A tale of 3 women ~ and breast cancer          

Woman #1 is faith filled.  She radiates it all the time.  She is generous, gracious and has a big heart.  She has fought and beaten breast cancer, once before, over 7 years ago.  She lost her hair, her stamina, but not once did she stop believing and working towards making herself stronger, spiritually and physically.  She is the kind of woman that will do for anyone else in a heart beat.  

Woman #2 is smart.  She educated, savvy, sharp.  She's generous, strong, fun loving, always in the "know".  She is a trusted confidant and always pitches in regardless of the circumstances.  She has had fibroadeonma and/or cysts many times in the past and has had them surgically removed.  Did I mention that she also has a sense of humor?  She recently called herself a "fibroadenoma farm". 

Woman #3 is me.  I know nothing about breast cancer.  I have always walked "silently" at the Komen Race for my friend #1 and all of the nameless woman that have fought the battle and won and those that have lost.  I always thought about it as "walking for my sisters", no matter who "they" were.         

The last 4 weeks all of us have had something eerily in common.  Doctor's appointments, mammograms done, ultrasound reports studied.  And then we all waited.  I think the worst part is the wait.  Nothing you can do to change it now.  It is what is it...but when will you know WHAT IS IT? 

photo courtesy of flickr

Will the news make you jump for joy or cry in anguish?    

Woman #1 found out that yes, her breast cancer has returned.  What will happen from here is uncertain.  She has endless Doctor's appointments to decide what road to take, how it will be done and how will it be handled this time.  She's a veteran at this.   

Woman #2 found out that she definitely has a "mass" of some sort and has surgery already scheduled.  The Doctor's don't believe it's cancerous, but non the less it will need to be removed.  She's been through this before also.  She knows the drill, knows what questions to ask, knows what her outcome will be.  

and then there is me.   Waiting, waiting.  

After putting off my annual exams for a few years with my Doctor because "I never made the time".   One Doctor appointment let to another and then the story started unfolding...faster than I was ready for.  Today I met with the surgeon, she's trying to determine exactly what my lump is and will is be necessary to remove?  I'll know if it's cancerous and how this story, the wait of 4 weeks, will end on Monday.  So, I will be patient again.  Pushing it out of my mind and forcing a smile.    

I ask you that if you haven't made that annual appointment, don't delay another second.  Don't think that it can't happen to you, like I did.  Here are examples of three women living their lives until the last 4 weeks.  Pick up that phone and do something about it.  If you think your too busy, your not.   Not too busy for you and your family's future.  Nothing else is more important than that, right?

What is easy to do, is also easy not to do.  Jim Rohn