In the news over this past week there have been two stories of women who faked cancer for monetary gain.  One  who faked breast cancer will be spending a year in prison with her new implants.  Hope it was worth it. In a conversation recently about this I suggested she should have been sentenced to a few rounds of chemo.  I wanted to suggest making her volunteer in a breast cancer clinic, but can you imagine being a patient with actual cancer and having that around?  I’m guessing it wouldn’t end well.  Then yesterday I saw another story about a woman faking bladder cancer.  This one got a wedding paid for by friends and family.  She was ultimately turned in by her own sister who was worried about her niece and nephew. Can you say “emotional abuse” boys and girls?  Another one back in April got her dream wedding after lying about having leukemia.

Scamming is nothing new, but scamming your own friends and family?  And letting them believe you are dying?  I can’t wrap my head around it.  Less than a week after I was diagnosed we got word that someone who I have long considered family had ovarian cancer. I can honestly say I cried over that more than my own diagnosis.  I prayed for her and asked everyone who offered prayers for me to do the same.  I asked after her often.  Ultimately it came out that it was a lie.  I wish I could say I was stunned, but I had been suspecting it for a while.  I am relieved that she is not sick. I’m happy she will not leave behind a son and grieving parents.   I kind of tabled my reaction because I was fighting my own battle and because I honestly wouldn’t know what to say to her family/friends, but now I don’t mind saying I am beyond pissed. Yes, I know it’s not really any of my business. No, I wasn’t personally affected, but someone who I love deeply was.  This person was devastated by the news that two people he loved had cancer and he couldn’t do anything about it.  He was living and working in another state while his heart was here. While I was downplaying my own struggles at the time out of a desire not to cause more stress and anxiety for those I love, she was taking the other road… causing needless stress and anxiety. I don’t know what her motive was. I don’t know if there was a pay off.  It really doesn’t matter at this point.  Some things can never be undone.

Sometimes people just suck.