OOC-Why there is no pink
Oct. 2nd, 2009 12:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jdaggerI am Collateral Damage of Breast Cancer, and a potential pre-victim.
In 1977, my mother had her first radical mastectomy. After chemo, they said she was clear.
In 1980, she had her second radical mastectomy. She endured chemo, radiation, more chemo, and finally died 16 years later just past her 60th birthday.
In January, my sister was diagnosed, and was told that she will never be clear, but may be in remission for several more years.
My friends for the most part know this, and I don't like talking about it.
I am crying while writing this, and again some of you know what that means as well.
My issue is a personal one, as I remember the looks Mom got on that last family beach trip...the shirt that didn't quite hide the missing breast, the scar where they took out the lymph nodes.
Right now my doctor said that cancer is a statistical inevitability for me.
In the real world, I walked 4 laps for Relay for Life, and light my candles at the hospital in December.
4 laps.
Mom.
Sis.
Me.
My daughter, who managed through no fault of her own to get my genes.
Now you know.
In 1977, my mother had her first radical mastectomy. After chemo, they said she was clear.
In 1980, she had her second radical mastectomy. She endured chemo, radiation, more chemo, and finally died 16 years later just past her 60th birthday.
In January, my sister was diagnosed, and was told that she will never be clear, but may be in remission for several more years.
My friends for the most part know this, and I don't like talking about it.
I am crying while writing this, and again some of you know what that means as well.
My issue is a personal one, as I remember the looks Mom got on that last family beach trip...the shirt that didn't quite hide the missing breast, the scar where they took out the lymph nodes.
Right now my doctor said that cancer is a statistical inevitability for me.
In the real world, I walked 4 laps for Relay for Life, and light my candles at the hospital in December.
4 laps.
Mom.
Sis.
Me.
My daughter, who managed through no fault of her own to get my genes.
Now you know.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
May You Know Peace
Date: 2009-10-02 05:25 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for sharing your story. There are few of us who can truly understand the pain and suffering that your family has endured and may yet endure. Many lives have been touched by breast cancer either directly or indirectly, however, and they might offer you some support and empathy.
Although my own story holds no comparison to yours, I hope that I can be someone with whom you can feel comfortable sharing emotions and fears.
My own mother had bilateral mastectomy in the mid 70s and thankfully after many tears, procedures and treatments in those years, has been clear and is relatively healthy. My mother-in-law was treated for breast cancer more recently and has hit her 5 year survival mark.
It is for us - and our children - that I support those scientists and clinicians who are driven daily to find that all elusive cure. But it is also for us and all our families that I pray daily for peace and as pain-free an existence as possible.
Much love,
Eva