Cancer is not Convenient

 

*** All of these things have happened to either myself, my husband, my mother, or my close friend. Yet, we continue to fight. ***

Cancer is not convenient,

When you get the call that the biopsy is positive,

When your diagnosis comes one month before your son’s wedding,

When your heart breaks as you hear the words “stage 4”,

Cancer is not convenient,

When you spend 5 weeks taking daily radiation,

When the radiation takes 15 minutes and the travel time is an hour and a half,

When you buzz your head because your hair is falling out,

Cancer is not convenient,

When your food no longer has any taste,

When your cancer metastasizes after being “cancer free”,

When you run out of treatment options,

Cancer is not convenient,

When your mind is healthy, but your body is frail,

When your body is healthy, but your mind is frail,

When your cancer mutates and the current treatment plan changes,

Cancer is not convenient,

When your breasts are gone and your chest is flat,

When lymphedema in your arm is a constant threat,

When your mother dies two weeks after your surgery,

Cancer is not convenient,

When you are isolated from others because your white blood count is low,

When you need a blood transfusion because your hemoglobin is too,

When you spend literally all day at an appointment at Duke,

Cancer is not convenient.

Tammy Harvey  2/2/2026