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Carol H Tucker
Passionate about knowledge management and organizational development, expert in loan servicing, virtual world denizen and community facilitator, and a DISNEY fan
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beladona Memorial
Be warned:in this very rich environment where you can immerse yourself so completely, your emotions will become engaged -- and not everyone is cognizant of that. Among the many excellent features of SL, there is no auto-return on hearts, so be wary of where your's wanders...
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The big C
In SL, prominent avatars are often asked “why do you relay?” during the Relay For Life events raising money for the American Cancer Society. Kalah, who as a member of the Dance Pit Raiders is the most active of my avatars for RFL, is not important enough to be queried, so I have never answered that question.
· My first experience with cancer was when I was told in passing that Grandmom Riley [my maternal grandmother] had a breast removed. I was in grade school and in my family, things like personal medical history was never discussed. About ten years later, she had another one removed while I was high school when the cancer came back. She died of colon cancer in her late 80’s – a very difficult time in our lives because she only had Medicare and no prescription coverage. My mother was retired at the time, so I was buying the medications and running up my credit cards. We tried to take care of Grandmom at home because we couldn’t afford hospice care, but the burden of that caretaking was extreme.
· My mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer. I was about 15 years old and all I really know is that she had a full hysterectomy as a result, as I said, her family didn’t discuss health issues
· Grandmom Hughes [my paternal grandmother] was diagnosed with colon cancer in her 80’s. When they went in to operate, it was so widespread that all they did was clear the blockage and give her medication to make her comfortable. It was a startling revelation that an IV was considered life support and that she actually died from lack of sustenance at the end.
· My father worked on the Alaskan pipeline and had to have a complete physical with chest x-ray every year. One year he was fine, the next he had stage IV lung cancer. Given that he was a smoker all his life and had worked in a steel mill for most of his career, the diagnosis was not a total surprise – the speed with which it took his life was a bit of a shock. The doctor told us that he had the “garden variety” of cancer that grew like a weed and gave him six months – he lasted four.
· My dear friend from my 2nd Life, also a heavy smoker, was diagnosed in 2012 with cancer of the larynx after he retired They tried everything, but when it came back for the fourth time, he opted not to go through the surgery and chemo again. He logged out of his real life a little over a year ago.
· One of my closest friends was diagnosed with melanoma and had to have a spot removed from her forehead two years ago. Although they believe it is completely gone, she still lives with the fear that it will return.
This is why I relay.
This is why I inveigh so bitterly about the inequities in the healthcare system that would deny coverage for pre-existing conditions or put back the old life-time caps.
This is why I worry, because it can strike any of us at any time without warning, changing our lives and the lives of those around us forever.
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CEOExpress
