October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As an 11 year breast cancer survivor, I wanted to post some of my own thoughts regarding this important topic.
I was watching a news program this morning and heard Martina McBride sing a song from her new album entitled “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”. It is the tender story of a 38 year old mother of 3 who discovers she has breast cancer. The song tells of the difficulties that she faced during her battle with cancer and how her husband was there every step of the way to “Love Her Through It”. It is a tender and beautiful song and if you haven’t yet heard it, I would definitely suggest it as an inspiring song to download.
The song reminded me so much of my own personal battle with the disease of breast cancer. The ups and downs of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation treatments and 5 more years of daily medication to try to prevent a re-occurrence. I was so lucky to have a partner and friends to be there every day to help “Love Me Through It”. Without their help, I would not have been able to work full time during my recovery and treatment process. Because I had very little paid medical leave left and couldn’t afford to take unpaid leave, it was necessary for me to work throughout my recovery. Because I was too weak to drive, my partner drove me to and from work every day for over two months. My partner did all of the household chores, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. during this time. I was “Loved Through It”.
My employer let me work a flexible schedule to arrange my chemotherapy. Every three weeks I spent Thursday afternoons in the chemo unit of the hospital so that I could spend Friday through Sunday staying in bed to recover from the side effects that make you feel so sick. My boss also allowed me to stay later at night so that I could nap during an extended lunch hour in order to to be physically able to work a full day. One of my co-workers arranged to have a recliner delivered to my office so that I would have a convenient place to take those necessary naps. After chemo was finished, daily radiation treatments started. For many months, I was allowed to come in a half hour late so I could have the first appointment of the day on my way to work and then work a half hour late so that I wouldn’t have to leave work to make the extra trip across town to get radiation. I was “Loved Through It”.
One of my co-workers, who was a close friend, helped me every single day by making sure that I didn’t book too heavy a schedule at work, by fielding calls that she could handle when I had to nap, by bringing lunch to my office so I didn’t have to expend energy walking to the next building for the cafeteria, bringing me flowers from her garden from time to time, and so much more. Other friends brought meals to our home so I wouldn’t have to cook, did grocery shopping, stopped to visit for short periods of time, or just prayed for me. Friends and family from afar sent cards and care packages and phoned in their good wishes for my recovery. These and all the other kind things that people did for me while I was battling a life-threatening illness made all the difference in the world to me. They gave me HOPE for a brighter future — free of pain, free of fear, free of cancer. They “Loved Me Through It”.
I am happy to report that more than 10 years after that experience, I am still free of pain, free of fear, and free of cancer. I believe with all my heart that my positive outlook helped me deal with all of those things during treatment and contributed to my recovery. And my positive outlook was made possible through the love and support of my friends and family. Almost all of us have been touched by breast cancer in some way — ourselves, our mother, sister, aunt, friends. This month, for Breast Cancer Awareness and for breast cancer survivors everywhere, reach out yourself to help just one person that you know is going through their own battle. There is probably someone you know right now who is fighting this disease or perhaps you know their family or friends. Reach out to support those who support the person battling cancer. They need your time, energy and support too. Thank you from me, from all those who are dealing with this deadly disease, and from their friends and family who love them. Thank you for HOPE! Thank you for “Loving Them Through It”.
