Revisiting “Why We Walk…”
I find myself still decluttering after the move (will I EVER be done?) and came across a CD of videos my daughter, Shelley, had created and found this treasure. Thank you, Shelley, for all your encouragement over the years, for your energy and commitment to furthering breast cancer awareness. Why We...
Read MoreOctober- Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Here it is again, October! My birthday month, the beginning of fall which I love so, pumpkins, the cooler, crisp air and the beauty of falling colorful leaves. Wow!! But an even bigger WOW!! is the fact that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month…a time when women and men are reminded that “early detection saves lives” and “there is hope for a world without the beast we know as breast cancer.” For me, it’s been 13 1/2 years since I was diagnosed. How time flies! This October I am focusing on two things regarding breast cancer: 1) I am celebrating the joys over the years that I have been blessed to live since my diagnosis, two mastectomies, chemotherapy and return to the world of women with hair! Along the journey of breast cancer, I gained so much! Not in pounds but in an awareness of perspective…even in the midst of the extreme sickness, unreal fatigue, loosing my hair and realizing I had “a 70% chance of surviving 5 years” that life is so good and full of gifts that we sometimes don’t see EXCEPT in the darker days. 2) I want to do my part in sharing the message of hope to those experiencing the journey of life-threatening illness while at the same time inspiring the not yet afflicted to be diligent about doing self-exams (I found my lump myself), seeing your doctor for regular check-ups and having a mammogram every year after age 40 or earlier if you have family history. When I found the lump in my breast, I immediately knew it felt different and that I should get to my doctor immediately. Quickly, tests indicated it was suspicious and just as quickly I had my surgery and began life-saving treatment. The surgery, in my case, was fairly easy. The chemo was dreadful. Each person responds to treatment in different ways. It depends on what drugs you are given and how your body responds. Living alone as my two grown daughters live out of state, I had many friends and my brother who checked on me, helped me in a variety of ways and ministered to me throughout. My girls would come to visit on weeks when I felt better in the cycle of treatment every 3 weeks. This worked well and we had opportunity to love and laugh and encourage and support one another that way. EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES!!!!! Tru dat! Had I not found my lump, my story would be dramatically different. We learned from surgery and pathology reports that my tumor was large and that the cancer had metastasized into one of 24 lymph nodes removed. So, it had begun to spread but only to one. Time was critical, so had I not discovered it, the cancer would have continued to spread and it does spread quickly, we know. THE MESSAGE OF HOPE MATTERS!!!! Tru dat, too! I was like an empty earthen vessel on my journey that God filled to over-flowing. He filled me with lessons, awareness, and gifts. One of the biggest lessons, awareness and gifts He laid on my reaching up heart was that I had so much while so many others had so little. I had good doctors, good insurance, family and friends, my church to support and encourage me. I knew the Lord intimately and was filled with His Holy Spirit. Though I had spent many years working in an outreach career certainly sympathetic to those in need, God poured into my vessel an even deeper realization that so many people are ALONE! So on days & nights when...
Read MoreDiagnosis – Breast Cancer!
In March 1999, I was visiting my daughter and granddaughters in Nashville and had just gotten the kids tucked in bed. I decided to go to bed myself and was trying to determine how to position my left arm as I lay on my left side. Hang it off the bed or bend it up over my chest??? My fingertips gently brushed over the right side of my right breast and I felt a different-feeling lump. What’s this?? I examined it more closely and just knew it was not a good thing. I prayed, “Lord, I hand this right over to You because I believe it is bigger than I can handle on my own. May your Holy Spirit be in charge!” Without telling my daughter about my discovery, the next day I drove home to NC and saw my doctor in two days. “It does seem suspicious, Pat. Let’s get a mammogram and an ultrasound.” Seeing the ultrasound, I was sent to a surgeon who said he wanted to get a biopsy. Two days later, I ended up having a quadrantectomy because the tumor was so large. The surgeon came in and said, “Well, it is malignant so I want to see you in my office tomorrow and we’ll discuss your options.” I left thinking, “options?? I want it OFF!” Within a week I had a mastectomy, met my oncologist and learned I would need chemotherapy and that my chances of survival were 70% to live 5 years. I remember thinking, “Oh, wow! 70% chance of living 5 years…just 5 years?” My daughter and two granddaughters came to NC from Nashville to help me after the mastectomy. The girls were 6 & 10 yrs. old. They asked, “Grandma, can we see your scar?” I told them yes and that it looked really ugly right then, but that it would look much, much better. There they stood with their little faces pressed practically at my chest as I opened my PJ top. I saw their serious little faces and they simultaneously said, “WOW!” It was a shock for them. I had always been well endowed and the 10 yr old, looking at my new one-breasted chest asked, “Grandma, will they remove the other one?” I told her they may but that it would be later. Then, the most precious thing happened. As the two of them left my bedroom, the 6 yr old stopped, with her hand on one hip and twinkles in her eyes looked at me and said, “Well, just think, Grandma, if they do, YOU WILL BE JUST LIKE US!!” I needed that perspective. Thank you, God! Children DO have a way of bringing a fresh, new perspective to things. About 10 days after starting my chemotherapy, my hair began to fall out. I wasn’t really too focused on the loss of hair. My focus was on saving my life, or as much of it as possible. The hair on the top of my head fell out first in globs. As I looked at myself in the mirror, all I could think about was Bozo the Clown. Nothing on top and plenty around the sides and back. So my 6 year old granddaughter and I went to the salon. She held my hand as the stylist buzzed the rest away. That little 6 year old child was a precious, young living example of LOVING someone through adversity. When we got home, I put a ball cap on…always wanted to wear caps but I never looked good in them. The funniest thing came next. I was...
Read MoreWhat's Your Passion?
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