Embrace The Suck

Before delving into my story, a bit about the title.  The pastor at my church who is also a Facebook friend is going through radiation treatments right now.  He blogs about his daily treatments and just this week talked about how the side effects suck.  One of the hashtags he used was #EmbraceTheSuck. He's more than halfway through his 32 treatments, so he's still got a lot of embracing yet to come.

Just recently I was diagnosed with breast cancer. A few weeks after my surgery in early May, I, too, will need to learn to #EmbraceTheSuck as I go through radiation treatments.  I've gone through all the roller coaster of emotions of getting that diagnosis.  My mother's demise was due to breast cancer.  So you could say that I am terrified about this diagnosis.  My prognosis is much better than hers.  First and foremost, her diagnosis was more than three decades ago, and secondly, she did nothing about the lump she had for many months. My cancer is microscopic, still in situ, and found by a mammogram.

I just recently received the results of my genetic testing.  I was relieved to find out there is no genetic mutation found on any of the nine comprehensive gene panels.  A negative result.  No Pathogenic sequence variants or deletions/duplications identified.  So that means the surgery will be a lumpectomy. No nodes will need to be removed for testing.  The best possible news for one who has breast cancer and has a mother who had breast cancer.

So, as I proceed along this new life journey, I decided it would be healthy to document my thoughts. I'm sure I have plenty of #EmbraceTheSuck days ahead.  I hope that I can gracefully embrace the crappy part of this life event and come out a person who is not only cancer-free, but more celebratory and appreciative for every minute I have left in my life.  Maybe this journey was a nudge from God, showing me that I have a new purpose in life.

I saw a t-shirt today with a saying, "Stronger than Cancer".  Damn skippy I am.  Cancer picked the wrong girl to mess with. 

Most thoughts to come...





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