(It's the little milestones that mean so much.)
My mom went for a mammogram yesterday morning and everything looked lovely. :) THIS IS WONDERFUL NEWS. One year ago, my mother went for a mammogram and then another and then a biopsy and then she was told she had breast cancer. Then she told me and then my world fell apart. My mother was only supposed to have part of her breast removed but that turned into a whole breast. Initial thought was that she wouldn't need chemotherapy because she was "Stage 0" or DCIS but that turned into too many cancer cells found in the surrounding lymph nodes and maybe we shouldn't do the breast reconstruction surgery until you talk to the oncologist. Six chemotherapy treatments, eight additional months of hormone therapy, six weeks of radiation that turned into eight because she had radiation burns that I had to get up at six in the morning to dress, pills (probably for the rest of her life), lymphoedema caused by the large amount of lymph nodes they had to remove along with her breast and the physical therapy sessions because there is no cure for it... ALL OF THE TIMES SHE COULDN'T SHOWER DRESS HERSELF OR PUT LOTION ON HERSELF, THE SURGICAL DRAIN THAT I HAD TO DRESS AND EMPTY AND TAKE INVENTORY ON TWO TO FOUR TIMES A DAY, ALL OF THE TEARS WE CRIED, ALL OF THE TIMES I WAS TERRIFIED, TO THE BOTTLES OF ALCOHOL I DOWNED, TO THE LOSS OF THE REST OF MY INNOCENCE, FIGHTS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS... Constipation from too many steroids and pain killers and the enema given to relieve it.... The hair loss, my tears, and the beauty of what's growing back... The toll all of this has taken on the life of the most beautiful woman I have ever known and the way I went from acting like I was 15 to being at least a semi-adult in a manner of weeks has all been worth it to hear her tell me there were not irregularities this time. I cry from the happiness that she seems to have made. :')----------------
Now playing: Something Corporate - Ben Franklin's Kite
via FoxyTunes
2 comments:
At 31, I am a survivor.
Just wanted to thank you on your response on my blog...I agree with you totally...
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