Image of Multiple Myeloma Cancer Cells
There is a history of cancer in my family but the cancer I have been diagnosed with is not related at all to they types of cancer other members of my family have contracted. In fact statistically I am too young to have contracted this form of cancer. The median age for diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma is in the mid 60's and is rarely seen in anyone under 50 (I'm 42).
So I ask the question, why me? My mother's response is "why not you?" I think her question is much more valid than mine and is the answer I have been looking for.
Recently I have been reflecting on my life and thinking about all the good things that have happened in my life, I was raised by loving parents who always took care of me, I had no major health problems or disabilities, I grew up in an affluent community where I was provided a good education and the access to the tools I needed to have a professional career. I have a wife who loves me and two children who while annoying at times are turning into wonderful people who I am very proud of. I have a very good life, but I never spent much time thinking about why me, why have I been blessed with such good fortune?
Malcolm Gladwell in the conclusion of his book Outliers summarizes that much of success in life is a confluence of random choices made by our ancestors and the people they interacted with. These choices lead to a particular person being at the right place in time and space in history to achieve success in their chosen field whether it is art, business or science.
So if I never questioned the random choices made by my ancestors and the happenstance that led me to my good life, who am I to suddenly question when things change and I am confronted by a previously unimagined health problem.
Why me? Why not me.
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