Life is fragile and precious
Cancer is a word that I had not used until around 6 years ago when my wife's mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. The weird thing was that as soon as I started to talk about it to people, suddenly, it was everywhere - everyone seemed to know someone who had had it or had succumbed to it. She had surgery followed by radio therapy, and despite some complications, she progressed well. At each yearly checkup, we all anxiously awaited the results, and each time she got the all clear. Then in 2009, she began to get pains in her back and hips. She said that in her heart, she knew it was cancer, but didn't say anything at the time to us. Several trips to the hospital, tests and scans later, it was confirmed that the cancer had spread to her bones, with a spot detected on her lungs and liver. A regime of chemotherapy ensued and the prognosis was not too bad. We had to accept the she would never be cured, but the doctors were confident that they could keep things in remission for