A night with Cancer

Peri came back from the bar only to face the first dose of chemotherapy.

She'd put on a brave face for the friends who know and pretended stage 0 cervical cancer didn't exisit for the people who didn't need to know. She'd been offered several drinks from friends; however, she could only picture the pill bottles lining her kitchen counter.

One pill to save her already fragile cervix and vagina, one to help with pain, several different vitamin supplements, immune system boosters, and the all important goo - a concoction of medicine and chemo drugs, about the consistency of rich lotion, inserted near the afflicted area.

Peri stared at the bottles. Will I ever have children? How many other women have to suffer this indignity? Will this be my last time dealing with this stupid disease? What will I feel like in the morning? Will I be able to work in two days considering I haven't told my boss what's up? Will I ever want a man to touch me again after inserting toxins directly into the object of their desire?

These swirling thought were enough to make anyone go mad. She downed the pills with a swig of water, suffered the goo and hoped to fall asleep before any of the pain began. She picked up the latest Nicholas Sparks romance to lull her into sandman's land. Huxley's Brave New World would have to wait for another day.