This will be a short diary, and a personal one, but it hit me, again, like a ton of bricks, reading today about Senator Kennedy's brain tumor, as well as the death of devilstower's father.
As many of you readers know (and my thanks again for all the support you guys have sent me one way or another, it's been amazing), my son was diagnosed with a brain tumor a few years ago. He appears to be cured right now, but as there was already one relapse, we're still anxious at every quarerly checkup. He's gone through major surgery, chemiotherapy, radiotherapy, and he has physical therapy several times a week to deal with the sequels (he has lost the use of his right arm and partly of his right leg). We've just learnt this week that he has eyesight problems, probably caused by his treatment, and which may explain why he had trouble with reading and concentration. He's a lively boy, and going to school mostly normally, but we're learning with him how to grow up with this history and future.
I know that brain tumors for adults are a lot worse than for kids, but I hope that the amazing progress made for all sorts of tumor treatments will pay off for Senator Kennedy as they paid off for us (our surgeon told us for instance that he would not have dared operate our son in that particular location just 5 years before; similarly, the radiotherapy was a pretty new protocol used only in a very small number of places).
This may sound like trying to use someone's misfortune to grab some attention to oneself, and it is to some extent. It's just that you don't get used to death being a part of life, but you can cling to hope, and it does work , for a while - which can be enough.
We have to keep on living.