From my perspective

We had our surgeon appointment today.   He told us that I have a very treatable/curable cancer.   On Thursday, no time scheduled yet, I will have surgery.   They will take the cancer spot and the area around it and some lymph nodes from under my arm to verify that the cancer is not there.   We chose the lumpectomy with radiation over the mastectomy because I didn’t want to be that radical and because I have no breast cancer in my family.   I will have to take a week off work for recovery.   Then, in two weeks, we meet with him again and then we will schedule an appointment with the oncologist and then find out the treatment plan. I am feeling optimistic, but tired.  My blood pressure was crazy high at the appointment today, and my shoulders are tense.  I have much to get ready to be off work for recovery.  So this week will be a blur.  

On Monday, September 16 I had my annual mammogram.  I do these pretty religiously because my doctor is always reminding me of the importance of them and my insurance pays for them, so I go and let them squeeze my breasts.  I am the queen of small talk during these procedures so that I don't pay any attention to what is actually happening. Big check mark!  I had my colonoscopy and upper GI earlier this month.  I was more concerned about that procedure because my dad had esophageal cancer and this always concerns me.  But everything came back fine and I was relieved.  We also had blood work done because it is encouraged by my insurance.  They accomplish this by giving a $20 discount per pay period on my insurance if we let them look at our blood.  So I did my dues and checked off all the requirements from my doctor and insurance.  Resume life, I thought. On Tuesday, September 17, I got a phone call from my friend who did my mammogram that I n...

I am so excited to have an opportunity to post on this blog again.  I haven't written anything for 6 years, even though much has happened in those years.  I just didn't sit down to tell it "from my perspective". But now, I am taking the time to tell everyone that I have published a children's Christmas storybook. It is called "The Tale of Norman the Nutcracker and the Sour Pickle". I wrote this book a few years ago, did photography for it and had a book printed through Shutterfly.  I thought that was the end of it. I loved the story then, and still, it makes me smile. Last year I decided to enter the book in a writing contest.  I did not win, but I got runner up. The gals where the contest was held were very encouraging and said that Norman was a good story and that it is well written.  I decided to research self publishing and see if it was feasible for an ordinary person to get her book published. I ordered a book called “How to ...

So many people supported me, prayed for me, cheered me on that I feel I owe an overview of my experience of the marathon that I did on September 1.  It is really hard to put to words how it was except that it was hard.  I compared it to child birth in that it had stages of wanting to quit, anger, denial, and transition, but I didn't get a baby(thank goodness!), I got the privilege of joining the 1% of the population who can say they did a marathon. Now, you notice I say "did", not "run".  I intended to run, but that did not happen.  I ran about eight miles, then I switched to run/walk for about five or six miles, then I walked.  No one could make me run and I was not going to run.  I can be stubborn.  The pace team for the 5 and 1/2 hour pace came and said, "we are running 4 minutes and walking 1 minutes", that sounded do-able and I did it for about 2 rotations and decided, no, I am walking.  Then came the 6 hour pace team and they said, "w...