Remembering my own journey dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis in 2004 and what I learned. I was referred to a surgeon who wanted to operate first. He referred me to the B.C. Cancer Agency when I asked about getting a second opinion. They wanted to start with chemotherapy treatments first, then radiation and then surgery.
During a phone call, I was explaining the game plan to my friend Mary. I vividly remember her life changing words - well not her exact words, but what I got out of her one or two sweet sentences to me that day.
- she reminded me that that was all in the future, not in the present. She brought me back to the moment. Reminding me that those were all decisions to be made in the coming weeks
and months, not in that moment. Reminding me not to create a path carved in stone but to remain open to other choices. Reminding me not to be making it an affirmation. To wait and make each decision when it was time to do so. I immediately decided to reframe my story, focusing on results I really wanted.
Final version of that chapter of my story involved doing Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments while having chemotherapy treatments. Deciding not to do radiation and no surgery. That's the journey that felt right in the moment.
Smiling here. One 'side effect' of that journey involves an ongoing saga with Mary. She chose to loan me $500.00 dollars to help with the costs of the TCM treatments. Repayment plan is $20 on my birthday every year. She stashes the money away each year and says we are both going to spend it when the loan is repaid. Some years, my efforts to give her $25 have failed. It's one of her favorite stories to tell others. She claims it keeps us both going.
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