Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Get Well Soon

I recently found out that one of my best friends has a tumor. At first I thought he was joking since he's always joking around. My mom even said, "Isn't it a little too early for April Fool's Day?" But I knew that he was serious because even though he always jokes around, he's never gone so far with a joke.

He had his biopsy on Monday and I was crying all day, everywhere--on the bus, at work, at home. I just couldn't believe it. In high school, we used to hear stats like among our class, __ of us will get __. And now, that knowing my friend has a tumor, I think, "Why him?" He's one of the best people I know: funny, smart, and a listener.

After his biopsy, I asked him for more information more than "I have a tumor". What scared me the most was he was so happy, always going like =). But then he told me that he's actually very scared. If things go well, he'll only have to lose 6 to 7 teeth...but if things don't go well, he'll have to lose his entire jaw. Even though doctors can rebuild his jaw, he'll never look the same again.

He's had the bump for 2 to 3 years now, and hasn't found that it was a tumor until this February. Then he immediately went for a CT scan. What hurts the most is that he waited so long to tell any of us, his friends. And the two people I thought he would tell first, he still hasn't told. It's sad to know that the reason why is because he thinks if we don't talk or see each other for a long time, then we just aren't friends anymore. Finally, he told those two people after I told him that friendship isn't about how many times you see your friends in a week or a month, or how much you talk to them...it's about what you feel about them and how much you care about them.

The whole time I was talking to him, I was crying my eyes out. And the funniest thing is that it took one of the two guys that my friend didn't want to tell, to calm me down and cheer me up.

I know that everything will be ok...

4 comments:

  1. I'm sure it will be. You can take their not telling as "it wasn't important enough to worry about".

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  2. Oh man - I feel for you and especially your friend. When my sister-in-law was in her late 20's so had cancer. After all the treatments she's managed to stay clear for almost 10 years now and had another child after. Hopefully things work out really well for your friend. Will say a prayer!

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  3. I know it's scary, but I know quite a few people who have had tumors and they turned out to be benign- they've either had them removed or they went away. So be hopeful and optimistic; miracles happen everyday!

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  4. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. Scary stuff. I hope it all comes out okay. Keep us posted.

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