe diem. Trela
(and if you're interested or need to pass it on, click this for a link to the Lance Armstrong Foundations Manifesto... it just might be exactly what someone you know needs to hear)
