I’m sure all of you are aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You probably have seen all the commercials on TV about it — The Power of Pink.
I am one of those women, way back when, who ended up with breast cancer. Well, that’s what it was called. It ended up being a lumpectomy, with no chemo treatments but 33 radiation treatments.
And I did really well after that, for at least 20 years, that is. So naturally, I thought that was the end of that. But let me tell you, don’t take anything for granted.
Twenty years later, I am faced with the same thing, except this time I will have to have some of my lymph nodes removed, and I may need up to five weeks of radiation treatments.
My first thought was, what is the chance of this happening a second time, especially 20 years later? But the one thing I realize, which I’m sure is the most important, is that it could be worse, much worse — as I’m sure some women who have experienced it could tell you.
In my situation right now, three all-important words come to mind: “Ain’t God good?” To that I can answer yes, always.
Yesterday morning, we headed to St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson for yet another lumpectomy. I’m not really scared, but I am a bit apprehensive. I will be in the hands of a very competent and successful surgeon, and both of us will be in the hands of a much higher power.
Knowing this is what keeps me from running up and down the roads screaming and pulling my hair out along the way. Just kidding. I guess since I’ve been through almost the same thing before, it takes a lot of the fear away.
I don’t need to tell any of you that prayer is what helps the most, because there is one thing I do know, mainly from experience, and that is that God hears our prayers and that He answers them. Folks, never doubt it!
My main reason for writing this is the same reason I wrote a similar letter 20 years ago. Sometimes women don’t realize how very important a mammogram is. I have never missed one.
For yourself, your family and friends, don’t neglect your annual mammogram. Because you never know — none of us do.
I certainly wasn’t expecting to face two lumpectomys, especially 20 years apart. To me, it kind of seems unreal, but as they say, things happen. And yes, things could be worse.
Ladies, I write this to you because I am concerned, and I love all of my fellow sisters. Please don’t delay a mammogram. None of us can predict what the results will be.
— Debbie Touchstone, Jayess
