My Journey with Triple Positive Breast Cancer

  So the surgery part is behind me now. I think. I hope. 🙏 My surgeon is pleased with the results, as am I and the wasps that were trapped in my clothing yesterday have escaped. Okay, fine - there were no wasps, though it certainly felt like it! 😬 Just a word of advice...when they ask you if you can feel any pain BE HONEST! This is not the first time I've gritted it through; during my mammogram-guided biopsy, only half the area was actually frozen, however, I managed just fine and thought that yesterday's surgery would be similar. It wasn't. It was gross. 😖 There's nothing quite like feeling the needle pierce your skin and the material sliding through the layers as the surgeon waves his arm like he's wielding a bullwhip. Why do they take such long strips of the suture material? It was like he was conducting a symphony! 😁 Anyway, the stinging feeling is quite normal, given the area operated on, and is usually due to nerve damage, which heals quite quickly. My pai...

  Tomorrow at 8:45 am is my third surgery. My emotions are like a mixed bag of Halloween candy right now, everything from yummy Reese’s pieces to questionable jelly beans covered in lint. 😖 However, even through the tumult of all these emotions, the indescribable peace remains. I was a bit of a mess yesterday, imagining the worst-case scenarios, but today I’m at peace. I am 100% convinced that whatever happens, it is within God’s plan for me. Yes, even if things go sideways again.  I stumbled across a song I’ve had on my playlist for a while and it just seems to say everything better than I ever could. Here’s “Truth I’m Standing On,” by Leanna Crawford: Truth I'm Standing On by Leanna Crawford [Lyric Video] * Scared, oh I thought I knew scared Now I'm so filled with fear I can barely move Doubts, I've had my share of doubts, but never more than right now I'm wondering where are You? Here on the edge of fall apart somehow Your promises find my troubled heart. Good, I be...

"In this family, no one fights alone." Trigger warning: This post contains a lot of mushy, gooey, often messy emotions. If raw authenticity gives you hives, you might want to give this post a pass. 😊 I don't hold back! I heard from a friend today who will be joining me on my cancer journey; she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I think my heart broke a little, knowing what lies ahead of her, though not everyone has to complicate absolutely everything in their life, the way I apparently do. 😊 Just to be clear, I am not looking for companionship on this journey!  I would have been happy to walk it alone, following in the footsteps of those who have gone before me and have welcomed me to “the club you never wanted to join.” Having said that, I am more than willing to walk alongside anyone who needs support on their own cancer journey. For this post, I thought I’d go back to try to explain the emotional part of the journey, as experienced by me, a Mennonite not ver...

  I love our property, but it doesn't take care of itself!  Hubby has become a gardener this year! The good news is that Dr. Olson will be able to buy a new boat from my case alone. The bad news is that Dr. Olson will be able to buy a boat from my case alone. Honestly, does everything in my life have to be complicated?👧🏼 I've been accused of being a drama queen, but this is getting ridiculous! 🤷🏼‍♀️ Actually, the good news is that I no longer live at Covid Cottage. Everyone but me is testing negative, and I’m almost there. My boys sailed through it with minimal symptoms, and for them, it was truly just like a cold with a little extra fatigue thrown in. Hubby struggled a little bit more, but for someone who has missed exactly 2 days of work in 27 years, Covid was basically just an inconvenience, though he did have some issues with fatigue. Marigan, as per norm, was the sickest with a high fever for several days, body aches including hair follicle pain (Seriously, this ...

  I almost forgot I had cancer. Somehow, in the whole hullaballoo of trying not to die, I forgot that once I’ve recovered from my surgery and ARDS incident, I still have a year of treatment to go. I may have been a bit bummed when I remembered. 😔 I mean, I was supposed to be home by noon!  On the same day! Not a 6 day ICU stay later! Shouldn't I get a bonus of some sort? My hubby asked me if he could get me anything this afternoon (he’s working virtually from home this week) and my response was “a time machine to beam me into next week.” His reply was, “I’d prefer next year at this time.”  But you know, I think that would be cheating. I’m pretty sure there are lessons that I’m going to learn along the way that I would not want to miss, even if they’re painful. And no, I’m not being Pollyanna or trying to sound all noble, I’ve just learned a few very important things in a rather short amount of time.  Ken chose the red geraniums, as his Oma always planted them in fro...

  This morning when I took my daily Covid test, I received an unwelcome, yet not entirely unwelcome, surprise. Yup, I tested positive. This is entirely my own fault. No, I didn’t slip up masking or washing my hands, or distancing, last night I prayed (admittedly with a bit of frustration) that God would clearly show us when we should “amalgamate the households again.” Ken and I were unsure what criteria to use to determine whether a family member was contagious; even negative rapid tests are no guarantee of lack of transmission. So God made it easy.  🤷🏼‍♀️ I feel like I’m fighting a head cold and have a low-grade fever, but otherwise, so far I feel fine. So here’s the question: why get Covid now? No idea. Again, I don’t need to have the answers. However, I must admit to missing my family a lot. Although it was romantic to speak with my husband through the window, I missed the hugs and time spent hanging out on the couch. So have I had Covid for days and was my viral load fin...

So buckle up, folks, this particular blog ride is going to be a long, wild one. Yes, this is the “Glorious Unscrambling.” I’m afraid “Unfolding” is too tame a word for what actually happened.  Oh, and apologies to those who watched the music video with the same title and thought that I had foretold my own death. I feel kinda bad about that…😬 The song spoke to me not only through the lyrics but because the music video was filmed in Scotland, which we visited on our last European trip. Lay your head down tonight Take a rest from the fight Don't try to figure it out Just listen to what I'm whispering to your heart 'Cause I know this is not Anything like you thought The story of your life was gonna be And it feels like the end has started closing in on you But it's just not true There's so much of the story that's still yet to unfold How do you describe “a miracle?” Google describes it as “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scienti...