Shamim Adam

Sunday, January 30, 2011

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  - CANCER AND LIFESTORIES: DON'T LET ANYONE TREAT YO...

shamim adam: LIFESTORY: DON'T LET ANYONE TREAT YOU LIKE A TUMOR -- In 1996, I was a graduate student looking forward to fulfilling the American Dream. I was 36 then. I was healthy. I was optimistic. Why wouldn't I be? I had so much to look forward to. But my life got punctuated by a lump. It was a big punctuation mark: cancer. I didn't think the lump would turn into cancer. I didn't think it would happen to me. I had gone through so much, as a child and as a adult. I couldn't go through any more. I procrastinated about medical intervention. This was one big mistake. I never knew cancer is an equal opportunity rascal. Ironically, this rascal became my harsh teacher, a mentor that told me to deal with what is wrong with my life. So, in some ways, cancer is a friend in disguise. Fortunately, I have a spirit of my dad who survived a health crises when I was barely 10 years old. I am also fortunate to have been born in Africa, to have adopted Canada as my country of citizenship and my nutty community in Kenya. All three taught me about the honing of my survival skills.

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