Trip will provide presents and reassurance

Can you believe this is the last day of November?
As much as the past couple of months have dragged by while I was waiting for results of one test or another, I have a hard time believing that Tuesday is December.
In a couple of weeks I will start the next phase of my breast cancer journey. The powers that be have decided I need to experience the joys of radiation. The whole process scares me, just as it has since I got that first phone call saying they needed to do another mammogram.
When I was first given the diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ, every doctor I saw tried to reassure me by telling me this was nothing, that I would be fine.
Yeah, sure.
Then why did they all insist I needed to have chunks carved out of a very sensitive part of my body, then be zapped with deadly radiation followed by years of drugs? It sounded pretty serious to me.
The worst is over.
Or at least that is what I am telling myself.
The surgeon has promised me that he can make my “girls” look like twins again after the radiation is over. Currently one looks a lot like a yellow amoeba. I am less concerned about appearances as I am grateful that the nasty Cells Gone Wild have been removed. I am grateful that the problem was caught early and the prognosis is good.
As I write this, our bed is covered with Christmas presents waiting to join us on the long trip to Texas. There are more presents due to arrive while we are gone. The trip through the medical system has persuaded me to shop far earlier than usual. I suppose this is a good thing but it’s hard to get in the Christmas mood this early.
The doctor has given his permission for us to travel. He admired his work and said everything looked good. I guess he is used to seeing a yellow amoeba where a normal breast should be.
We are headed south to gather stories of small and not-so-small children. We are going to reassure my daughter that her mom really is fine, a little misshapen, but fine.
I find it interesting that of all the things that can kill us, it is breast cancer that gets the attention. I don’t see advertisements for pneumonia month. Or childbirth month. People still die from those things. I don’t see people running races in honor of the thousands of other things that can cause our deaths.
For all the hype, the treatment is to remove the afflicted area then subject the victim to deadly treatments that may or not work. For all the money donated, we still don’t know what causes breast cancer, how to prevent it or how to cure it.
Don’t get me wrong. I am exceedingly grateful that surgeons can remove the problem. I am grateful that what treatments there are work most of the time. I just wish someone could answer the unanswerable question of why?
Since they cannot, I will do my best to forget all about the trauma of the last couple of months. I will go on with my life.
That last statement is one to be thankful for. I can go on with my life. This is just a minor blip. Nothing more. It is a tiny hiccup in this journey we call life.