The Boy Who Cried Cancer

To be on this planet for as long as I have, I must be a little lucky. I have seen so many people leave before their time, and it's always tough to see. Life is precious, but it can be taken away in just seconds, and every time we see some tragedy on the news, we say--whew, I'm happy that it didn't happen to me or anyone I know. 

When I found out on Friday that I didn't have prostate cancer, I was obviously relieved. But, then I felt a little guilty--I wrote a blog back when I found out that I might possibly have it and posted it on Facebook. Thanks to a lot of people who responded, I found out that it's a very curable type of cancer and PSA numbers are often all over the board. So was it a case of much ado about nothing? That crossed my mind. 

But, now that I know I don't have it, I feel a little guilty for scaring everyone. It reminds me of the old classic tale called The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Because I was a very creative kid and told my share of outrageous stories, I heard this one more than a few times. To refresh your memory, it's a short story written by Aesop. A shepherd-boy, who watched a flock of sheep near a village, brings out the villagers three or four times by crying out, "Wolf! Wolf!" and when his neighbors come to help him, he laughs at them for their pains. The wolf, however, did truly come one day and the shepherd either lost his job or the wolf ate him, I can't remember. 

But, my point is--maybe I should have waited until I got the biopsy before publishing it to the world. If I made you anxious in any way, I am sorry. But, it was real and the support I got from folks has been incredible. So many people stepped up with kind words, phone calls, private messages--I am so humbled and I love you all. 

I know now that I have a lot of wonderful friends and I need to get more involved in their lives as well. In the past, I saw that some of my them were going through times, but I was more concerned about my situation than their problems. I didn't call them, I didn't reach out. I told someone the other day that I was feeling guilty about only calling him when I have problems. And he forgave me and said. "That's why we have friends." Now I understand that. 

Thank you everyone, because this is a tough time, but I know I will get through this and not having cancer sure helps. But the big takeaway here is that I have a lot of friends--real friends and with their help and support, I can take on the world.