"Any surgeries or anything like that since we saw you last?" Photo by Michael Browning on Unsplash Uh, yeah. Let me catch you up. I was in the dentist's office for a cleaning. My first one since being diagnosed with cancer in 2016. So I gave the hygienist the short version: diagnosed with cancer, mastectomy, 6 months of cancer treatment, and two surgeries for reconstruction. She didn't say anything, just took notes. "Oh," I told her "I'm leaving out the port insertion and removals." "Just all part of the same thing," she commented, and she just kept writing. Her reaction, which was actually a non-reaction, was interesting, and I've thought about it quite a bit. It could have gone a few different ways, and this was one. She chose to not react, not gush, not show sympathy. It was all very professional and non-emotional. I was just another appointment with some teeth that needed cleaned. Now that I'm not obviously a ...