We all have our dates – dates that no matter how hard we try, we’ll never forget the sounds in the room, and the feeling in your stomach the moment you either experienced complete bliss or absolute trauma.
For me, it was April 22, 2016.
It was 8:30 in the morning when my right breast was firmly pressed for the mammogram.
By 9:00, the radiologist was telling me I am going to need an oncologist and surgeon, and the words you have cancer came out of his mouth.
That was that and off to work and the rest of my life.
Fours years ago, cancer disrupted my life.
It was just ten days later when I first heard the words metastatic breast cancer but I had no idea what that meant.
I made a decision just days later on how I would choose to understand what this diagnosis would mean for me.
I had already learned through life experiences that depending on how I chose to tell my story would determine the life I lived moving forward.
I can not look into the future, but I can look into myself.
I can ask myself questions. The same concern often pops into my mind.
Who am I, and who do I want to be.
People ask what keeps me moving forward.
I do believe that miracles happen every day.
I know that I can create miracles.
More important for me is to keep in mind that life’s journey may not always be straight or perfect.
My path is full of missteps, lessons, and at times suffering.
But honestly whose isn’t?
This life of mine is pretty incredible.
Difficult?
Sometimes.
Conflicting and confusing?
For sure!
A little heartbreaking at times?
Maybe, still, I think I’ll keep going, you know, to see what happens next.
Yes, when you find you have pulled the card and the hand of terminal illness, it changes you.
When you make a decision to change how you look at the world, you change the way the world looks at you.
Today is April 22, 2020, and I am marking it as my Four-year Cancerversary
My wish for you all this next year is filled with love and health.
Shari