Josh's Girl, (or Mistress Chemo)

My friend Josh has started losing his hair from the chemotherapy that hopefully will conquer his cancer. This is one of the many battles he's fighting. Check out a new My Daily Spin feature, an mp3 download of the following text, with extras. To listen, just click on the Trijack Audio tag.


She sneaks in and takes you when you least expect it. You know she's coming, and you know what she wants. You just don't know when, or how.

It almost always happens in the shower the first time. She gets the first pieces while you are distracted by steam and heat. You turn off the water, look down, and you know what's happened.

Then she leaves, but you know she'll be back. You wonder when, and you wonder where.

You don't tell any of your friends, because you want to see if they can tell that you are in some way different, if she has affected you as much as she has affected your perception of you.

And then she strikes again, in the shower. This time she leaves no doubt what it is she wants, and she takes it freely and aggressively.

Her visits become more frequent. She strikes when you are asleep, and you don't even realize it until you wake. Empowered, she then strikes anytime, any place.

She stays until her hunger is satisfied, until there is nothing left of you to take. Then she moves on.

And you are left hairless and conspicuous, and everyone who sees you points and whispers. They know, and you know, that you are sick, maybe dying.

But they don't know that when she took the good, she also took the bad. And you can see that the good is gone, but you have to wait months to discover if the bad is gone.

If she did take the bad, and it is gone, she'll be the best girl you've ever had. And if not, if she only took the good but left you with the cancer still eating at you; well, maybe there's another girl to give you a twirl in the shower.

Rich and I showing love for a brother...