And It Doesn’t Stop There

Once again Ran­dall Munroe comes up with a “comic” that res­onates with me.

LANES

Lanes
from xkcd

Even when given high odds by your doc­tors, they will never really com­mit. Why? Because they really do not know how well the treat­ment they have just put you through will work. They really do not know exactly what your con­di­tion was when you started your treat­ment. And truth be told, they really do not know just what the side effects of the treat­ment were on your body.

From my own per­sonal expe­ri­ences I can tell you that:

being through with your treat­ment and being told that there are no signs of the dis­ease is a won­der­ful feel­ing but you can never fully shake that lit­tle thought in the back of your mind … but then you are still here to worry and com­plain about it, and

as time goes by your con­fi­dence about the future does build but you always feel a rushed sense that you need to accom­plish what you want in your life sooner rather than later … but then you are still here to worry and com­plain about it, and

as even more time goes by and side effects of your treat­ment appear and you must deal with reduced capa­bil­ity you will … but then you are still here to worry and com­plain about it, and

you have made new friends and lost some of those friends because their treat­ment did not work … but you are still here to worry and com­plain about it, and

then, finally, at some point, you will real­ize the dis­ease, the treat­ment, the side effects are part of what made you what you are. It no longer mat­ters if what finally does you in is related to the dis­ease or not.

All that mat­ters is that you are still here now. Enjoy it while you are. In the end, sur­vival odds are 0%. The trick is to stay in a lane that has an off ramp way up the road.

Is Still Here