My Journey With Triple Positive Breast Cancer (Post #1)

 

My Journey 

With Triple Positive 

Breast Cancer 

"What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me," Job 3:25. Well, here's a blog I never thought I'd be writing. 😕 Welcome to my journey with Triple Positive Breast Cancer.

I have no idea how you came to read this blog, but in case you have no idea who I am, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Heather, age 47, usually happily married for almost 27 years, and mom of three adult kids who despite their parenting have turned out remarkably well. 

I decided to write this blog both as therapy for myself (Exit left if emotions make you uncomfortable - I'm not planning on holding back!) and as a way to disseminate information to friends and family who might be interested. (Exit right if gory details gross you out - as part of a medical family, I no longer have any concept of what "normal" conversations about bodily functions entail!)

So, cancer.  Again. This isn't my first go-'round with the "C" word. In early 2020, a visit to a dermatologist (Dr. Kwok) for an entirely unrelated problem ended a bit differently than anticipated. I was literally on my way out, having risen halfway out of my chair, when the doctor asked me, "Is there anything else you'd like to show me?" and I remembered that I had what my family doctor thought was a blood blister on the underside of my right arm, and brought it to her attention. I knew something was up when she whipped out her "Sherlock Holmes wannabe" magnifying glass, also known as a dermatascope, and frowned. A biopsy revealed that I had Stage 1 melanoma.  Under my arm. Like, the white flabby part that never, ever sees the sun. 🤔 Now, if you're unfamiliar with skin cancer, you probably think, "oh, good, that's a 'good' cancer to have; people don't die of melanoma." News flash: they do. Just not usually with Stage 1, or 2, or 3...so after mine was cut out, (leaving a rather unsightly scar) I was feeling pretty good! (It is estimated that in 2022: 9,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer. 1,200 Canadians will die as a result. Cover up!!) I will need to be monitored for the rest of my life and I've had 4 spots removed since the initial surgery with more in my future, but these have all been pre-cancerous so far. Yay!

And what a testimony! Oh, right, I should mention that you're going to hear a lot about God here; we're friends. (Exodus 33:11, John 15:14) I sometimes wonder what would have happened, had Dr. Kwok not asked that last question as I was preparing to leave.  As the wife of a physician, I am loath to waste any doctor's time. Oh, right, I should mention that hubby is a neurologist in private practice - that's kinda' important, especially since I work with him! No, I'm not a nurse...ha! Nope, definitely not a nurse! (My daughter is a nurse and I could never do what she does.) I am pretty sure that with my track record of forgetting to mention things to my doctor, it would have been much more advanced before being detected. So, since I am not shy about sharing my testimony, telling anyone who will listen and a few who won't about how Dr. Kwok's question was a God-thing, I didn't see another cancer diagnosis in my future, I mean, to what end? 

There's a country song by Alan Jackson, released in 2002, that refers to the tragedy of 9-11 in New York. One line that keeps going through my head these days is: "Where were you when the world stopped turning?" This blog is all about the way my world changed on Friday the 13th; a day I will never view in the same way again! I'll tell you all about it in the next post. 😊