Our dance with cancer is tenuous, so we better lead the way.
PUBLISHED April 24, 2018
Khevin Barnes is a Male Breast Cancer survivor, magician and speaker. He is currently writing, composing and producing a comedy stage musical about Male Breast Cancer Awareness. He travels wherever he is invited to speak to (and do a little magic for) men and women about breast cancer. www.BreastCancerSpeaker.com www.MaleBreastCancerSurvivor.com
Cancer requires a partner. Though we may be reluctant participants, we are still part of the process. We are, like it or not, sharing this bizarre physical duet with a companion that has but one aim in life: the unswerving desire to kill us. Cancer cells don't have any sinister intelligence as far as we know, but they have an unquenchable thirst to proliferate, and by doing so, they threaten our very existence.
When I was first diagnosed with male cancer of the breast, I felt violated – almost insulted to have my own body play host to such a despicable villain, planting those hidden cancer cells that were nesting in my chest.
I wondered how I could battle, or even negotiate for some sort of settlement with an unseen adversary like cancer. I had no means with which to plan my own defense, other than the standard methods of treatment that have been the cornerstone for female breast cancer for many years. That's all there was, and to some degree, that's all there still is. My cancer has very little new research to give me an edge by which to fight it, or even a chance to gain the upper hand in this deadly duel. And that's OK. I'm not fighting reality. I'm willing to live with my cancer every day and hope that with each new medical breakthrough, there just might be one for me, and men like me.
When I was first diagnosed with male cancer of the breast, I felt violated – almost insulted to have my own body play host to such a despicable villain, planting those hidden cancer cells that were nesting in my chest.
I wondered how I could battle, or even negotiate for some sort of settlement with an unseen adversary like cancer. I had no means with which to plan my own defense, other than the standard methods of treatment that have been the cornerstone for female breast cancer for many years. That's all there was, and to some degree, that's all there still is. My cancer has very little new research to give me an edge by which to fight it, or even a chance to gain the upper hand in this deadly duel. And that's OK. I'm not fighting reality. I'm willing to live with my cancer every day and hope that with each new medical breakthrough, there just might be one for me, and men like me.
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