Cancer: I suppose you think it'll never happen to you. Especially if like me you are reasonably fit and have had few chemical vices. No smoking ever. No vast intake of alcohol or even meat. I mean, you always know intellectually that something will get you in the end, that no life is without its limit, but to find that you might be dealing with your nemesis, especially out of a clear blue sky, is a bit of a facer. Bizarrely "out of a clear blue sky" is probably right. One bad dose of sunburn when you are young can tip the scales against you, and I did have one such thing at the age of about 26 on the Isles of Scilly. So maybe what caused me to get cancer was being out in the fresh air! Ironic or what? Still what can't be cured must be endured, literally. For the moment, at least, it hasn't shown up anywhere but locally to where it first appeared, and the only thing they do at present is cut it out. Things are moving with melanoma, bright new horizons may be opening, but we are rather more in the era of barber-surgeons than anywhere else. Genetic and immune therapies are being tested on those with advanced cancer, but for those of us in the earlier stages, it's cut and come again. Wait and see. What's that cough? That headache? That twinge in the stomach? Hypochondria is a side effect when the grim reaper could be just around the corner. You'll be wondering why the dandelion clock? Melanoma is like that. Grab the clock. Did you get all the seeds? Maybe, but if not, perhaps the odd one is drifting on the wind to who knows where? Read more here.
