Admission is by invitation only and the dues are high. Once we're in, we're members for life.
PUBLISHED May 01, 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
I never wanted to join this club. I never even got the usual offers in the mail. One day I was apparently a healthy male, living life fully, and the next day I was a card-carrying affiliate in an organization so large that over 14 million people join every year. The part that really bothered me, though, was when I realized that once we're invited in, we're in forever.
We can never become a former cancer survivor, and it's not possible to cancel our membership, because once we are diagnosed with the disease, it remains part of our lives forever.
But I do expect to stay cancer-free as long as possible, and as I approach my four-year anniversary on May 11, I'm encouraged by what the future may hold. Not all cancer patients choose chemotherapy as the method to eradicate their disease. I was one of those people who opted against it, so these last four years of living without the side effects that my recommended chemo was statistically very likely to create, have been a blessing in many ways. Of course, our cancer choices are not without risk, and so we must be willing to accept the consequences of our decisions. This is something I am willing to do.
We can never become a former cancer survivor, and it's not possible to cancel our membership, because once we are diagnosed with the disease, it remains part of our lives forever.
But I do expect to stay cancer-free as long as possible, and as I approach my four-year anniversary on May 11, I'm encouraged by what the future may hold. Not all cancer patients choose chemotherapy as the method to eradicate their disease. I was one of those people who opted against it, so these last four years of living without the side effects that my recommended chemo was statistically very likely to create, have been a blessing in many ways. Of course, our cancer choices are not without risk, and so we must be willing to accept the consequences of our decisions. This is something I am willing to do.
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