Thoughtful Idea of the Day

I came across a very interesting quote. As a cancer patient, I am still pondering this myself.

“Cancer sucks, and, when you have it, you don’t have a lot of privacy in the hospital. You’re naked. Being naked and alone can be terrifying … but being naked in a group can be quite beautiful.” 

John Wilibanks

This is sited off an organization's website called TED by a speaker for one of their conventions. Personally, I am not able to view it but Mr. Wilibanks came up with the concept of sharing medical information through unconventional sources. His concept base was "a database where, in the future, more than a million participants will give blanket consent for their medical and lifestyle data to be shared and studied." Hence, the quote.

The sense of community is lacking for me. I am scared straight of addressing the issue to others within my immediate circle of friends and family that I am a cancer patient. I am better telling others that I have cancer through an anonymous source.  I am afraid of the reactions. I have always disliked attention especially per say negative. Not to say that cancer is a reflection of the negative things I  have done wrong but the disheartening predicament I am in.  I know I would get the "uplifting" verbiage from all those none cancerees, the lovely saying include 'You will be okay/fine,' 'Everything will work out,' 'How are you doing?(with compassionate glim),' and personally my favorite, 'It's only skin cancer.' I don't want to be the center of the gossip circle. I just want to be me. I want to be the same old Karen I know that is in there. The best way to describe my lack of communication with others concerning my diagnosis is my fear of  being exposed.

Source
Torgovnick, Kate. "Looking forward, looking back: TEDGlobal 2012 recap." TED Blog. TED, 29 06 2012. Web. 29 Jun. 2012. <http://blog.ted.com/>.