Defining and redefining our lives

Good news comes in unexpected forms--like finding out that the lump one's daughter finds is really a rib. After teasing her about the difference between tumors and ribs, we are breathing a sigh of relief.

I know that once someone you love has a cancer diagnosis, everything--and I do mean everything--seems to exist in terms of the disease. "We went on that trip in the spring of 2005--that was before cancer." Or "That was the first Christmas with cancer." Or "I don't think we've done anything like that since cancer."

I'm hoping that with increasing good news our lives will not be defined strictly in terms of the disease. I think if we allow our lives to be restricted by something like cancer--then cancer wins. I'd like to think we can beat this disease on some, if not every, level.