Surviving the Daily

A big part of survivorship is physical, that is obvious.  But, the mental takes the award for the most challenging.  There are normal ups and downs, morning of losses, nightmares of the future, and frustrations that your body as it functions at a slow half tilt.  But, the things people and the media say can be some of the most challenging.
   My favorite shows, somewhere along their time lines, usually have someone dealing with cancer.  Sometimes the script is well written.  Private Practice, for example, has a mother with a brain tumor.  It is hard to watch how she deals with her son.  I doubt some nights whether I should watch the show as it brings up a lot of emotions.  Even a comedy I watch, How I Met Your Mother, dealt with cancer.  Of course it was a sub-plot and in the end she was cancer free.  
   Most of the time, especially on dramodies, the scripts about cancer are not written well.  They can be hurtful in their naive nonchalance and under researched reality.  Sometimes they are so far fetched they are easy to blow off.  Other times they can make a "real" survivor laugh at the ridiculousness of the comment.
   In general, before I was forced off the plank into the deep water, cancer seemed so far out of reality.  It was exactly the laughable killer of the old guy in the apartment above that causes the weird smell on the comedy or the one season long struggle of a Desperate Housewife.  Lynette, by the way, only revisited her cancer once after she was  "cured" of breast cancer several seasons back.  But, I can't complain because the script dealt with the character's cancer journey fairly well that season as well with other characters on Wisteria Lane.
  All this thinking about the comments said by those not close to cancer and my own reactions to them started Saturday night.  My husband took me to a gala in Boulder.  It was a creative black tie art auction for the Transitions Global and the Naropa University International Art Therapy Organization in charity for their work with survivors of the Cambodian sex trafficking.  I had donated one work of art based off of the matchbox the University provided for inspiration.  We had a good time, chatting, dancing, and making bids on the art work.  We came home with two pieces.  So I will leave you with the comment that stabbed me.  Yes, I understand the nativity of its reference.  And, yes, I can brush it off as I am a Survivor with a capitol S.  But, it is a reminder that it takes a bit of a back bone daily.  Keep in mind that I have lived with stage four cancer for three years exactly.
    (MC is talking up a piece of art that was donated by a local artist to get more bids.)
    "This piece has an extra value because, [the artist] has stage four cancer and won't be with us much longer.  He will be gone soon so get some art from him now.  Put a bid down and it could be yours."