30 facts in 30 days, Day 22

Many of us feel trapped in the "tyranny of cheerfulness" that surrounds so-called survivors. I do not want to be known for or celebrated because I had cancer! I had a disease that people routinely die from, and I haven't. It's the luck of the draw that I didn't, really, and the side effects I live with daily are not celebration-worthy. 

Barbara Ehrenreich sums it up perfectly: Smile, you've got cancer!