Oh and they died.......

Here is a conversation that took place today:

Stranger: How are you?
Me: I am doing good.
Stranger: We were told what was going on with you and I was wondering how you were doing.
Me: I am doing really well.
Stranger: what medicines are they using?
Me: Herceptin and Taxatier (sp?)
Stranger: oh, they had my mother on that and hoped it would do good things for her. She fought it for five years. She has been dead about 10 years now.
Me: .......................speechless

This conversation took me completely off guard and I felt like someone punched me in the stomach.

I walked out with tears rolling down my face. I ran to the car and immediately called Barrett who is in England on business and repeated the conversation between sobs. He of course was mad.

I get that people still die from breast cancer especially when it has spread to liver/bones. I get it. I think about it every single day.

I get that it is possibly some round about way to relate to my situation.

But for the record - for someone currently battling cancer it is not ok to tell a story that ends with "oh and they died."

The only thing I can relate it to is when you find out you are pregnant and start sharing the news and you always have those one or two people who share their exagerated borth story of the the baby coming out sideways, face up and dragging their nails on the way out. Obviously as a pregnant person,especially with your first, these stories are the last thing you want to hear.

Same thing with cancer - no one ever wants to hear the story that ends with "oh and they died." And when you realize that those words just came out of your mouth it doesn't really soften the blow for you to try to nervously rattle off all the ways that my situation is different considering you don't really know what my situation is.

Yes, this is a bit of a rant and I apologize.

Rant over now.