She was diagnosed with breast cancer last December, and her public plea was not for get-well cards. Ivins wanted women to stop putting off getting a mammogram. She had put off hers. And Rudy Giuliani, who recently gave up his dream of being a U.S. senator from New York and was brought to his knees by a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Why, Giuliani even admitted he needed to be a better mayor in the year and a half remaining in his term as mayor of New York.
Cancer is what gets the headlines.
But you could repeat this story for people who ignore the chest pains, the family history of diabetes or high blood pressure, or are ashamed to tell their doctor they drink too much because they're sad all the time. They blow off the nagging. They put up the bravest front. As they whistle in the dark. And fool nobody watching closely.