Cancer and Delilah

I’m probably not the first to note the comparison to having one’s hair fall out from chemo and the Old Testament story of Samson being shorn by Delilah. Perhaps a person’s strength isn’t tied directly to their hair but having it all come out and feeling so weak and vulnerable from cancer certainly makes an interesting parallel. Of course, both men and women are susceptible to cancer so the ‘vixen Delilah’ in this case is the chemotherapy itself: the supposed cure.

As cancer victims, we travel through the valley of death hairless and stripped of our dignity, totally alone, and armed with only the faith that we will find the strength to survive, no matter what the odds. Many fall by the way, many survive, some from astounding odds, but all who do are scarred and that much more acutely aware of how fragile our hold on this Earth is.

If that isn’t a metaphor for bringing the temple down around your ears, I don’t know what is.