My Breast Cancer Journal
Part 10
Breast Cancer is a disease that touches everyone lives. 1 out of 8 women get diagnosed with some form of breast cancer. I was diagnosed in January 2021. Here is my story…
Jounal entry 5/17/21
Hi everyone,
It’s been a while, so I thought I’d send an update. I’m doing absolutely wonderful. The cancer is gone and my life is getting back to normal, not tennis yet of course, but I’m even back to my photo shoots without hiding drains! I cannot thank each and every one of you enough for your encouragement, support, prayers and love. It all helped me make it through the hardest days of my life.
While I still am in recovery from the mastectomy, and will have another surgery for reconstruction in July, I leave you now with this (a bit long, but consider it my ‘closure’ if you will)…
What I Learned
Cancer doesn’t ask you when it’s a good time to visit.
Cancer doesn’t announce it’s arrival either, it just invites itself into your home and gets comfortable on your favorite sofa.
Cancer doesn’t care if it wrecks your life plans or if you miss all the fun activities you had planned with your family and friends.
Cancer is an ugly, cruel seed that grows when, where and how it wants.
Cancer doesn’t care if it takes your life.
These are the negatives.
What is positive about cancer? I can tell you this...
Cancer is curable with early detection.
Cancer can open your eyes to realizations you are ignoring about your current state of health.
Cancer can allow your relationships with your family and friends to grow into something more beautiful than you imagined.
Cancer can bring you closer to your faith.
Cancer can make you appreciate your life.
You see, we all have choices. . .
Of course we don’t get to choose if we get cancer or not, but we do get to choose whether we practice early detection measures. We do get to choose how to take care ourselves and what we put inside of bodies. And we have a choice on what we allow. We can choose to allow others to help us, to pray for us, to be there to listen or cook a meal or drive us to across town. And when we do this, we allow others to heal with us. And we do have a choice to let God be there for us. We can choose to read his scriptures daily (that seem to talk to our souls) and help us get through some extremely difficult darkness. And we can choose to let Him help carry our burdens and load.
So, we may not get to choose whether cancer becomes a part of our life but we do get to choose if we want our experience with cancer to be a life lesson.
So, if someone were to ask me about my cancer,
I will tell them these things. . .
I will let them know that I learned a lot from cancer. I learned who my real friends are (this sounds so cliche but let’s face it, it’s true). I learned that a forward thinking mindset is important in every aspect of my life. I learned that God is always there for me. I learned that cancer is curable in many cases and that modern medicine can help save lives or at least help people live longer that would have otherwise passed. I learned that we all really need to love one another, have patience and treat one another with kindness everyday- you never know what another person is going through. And most importantly, I learned that a positive mindset is a strong, healing and growth mindset.
If any of you ever need anyone to talk to about your journey with cancer or the journey of a loved one, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. It would be an honor and privilege to connect with you.
Thanks for everything! Love you, Susan
LADIES, PRACTICE EARLY DETECTION! YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID!
If you are looking for a place to get a mammogram, just ask your OBGYN.
The technology these days is amazing and you will get your results almost immediately.
Please don’t delay this important act of self care. You and your loved ones deserve it!
For local ladies, below is the information on MDAnderson in the Houston Medical Center.
