This year the Jewish New Year coincides with the 17th anniversary of my bad day. For on October 1, 2002 Doug was at a full day training for a new job, the cat was at the vet’s getting shaved and the puppy, Rosie, was at the groomers getting her first big girl haircut. Having missed my mammogram the year before, I had a morning appointment at the radiologist. The rest of the afternoon is a blur to me, but as Doug, whom I married after he lost his first wife to breast cancer, walked in I asked him to sit down, I had something to tell him. He looked from the cat to the dog and asked in a serious tone “Who else did you shave?” I would have laughed, as I do now, except I had to tell him that there was a lump found on my mammogram and they suspect it is cancer. So started my journey into the world of living with cancer.
Life seldom gives you what you plan for, and surely I wouldn’t have ever planned on being buckled onto a rollercoaster of metastatic breast cancer, heart disease and diabetes, adding in an eye tumor, certain food sensitivities and spinal issue to make the ride more interesting. More interesting I don’t need, and since I was a child, I have HATED rollercoasters. So, there you have it, my life in a nutshell. But as I said, its not what I planned, but it’s what I have.
Now, I may sound resigned to my fate, or extremely optimistic, or even brave, but believe me I am simply doing the best I can. None of us know when life will drop a bag full of unfortunate shoes on our head, its only I can see mine hanging up swinging in the breeze. I simply rely on current cancer research, a wonderful team of medical professionals and lots of drugs to keep it from falling down as long as I can. Its not bravery, its survival.
To my friends and family who celebrate, La Shana Tova (A Good Year). May the new year bring you and yours health and happiness. I ask for forgiveness for any thing I might have done to offend or hurt you and I grant forgiveness as I know we are all doing the best we can each and every day.
For everyone, at this new season and the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I urge, either yourself or a loved one, to get a mammogram or self-check for any changes in your body that are unusual. Cancer, caught early, is becoming more of a chronic disease than an absolute death sentence as it used to be.
