I'm Sick...

... and it sucks. There's nothing special about the illness, it's a common cold that makes itself felt pretty much all over, and a lot of my acquaintances are suffering in the same manner. But it stops the daily flow of things; it interrupts normalcy and from that perspective it's a hindrance.
I've been fortunate health-wise. No major illnesses (aside from addiction, which I suppose is pretty major) in my lifetime. I have friends who are not so lucky. Hepatitis, muscular sclerosis, renal failure, agonizing spinal issues, and other insidious maladies have laid them low. I watch and admire their courage and wonder whether I would have it were I in their shoes, because here's the thing: my family has been riddled with cancer. Both my oldest sister and my mother succumbed to it. My father when he was in his sixties had a terrible bout with The Big C and a large part of his colon was removed. He survived but was never the same. So every time I get ill, even if it's minor, I wonder if it might not somehow mutate into something far worst and deadly.
Certainly there have been major discoveries in the nature of the disease, and these have increased the survival rate, but as any medical school hopeful learns early on, there are only a handful of illnesses we can cure; mostly, we deal with pain and symptom management. And in any case, treatments that work--that is to say very expensive treatments--are beyond the reach of most. Survival is--and always has been--a rich person's game.
I stopped smoking about 13 years ago, stopped drinking and drugging even before that. I gave up caffeine, mostly, and try to eat well. In short, I am generally pretty healthy and better prepared in many ways than most of the people I know. My will is current, as are instructions not to prolong life unnecessarily. This being said, I'm pretty certain cancer will get me. How I'll react to the inevitable, though, is still up in the air. I hope it's with dignity. But just in case, in a few years I will have "Do Not Resuscitate" tattooed on my chest, if only to make sure.