(Filched from my personal FaceBook Page. It’s not plagiarism if it’s mine)

Some thoughts on people who think my cancer wasn’t “that bad,” was “baby cancer,” and wasn’t such a “big deal.”

Yes, people have said that to me.

People have also asked me why I think I got cancer. I could go into a lengthy discussion of the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology, random mutations and failed/imperfect DNA repair, etc., or I can just get pissed off because I KNOW they’re asking if I got breast cancer because I’m fat and every now and then I like a nice juicy steak or cheeseburger. From now on, I think I’m going to just use this as a reply:

I had breast cancer. I didn’t have to have chemo. I’m lucky and benefited from decades of biomedical research that made OncoType DX testing possible (I WILL get around to blogging about this test eventually, I swear), and I happened to have a low score.

I still had cancer. I’ve had three surgeries (and I’m not done), radiation, and I’ve got a ten year sentence with estrogen blockers and medically induced menopause. I’m still lucky. I know and understand that. Very well.

I still had cancer. When someone in or out of the survivor club (it’s always worse when it’s another survivor) tells me I had “baby cancer” or “good cancer,” I get a special kind of homicidal that will probably get me locked up someday when I finally lose my .

Never, ever, EVVVVVVVVVER say that to someone who has had cancer. It’s not a contest. It’s a suck fest and no one, not even fellow survivors, should not presume to understand the level of suffering endured by cancer patients and survivors.

Don’t be a dick.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.