Princess Kate has cancer

There, now we know. Leave her alone.

When I had cancer, I didn’t tell anyone in my family because I didn’t have a biopsy yet and I didn’t want a lot of people second-guessing. It’s exhausting.

Then people were upset when I turned down chemo and radiation. I knew enough to know breast cancer is often overtreated, and I did a LOT of research before making my decision. My tumor was fairly rare; the only two reports I could find in the medical journals were one woman who got surgery and no other treatment, and she was still alive 20 years later. The other refused any treatment at all, and she was alive, too.

So I got a second opinion from a top specialist at Penn, and I assured her I didn’t have a death wish, I just didn’t want to be overtreated. She agreed with me and told me as long as I came back for a checkup every year, she didn’t see it as a problem.

Whatever choices people make, it’s private. I have a friend right now with a rare cancer, she and her husband are going all in on alternative remedies she found on Facebook. (Don’t get me started.) She’s also bitter about Big Pharma. But I stopped arguing the finer points with her because she’s had three years of grueling treatment, and the final decision is hers.