I have been living with cancer for over 3 years, to the point where I rarely need to mention it to anyone new. My cancer is incurable, but it’s stable and I don’t think I am in immediate danger of kicking the bucket. I have never asked for a prognosis as I don’t think it would help me to have one. I don’t look like I have stage 4 cancer. It’s over 2 years since I had any chemo, so I have a full head of hair. I am not ill in bed or anything like that.
At a sporting event last weekend I needed to sit down. I was asked why by someone I hadn’t met before. “Because I have some health issues”. “What sort of health issues?” “I have metastatic cancer”. “What sort of cancer is that?” “Cancer that has spread from its original site so it’s incurable”. “Oh…… (long pause) how long have you got?”
Gobsmacked.