My Newbie is Showing...Part 3

Cancer Shows No Mercy. Again.

Let me tell you about DeGalynn. This is the story of a beautiful African American woman who was a wife and mother to two young boys.

DeGalynn was a knock out and won beauty pageants. She was bursting with love of all people and could talk to anyone about anything. She was totally in another person’s interests and would only call up her own vast repertoire of values and beliefs only when she could not get a response from the other person. She truly was the hostess with the mostest. We had a benefit for her in January and she was so upbeat that she was going to beat cancer this time. She just had to because her sons needed her.

DeGalynn and I got breast cancer at the same time. She is 12 years younger than me. She chose chemotherapy and I chose radiation only. While she was in chemo, I was in a PET scan to find out I had thyroid cancer and had to do radioiodine treatments and have my thyroid removed. We cried together, we prayed for each other, we supported each other.

About the time I was getting the news I was cancer free, DeGalynn got the news her cancer moved to the bone and liver. While she was determining what course to take, I put in my advice to just stick with American doctors and no chemo. She chose Mexico, which is where my aunt went for Laetrile treatment. I tried to tell my aunt’s story, but DeGalynn went anyway.

She died last night within two months of getting back to the States. My world mourns another beautiful soul lost to cancer.

I know she made her choices based on her family and strong will to survive. I just wish she had taken heed from survivors instead of fighters. Because with cancer it really does come down to those willing to embrace their condition and those who are up for a fight. Me? I took one look at my family history and knew cancer would not be beat with chemo. I looked at Celest who had advanced liver disease. She embraced her condition and lived ten years than average. I chose to embrace my condition and let my body dictate what it needed to survive. Loving and accepting the cancer may not cure everybody, but it at least lets you live a little longer and happier than fighting the cancer ever could.

DeGalynn: The world was better with you in it. Everything happens for a reason, maybe one day that reason will be revealed. Safe journey home, my friend.