Have you ever noticed that when you get a new car you start noticing that type of car all over town, or you buy a new pair of shoes and you see everyone else wearing them? Well, that’s how I feel about commercials. Specifically those commercials about cancer. EVERY SINGLE COMMERCIAL!

It’s almost as if I can’t watch a show or movie without seeing a pill for cancer, a hospital that specializes in cancer treatments, or someone diagnosed with cancer. I can’t escape it. How am I suppose to “heal” when all I see is something about cancer being shoved in my face? It isn’t just commercials. I see ads on the computer, pamphlets at the doctors, magazine covers featuring someone’s story, and sadly other people I know who are suffering from it or know someone who is.

This journey has been a bitch. Every time I feel a sigh of relief a memory comes rushing back to me. The memories still bring me a tinge of pain and sadness instead of happiness, but I know that will come in time. It has to. I can’t escape the word cancer, or the stigma of it. By that I mean the affect of cancer, and the fear that it may be genetics.

I know, I know, some people don’t believe that cancer is hereditary. Many people do know that breast cancer can be genetics, and same with other severe cancers. I am one of those people who is scared that it can be passed through genes. How can I not be scared? Am I going to get cancer?

My mom’s cancer was small cell carcinoma. Main cause…SMOKING. No, this is not going to be passed on to me. However, it is still scary. Just the thought I could possibly have to sit in that cold, dismal doctor’s office and wait an hour for the doctor to diagnose me with the big C word. I don’t know how I would handle it. My mom, well, she handled it like a champ. Yes, she was scared and sad to the max, but her strength and faith was unshaken. She was the strongest person I know. I don’t know if I could handle it like she did.

That leads me to another thought. How does anyone handle it? Watching someone you love getting diagnosed and thrown into a battle they didn’t even ask for is devastating. All you can do is stand alongside them and help them fight. There is no real way to fix them, or “cure” them. All you can do is just be there. Tell them you are with them, and praying. Tell them that no matter what you won’t give up.

Anyone struggling with the diagnose just know you have people who love you, and who are on your side. In your corner so to speak. You aren’t alone. Even if you feel that way I know there is at least one person who will be changed if you left this world. For those who know someone going through this battle tell them how much you love them. Let them know how many people are right there with them fighting for them to survive.

Life is way to short to be scared, but it is okay to be. I am. Seeing those commercials and seeing cancer everywhere I look will soon not seem to present in my life. I won’t pickup on the subtle signs everywhere I turn. Soon, my mom’s memories won’t be linked with cancer. Someday I will be able to think of my mom the way she was before cancer. I pray everyday for that.