As I was parking in my usual parking spot, I saw a neighbor walking with a cane. Normally, he's in the best of health and able to take on an army without showing any stress. So what gives? Since he was having trouble getting out of his friend's car, I couldn't help but ask him "What happened?" And the answer surprised me - he has lymphoma. Since I don't want to give out any information which can identify him further, I will say nothing about the type of work he does, save that it requires him to be in the best of health.
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This development explains why his car hasn't moved in days. Luckily, this form of cancer has a 92% cure rate. But he is worried. He wants to make it to retirement age, sell his apartment, and move to where his money can go a lot further than it does here. While we chatted, he mentioned the board member who had been treated for cancer, then died of Covid-19 at the beginning of the pandemic. I mentioned that my late wife died of cancer. But I stopped short of volunteering any help. There is not much I could do for him, save to drive him back and forth between his apartment and medical appointments. Given that I have little energy these days, I'd be a lousy person to give him much help.
Obviously, this man has at least one friend nearby that can help him. TCL and I have the same problem - we don't have the friends who could help us if something like this happened to us. There is no way that I could call on FCP or an ex-girlfriend for assistance, and I don't think I'd want to even consider them even if we were still friends. (The ex-girlfriend showed her true colors when we had our kerfuffle, and FCP would use it as a cudgel to get what she wants in one way or another. It's better that I remember all the help I gave her with getting to hospitals, etc. than to let her say it was a one way deal in my favor.)
I'm rooting for this neighbor. Hopefully, he'll be one of the 92% who live more than 5 years after diagnosis.
