Word Vomit

The absolute worst thing about having cancer is when you have to tell people about it.  Of course, it just sucks to tell people horrible news.  It is hard for me to know how to approach it and sometimes I am in a blurt it out mood and other times I have a lot harder time putting it into words.  Then there is dealing with the reaction which can range from making someone cry, which is particularly hard, to hilarious burst of anger, which are much easier (my favorite being “That just @#!$ing sucks!”)  Most everyone rallies pretty well into supportive mode and I have been so very touched by that it is hard to put into words. 

But then there are the people who struggle with Word Vomit. 

Word Vomit can be described as the temporary (hopefully) complete lack of thought before letting a comment come out of your mouth about a very sensitive issue.  This condition is not one that indicates an actual lack of sensitivity, just the lack of a screening mechanism between an overwrought brain and the mouth.

This can range from a litany of all of the people they have every known who had breast cancer and that they can give you the number of their cousin’s-wife’s-uncle-by-marriage’s-third-wife’s-daughter who could tell me all about it, inappropriate comments about wigs and hair (see prior blog comment that there is nothing fun about losing hair), comments on how puking my guts out will help with weight loss to my all time favorite so far - asking me what my odds are. 

All of this has led me to conclude that Diarrhea of the Mouth a.k.a. Word Vomit is a far worse illness than breast cancer because I can recover from my illness, but some people may never recover from stupid. Really? What are my ODDS?  I’d say pretty freaking good!