kevin bacon

Lately I feel a bit like Kevin Bacon, you know the game 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon? Well, I have the 7 degrees of cancer connection now. I'm helping people all around me and it seems the numbers of cancer victims grows everyday.
Tomorrow, one of my best pals from work, who is currently in the second phase of treatment for aggressive breast cancer in NY, is seeing a new radiologist. It seems there's a new form of radiation treatment they can do with your body in the prone position. Your little or big booby hangs down and they do the radiation through the breast thus saving your chest cavity and chest organs from the later side effects of radiation treatment. So many changes so quickly in these fields. This was probably unavailable a year or 2 ago. Amazing.
A "new" friend at work, was recently diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. I was actually given her diagnosis information about the breast cancer before I had ever one conversation with her. She and the staff who work with her moved into our wonderful basement office space while I was on sick leave and I'm still catching up with the new staff. Anyway, a co-worker asked if I would speak to her, she was kind of like deer in the headlights having just been diagnosed. She couldn't even formulate questions. She's young, has young children. She doesn't want to be treated far from her home, so NY and Philly are really out, but she did agree to get a "big city" doctor's second opinion at Fox Chase, Philly I think. She is likely to have a mastectomy which will relieve her of the necessity of having and chemo or radiation. She has chosen to keep her other breast, I don't know how she came to the conclusion to do this or even if her doctors recommended bilateral mastectomy.
It's just so amazing to me now that I've entered this world of cancer. People come to me and say "you're such and inspiration to us" will you talk to my friend or husband or family member. I always say yes and I always will. I really don't know what help I am, but somehow the people come back to me or their friends or families thank me for whatever I've done.
Pretty soon, I'll be like the 7 degrees of Jeanne Caldwell. Wish I was in the movies like Kevin Bacon though.