Paul's Heart

Someone Else I Look Up To

Meet Lara.  Nice picture yes?  Lara like so many others, is a long term cancer survivor.  But to me, she is more than that.  Like many whose paths I have crossed, she is not just a long term survivor of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma like me, she is a “longer” term survivor than me.  Though the record of survivorship I am aware of is a gentleman who uses the name “Stillkickin” is over 60 years of survivorship for Hodgkin’s, Lara is 16 years ahead of me in survivorship at 41 years!

Now, before I go any further, I always feel the need to state for the newer cancer patients who read my blog, when you hear stories of survivorship and some of the late side effects we deal with, you need to keep in mind, we were treated with stuff no longer used, because medicine found better and safer ways to treat cancer.  No, it still is not perfect, but as you have read in my situation, and others, and as you will see in Lara’s case, way back when, treatments were far worse.

Another similarity that I have with Lara, is that she too is a writer.  She has her own blog called, “Damn These Scars.”

I Am a Childhood Cancer Survivor Forty Years. It is Never “Over.”

It was this post that she made a little over a week ago that caught my attention.

Once again, look at the picture of Lara.  And when you read her story, try to figure how the outer shell of a human being can hide so much pain, illness, and struggle, and the amount of effort that goes into protecting the outside world from seeing our reality and what we as long term cancer survivors deal with on a daily basis, along with the daily grind.