In the news there has been a lot of questioning whether or not it is wise for someone diagnosed with cancer, and needs therapy or treatments to control their cancer, should still work or carry on with their life the way it was before cancer entered into their lives.
Its a good question -- but all cancer survivors or patients must make this decision themselves and should not be judged either way. Treatments can be physically mild or debilitating and everywhere in between.
I know women who are walking in Elizabeth Edward's shoes and have metastatic breast cancer. These women that I know might not be blazing the campaign trail but they are still keepin-on- keepin-on with life like it was before their breast cancer returned. They still get up and go to work, do the laundry, feed their children, all the normal things that you and I do everyday. Not to say that days can't be really tough, emotionally and physically. But I see women who are living with the disease -- really living and not giving up any of their dreams.
I can't really speak for women with metastatic disease, I can only talk about what I see, because I am not walking in their shoes and don't completely understand what it is like living with recurrent breast cancer.
Recurrent breast cancer can mean being on some kind of cancer treatment for the rest of your life, it can mean long times of remission or no evidence of disease.
Can it mean Elizabeth Edwards being first lady with metastatic breast disease? I think so.
1. With all due respect to Elizabeth Edwards, whom I like a whole lot along with her husband, there is no one-size-fits all when it comes to working through cancer treatment. If you love your work, it may be a blessing. If you hate it and have to work, that could hurt your treatment. All this "it's wonderful to work while going through treatment" stuff bugs me. With two major surgeries and a very strong chemo, I was a total wreck, and terribly grateful I did not have to report to my job where my immediate supervisor compared me to her dog who had died of a brain tumor.
Posted at 8:27PM on Apr 14th 2007 by anon