The Metastatic Breast Cancer Journey
Stories of Hope with Action Items for Survival
“Never be afraid to fall apart because it is an opportunity to rebuild yourself the way you wish you had been all along.” ~Rae Smith
After two chemotherapy sessions, I had a repeat breast ultrasound. My tumor was a triple positive breast cancer, and it was not getting bigger with the chemotherapy regime my oncologist had ordered for me. I was very happy with the positive news.
I was 21 years old and still living in Florida when I received the news that my mother had breast cancer. My family had moved to Texas. With the diagnosis came a looming sense of doubt. A shadow of fear, not knowing whether the clock was about to tick down or the sand was about to run out. While this always seemed like an unlikely end to our story, it was still there. As the words were hitting the page I didn’t know if this would be the end of a chapter or the end of a book. With that, I had fear. I was afraid of not knowing whether my mother would see me walk down the aisle, or hold my first child. I never truly knew which way the story would end.
I still see that “light in my mother’s eyes.”
I remember planning for my mother’s 56th birthday party, and I was so excited to just see her face. My mother told me that no one had ever given her a birthday party. My goal was to make this the best day of her life, filled with fun, family, and friends. The night of her party I saw a light in her that I will never forget.
Breast cancer changed my life in unexpected ways. I’ve always been what I considered to be a fairly “enlightened” husband. When my wife and I first got married, we began our journey by assuming fairly traditional roles. I worked on the outside of the house (e.g. lawn and garden) and she worked on the inside (e.g. cooking and cleaning).
“I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord.” ~Jeremiah 30:17
I am normally a very active person. You know, the one juggling fifteen things at a time: working full time, managing three kids in different sports, and being a pastor’s wife. Busy, busy, busy. And then I was diagnosed with breast cancer and time stood still. Suddenly, I was forced to hand things off to others. Forced to ask for help. Fortunately, I was surrounded by loving friends and family. The question I most heard was, “What can I do to help?” Continue reading “What Can I Do to Help?”
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” ~Isaiah 26:3 ()
No one wants that call from the doctor: “You have cancer.” It is a life-changing instant. Immediately your mind considers questions you never wanted to ponder. Can I fight this? How will this affect my family? What if I die? And a million others come to mind. However, it is also an opportunity to truly test your faith and trust in God.
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I thought I was close to God. But when I received the diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma in my left breast, fear gripped me like a vice. Deep down I always thought it could never happen to me. I was healthy and I did everything right like my doctor recommended. My fiftieth birthday was just four days away, and I asked “why me?”
Ever since my diagnosis of cancer it seems like I have become even more self-absorbed than usual. I was sharing this with a friend when she shared a funny story by Joyce Meyer, a minister and conference speaker. Joyce would wake up in the morning with a lot of negativity. She would rehearse how bad she had it. That sounded familiar. I was intrigued by this story, so I looked her up on YouTube.