Wow. Since I last checked, this thread has blossomed. Since we're having a full blown conversation about cancer, I'll share a couple of thoughts. It's funny, I'm totally not a soapbox cancer guy - but for whatever reason, I want to say a thing or two anyway.
First, it wasn't until I got cancer that I realized EVERYONE has a cancer story. It's eye opening. This thread is proving the point. Everyone knows someone who has dealt with cancer. If you think that's not true, you either don't know the people around you well enough or your story hasn't reached you yet. But it will. That's not meant to be a threat or a scare tactic, it's just the crazy reality of cancer.
Second, a thought about dealing with and/or detecting cancer. A lot of people have offered some great advice. For me, I caught mine very early and beating it was very straight forward (I mean, I was super sick, but you know...). I'm only just finding out now that the post-cancer emotional recovery has been a lot harder. I mean, I don't feel scarred for having had cancer. Not at all. But the whole thing took a huge withdrawal on my wife's emotional bank account. Probably mine too. It put a strain on our relationship. At some point, we took the advice of many doctors who warned us about it and started doing some post-cancer counseling. It's been totally worth it. I'm completely convinced that we'll come out of this stronger than we were going into it. But anyhow, based on my experience, I really encourage people to be open about dealing with their emotions after a cancer experience.
As for charitable organizations, I've become somewhat fond of Light The Night (Leukemia and Lymphoma)...