Life is funny, but sometimes the jokes aren't

me, Stacy, and my friend Rebecca, who I just learned passed away

Life has a way of throwing curve balls. Yes, this is about today.

I had scans yesterday, on Sunday 7/27. I didn't get the results all day. For someone like me, who is in control of a lot of my own healthcare knowledge, not knowing the results was tough. I don't have a lot of anxiety, but it made me anxious.

I finally got the results this morning, about 3 hours before my oncologist appointment. Everything was stable across the board, nothing new, nothing growing. Good news. Or as good as you can hope for when dealing with this.

The oncologist appointment went great. It's what I am now referring to as a "Hi, how are ya?" visit. Basically, hi, things are looking good, how are the kids, see you in 3 months.

All good, another open window for me. I am feeling good. Still doing what I want to do, and being held back more by ancillary issues than by my cancers (no cartiledge in my knee, arthritis in my shoulder, blah blah blah).

So I get home, and lie down to take a nap. I am not a smart napper. I know that. I checked my email before I closed my eyes, and my friend Stacy (above - my oldest CBFF (figure it out)) sent me a link. No explanation. Just a link.

The link was to our other friend Rebecca's obituary (the red head). The three of us had a what's app group. and had been doing zoom calls every few months to catch up. And have been for years.

Stacy has the most amazing energy, travels everywhere and I am kind of like her. Not much holding us back. We live our lives with cancer.

Rebecca had it tougher. She traveled a lot, which she loved, with close friends. We would hear about her amazing trips and be so happy that she took them.

Then, as so often with this disease, things turned quickly. Her diagnosis got much worse very fast. She started having more treatments, more symptoms, and harder diagnoses. I guess it was all too much for her and she passed away about a week ago.

So, what a day. So happy that I am stable and have another 3 months before becoming a guy with cancer again. And then I get kicked in the balls (sorry mom) with a reminder that what I have isn't a joke, and I need to stop taking it so lightly. Ugh.

Anyway, Rebecca is now my 4th friend I've lost to this type of cancer. All were really good people who made the world a brighter place.

I hope her family is doing ok and she was surrounded by the love and friendship that she deserved when she passed.

I am sure I will stop crying soon, but you won universe. I won't forget anymore.

And my other friends, who all experienced the same pattern of rapid decline were Stephanie, Melanye, and Tom.