Carcinogens

Americano-Jimmy is not, of course, the only person to worry about getting cancer. Some people are more vocal about their worries, but there's always a barrage of warnings and rules and advice and things. Many people say, in a sort of resigned tone, "In the end, everyone's going to die of cancer," but I suspect most people think and hope they're going to be the lucky ones who escape unscathed . . . to die of something else.

Last night I got home from work kind of late and hadn't eaten yet. The Sixes had kindly made me a plate of food so all I had to do was microwave it and eat it. (One of these days I'm going to tell you just how great it has been having the Sixes here at this time.) I took a plate out of the recently-run dishwasher and placed it upside-down on top of the plate of food, because, as I said, "If I microwave with plastic over this, I might get cancer."

Heather-of-Six and I both laughed really hard when I said that. We've been making other "I/you might get cancer" jokes since then, although we both agree there's something a little morbid about it.

But here's what I'm discovering. Actually having cancer starts to alter how you think about it. I mean, my parents bought me a juicer so I can increase my intake of vitamins and minerals through fruits and vegetables. This juicer is Awesome. Heather-of-Six and I made some apple/carrot/celery juice this morning, and the juicer completely annihilated the vegetables in seconds, and the juice was delicious. I plan on using it a lot, both for health reasons and because it is So Cool.

On the other hand . . . I have cancer. There's no more of this pending, waiting, worrying, what-if-I-get-it, hoping-I-don't stuff. Too late! I already did! So--well--it feels like a lot of the pressure's off. I can drink the juice because I like it, and I can take supplements if I want because it would be nice not to go through this again and that might help. But there are no guarantees (I wasn't living that unhealthily before, and I rarely microwaved with plastic).

I kind of feel like I can relax now.