Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Uncommon

"If you've got something uncommon, best to go where the uncommon is common."

That's what the weirdly supportive stranger on the phone -- Dianne from Mass General's Lymphoma Center -- said to me before hanging up. I doubt she knew that I found the sentiment so inspiring not because I need to know I am in good hands treatment-wise -- though thank the baby Jesus I am -- but because all my life I have sought out the corners where the uncommon lurks. Where else would I belong? "Go where the uncommon is common" -- now there's a motto to live by.

And I do plan on living.

Let me back up a bit. I've just today received confirmation of a tentative diagnosis that's been beating around my head for 48 hours now: Hodgkin's lymphoma. Asterix: they aren't 100% sure it's Hodgkin's, but it probably is and anyway it's definitely cancer. So that sucks.

My friend Dr. Dave sent me a link to a blog that he said might be helpful to read: the account of a girl he knows who, like me, though young and in the bloom of health, suddenly got lymphoma. And beat it, and is fine, etc. The doctors tell me that I, too, will be fine, after some shitty (but not as shitty as you hear) rounds of chemo. And while I couldn't read this other blog (yet) because knowing too much at one time overloads my anxiety, I think writing about it myself might be a good way to process. That's what I do. I write poems, mostly, which I will maayyyyvbe post here, along with some sad cancer stories that frankly I can't imagine who would want to read.

But I have been looking for something uncommon to blog about. Howsat old Chinese curse go? "May you have an interesting life." Interesting is bad enough. Uncommon is downright scary business.

5 comments:

Bananas said...

Aahh Anxiety... What the world would be without it.

Darnell said...

Aw man, I didn't know it was a cancer-coming-out night at the bar. I miss literally all of the LITERALLY most fun things.

Darnell said...

Wait. Wait. Cancer Cotillion. WAIT CANCTILLION.

Unknown said...

Darnell, I figured you would be glad to realize you didn't fall for my cancer trap.

BobMarket said...

fuck the police. and cancer.