tc- getting it off my chest

I got some pretty...well let's be honest shitty news this week, an old (as in known for many years) friend was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He's 28, has a wife and a couple of little cuties. Facebook does give me the absolute shits sometimes but I was grateful for it this week because otherwise I probably wouldn't have heard about it yet. I've known Daniel since I was about 10 or 11. We went to Sunday school together and then got confirmed together. We stayed in reasonable contact when we moved from SA to QLD. Back in uni we used to chat on msm and when he and Chantelle got married back in 2005 I was invited to the wedding, so I made the journey from QLD and enjoyed celebrating with them. But as time goes by you do loose contact a bit, you have different priorities or are going through different life changes. Him and his family moved to Alice Springs and Tim and I continued to potter along here.

It's been a bit of a shock really, I guess I've never thought about it in depth and perhaps I had this internal idea that people, men rather aren't meant to get testicular cancer when they are 28. (Even though Shaun did on Felicity...) I have known people who have had cancer before, younger people and older people but never someone the exact same age as me, and who is a friend. But he is (from what I can gather...I haven't seen him face to face) handling things quite well, staying strong and keeping positive. Him and his family have come down to Adelaide so he can have treatment,  He's started chemo and will be having treatment for the next 3 months.

The news has rocked me a bit and it's been at the back of my mind all week. It's got me thinking about how vigilant we need to be with our health and to look after the amazing bodies we have been given. And if I have learnt anything...or been reminded of anything self checks are very important, whether breast or testi's. Be vigilant people and don't put these sorts of things off.