[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I had a close friend who had breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy, chemo, the works, she was feeling much better. Four years she went in for a check up and walked out with a clean bill of health. The fifth year she refused to go in. Nothing we could say would make her go in. Until the day almost a year later when she almost passed out at her daughter's recital.

That was in July. We buried her before Christmas. She knew she was sick she just hoped that if she ignored it it would go away. It didn't.

What makes people do the things they do? Beats the hell out of me.

[GOP Poet]

I think it has a lot to do with an overwhelming feeling of lacking control. Some people deal with that by going to the doctors and getting treatment etc.. For others it is too much internally to comprehend. Sort of like PTSD. Some are more likely to get it than others.

The fact that she knew she would be leaving a child behind so early may have been too much to bear. So she acted like it wasn't happening. Very sad. I am so sorry for your lost. Truly.

I have a MIL going through the same. Each time it returns it is that much harder on all of us. Each time it returns it is that much widespread and she has more and more physical repercussions from the chemo.

Life is such a fragile gift. My heart goes out to you. How hard that must have been to have someone you care for ignore it all and then pass so quickly.

[cherry]

and then there's the story of a friend who did everything right after breast cancer...all the appointments etc...except they didn't always check everything in those 5 yrs and now a few years after the magical 5 yrs, she is deathly sick with extensive cancer everywhere...

sometimes, when your time is up, its up, and no medical intervention is going to really change the outcome....having said that, I wish my own mother had agreed or been encouraged to fight her diagnosis...I would have wanted her around another year or two if posssible...