Anonymous Author

I don’t know who the author was; I don’t really want to. It seems appropriate that the author of “The Devil Invents Breast Cancer” remains anonymous.

I was looking through the notebooks I put together for the therapeutic support group at the local cancer center and came across the essay that another patient handed to me. It is impossible to pass the page containing this essay without stopping to reread it.

The writer, a breast cancer patient, wrote a creative essay about a meeting she envisioned taking place between the Devil and his demons. In it, Satan and his subordinates plotted ways to make modern women aware of the Devil’s existence—the solution they devised was breast cancer. They gleefully approved all the physical assaults that accompany aggressive treatment. Many professional authors would envy this writer; perhaps she is a professional writer. The irony of her work comes from a sophisticated, yet resigned awareness. She contrasts what happens with what should be. The pathos is controlled. The moral of the story builds without sentimentality. The author points out women lose control of their bodies; their hair falls out; they are unable to do things for their families. But the Devil fails when bonds with loved ones are strengthened, and the love they value most increases.

The author deserves accolades for creating this moving essay. But that was not the point. The point was personal healing. And writing privately then sharing with only a select few accomplishes everything the author set out to do.

Dear Cancer

Lately I've read a number of letters written to you, many of them angry. I also corresponded with an ad agency person who thought he might put up a website that collected 'dear cancer' letters. Personally, I think that sort of letter is better kept private. Not that posting the details of illness or anger are a problem; people do it all the time. But emotional writing done privately has been shown to be more therapeutic. Coming to terms one-on-one is the real goal. If someone writes for publication, are they being completely open and honest in the disclosure? It has to be hard, nearly impossible, to ignore what others will think. How others might react. The writer inevitably has to write with readers in mind.

Having cancer demands a new level of openness. The real disclosing happens between the disease and the survivor. Learning to overcome the notion 'I have cancer' is something that takes place between mind, body, and spirit, not over the Internet. Not on posts. Not in blogs. It happens like handwritten letters used to, slowly, through a concerted effort.

Come with me, Cancer. You and I have a few things to discuss....