The word, 'cancer'

Winter sunset is my favorite view of the year.

Cancer. 癌。ガン。

The phonetic of the word (especially in Japanese) alone darkens one's feeling, but this word seems to bring much greater fear than it really should. The Chinese characters appears frightening, too. Why do they look and sound scary? Perhaps because there is no wonder drug for cancer (like any other sickness has perfect remedy). Or because its cause is uncertain (like the cause any other sickness is certain). Or because most people know someone who has fallen ill with cancer. Or perhaps because cancer is widely advertised?  

I think I understand the fear, but after going through the treatments for cure, I feel that the despair is somewhat overrated. The number one cause of death in the world is not even cancer (it's ischaemic heart disease). And there are many survivors. But maybe because the word, cancer, inevitably reminds much of the end of life. 

These discussions were going through my head as it has been difficult for me to determine who I should inform about my situation, and how much information I should give out. And I realized that I have a tendency to not use the word 'cancer' when I tell people, because of the reasons I've written earlier. I do hope to increase the awareness of the importance of periodic health examination for earlier detection of diseases, but not necessarily Hodgkin disease alone. There are million other diseases in the world, which makes it impossible for people to worry about every one of them. Nevertheless, letting others know about what I have been going through, should alarm others that living a healthy life is never normal, and they should pay attention to their own health.

Life is busy, and life may be short, depending on how you think about it. But I certainly felt my life being short when I was diagnosed with lymphoma. It's not healthy to worry too much about health, but it's always good to be up to date about your own body. Go take medical exam if you haven't in past few years, at least just for me!