Cancer is one of the scariest words that I have heard aimed towards me. I could have sworn that I wasn't going to have it. Life is funny. One day you don't have it, the next day you do. I didn't even know anyone who had cancer at the time so I didn't have a role model. I shocked everyone in my family. My mother didn't want to believe it and I think that sometimes she still doesn't. She doesn't believe in her kids going before her.
I remember when I was told I had melanoma, skin cancer, the surgery had happened weeks before and I got a letter stating the biopsy came back and I had melanoma. A letter. I was mortified. I was totally unprepared for this to happen. Who prepares? I thought that I should make plans for my death because when I looked up the stage of melanoma online, I was only going to live about another five or six years. I went so far as to tell my daughter that I hoped that I was going to be able to be there when she got married. She was in high school at the time, so I figured she better hurry up. The funny thing is that I lived way past the expected time. It's been almost twenty years.
In October of 1999, I went in to see my gynocologist because I kept bleeding way after my period and I didn't know if it was going to stop. He took a biopsy and I didn't expect to hear anything but good news. I received a phone call while I was at work. I told my husband bye that morning as he drove out of town on business. I was listening to my doctor tell me that everything was going to be okay because we caught it in the early stages but I really didn't hear him. All I heard was that I had cancer and that they were going to have to take out my uterus, ovaries, tubes, everything that made me a woman. I hate cancer. I really wanted more children and now I would never have that opportunity. I was heartbroken. I called to tell my husband the news. He was so upset that he wasn't there with me. (He lost his father to pancreatic cancer when we were dating.) I had to tell our daughter without him. It was one of the hardest things that I have ever done. She was very upset but she was a trooper when the chips were down. I am glad that it was caught in the early stages. It's been eight years since and I have had good checkups. Once you are past the five year mark then you feel like going on with the rest of your life. I feel like I was holding my breath through those five years though.
I think that I'm going to be okay. I still go to my checkups to make sure.
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Comments: 60
Congrats on your continued recovery!! But honey,
"All I heard was that I had cancer and that they were going to have to take out my uterus, ovaries, tubes, everything that made me a woman"
I hope you have realized since then, that you are so much more than a uterus. Look at it this way, They took out the work room and put in a playhouse.
My Mom currently has terminal lung cancer & it's really a matter of where isn't the cancer now. I'm heading back up to Minnesota next week to spend two weeks with her & my Step-Dad, just to help & to be there.
I will continue to keep you all in my thoughts and prayers,
Great article.
Thank you for sharing. It is an inspiration.
I wish you the best! My mother wasn't supposed to live past my 11th birthday. She survived. Then "it" was found again on her 60th birthday. She wasn't supposed to live past to see 61. She's still here heading toward 80!
The subject of cancer bothers me because my dad died with lung cancer. My friend just learned this week she has breast cancer, and she don't even smoke. I think it's in the air, food, and water because too many people are getting cancer. Good subject Lela.
God Bless and we pray you remain cancer free.
Mary Mc
I am glad you had your husband and daughter even if he wasnt intially there, I am sure he has been since that moment. But what does all of that really matter anyway?
You are healthy 8 years, no problems! How truly wonderful, you should be dancing!
positively for you and your family. God bless you Lela, rpw
I had to wait 4 months after there was a lump found nearly in my armpit. The mammogram reuqest was put in as routine. I returned for another but on the opposite breast. Microcalcifications is what they were. 2 biopsies, then 2 more cause I brought up the lump. On the day of surgery, the lab could not find my results. Doc went in blind to Dig around.
Thank God those results were normal. All 6 tests came back normal. Found in April operated on the end of Sept.
And you are right, the word and the wait can be scary.
Good luck to you and congrats on your beating this horrid disease.
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You are a strong woman; congrats on beating it twice. That's awesome!
I lost a cat to liver cancer, a mother to COPD and lung cancer, and a father to pancreatic cancer.
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i'm a survivor of breast cancer... but i have lost many dear ones to cancer...
very scary... God Bless you ...
No one can understand the fear. Even now, before his yearly exam, there's a level of anxiety that's hard for people to understand. I was talking to a good friend of ours that survived Lymphoma when she was a lot younger and she shared with us how suddenly she felt alienated from others. When you tell people, there's always this awkwardness. They blurt out well- meaning platitudes to hide their own anxiety and discomfort. Good luck!
First & foremost, God Bless You, you must have extra work to be done in your life that's why you have such a testimony. I am a hospice nurse so I hear that dreaded C word daily. I'm not trying to be cynical, just human. I agree with the "playhouse" idea that was a great comment. Keep going to your check ups & if you ever need a shoulder to lean on that's why mine are so broad!!!! In my profession, I have to keep a sense of humor or I'll be depressed all the time. It sure helps to have a sounding board as well. Just keep smilin & keep the faith. "If God brings you to it, He'll bring you through it." May blessings keep comin your way.
Nice article. Keep on pluggin'.
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