The Enemy

Look carefully around you; there are terrorists amongst us. These terrorists are ruthless killers and torturers. They are equally cruel with children, adults, men and women. Their weapons of mass destruction are very difficult to find, and that happens only after they have already claimed at least some part of their victim. The measures used to combat these weapons can be just as damaging to those affected. Although many survive, many perish from the effects of either the original attack or the rescue efforts. Many of those that survive are scarred forever, left with pain and burn marks, and dependent on medications that are costly and full of side effects. Our government seems to do less to combat these terrorists on our own American soil than in invading other countries in search of ghostly weapons of mass destruction. If some of the resources used in war efforts abroad would be channeled to combat the real enemies here at home, then our citizens could avoid the devastation these terrorists cause. Our enemies work in a well organized group and its name is known to all. It is not the Talisban or Al-Qaeda. We know these terrible enemies as CANCER.

Two years ago, my wife Tracey was diagnosed with breast cancer. Last month the doctors, by sheer accident, discovered that her cancer had returned. This time it developed on her spinal column, fracturing her T5 vertebra, and threatening her ability to move and function. The fracture itself has left her in considerable pain, but that is supposed to diminish with the use of radiation. Although "chemo" (which nearly destroyed her quality of life last time) is not part of her treatment now, she is being given medications to further combat the estrogen in her body and to help reinforce her bone structure. These will have, no doubt, an effect on her. She received her first shots yesterday and today she is experiencing bone pain similar to that of chemo.

There are rumors to the effect that cures for many cancer types are available now but that drug companies are not making them public because they would lose billions of dollars in treatment costs. One whole area of medicine (oncology) could be nearly wiped out if these medications would surface. What is a fact is that we should do a lot more to find cures and prevention steps for all types of cancer. The scars (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) left by the disease and the current treatments are simply barbaric. It is time for cancer to be gone.