I’m Having a Double Mastectomy, She Said With a Smile

I am so happy to be back in my regular routine, today I awoke with vigor and met my friend Jeff at a wonderful cafe in Greenfield called the Brass Buckle. We discussed our ebook business and later a woman who used to come into the GoNOMAD Cafe stopped by to say hello. She asked after me and inquired about how I was doing, then I asked her the same. Her reply shocked me.

“On Wednesday I am going in for a double mastectomy,” she announced, all the while smiling. She said that the disease runs rampant in her family and that she was diagnosed just recently with breast cancer. She joked about how she lined up all of her bras and was getting ready to burn them.

All the while she showed nothing but serenity, and grace, and a resolve and acceptance that I found both startling and admirable. I think if I ever came even close to a cancer diagnosis I would be in full freak out mode.

But then as I think back on the many woman who have had to go through this, I realized that there is a lot of room for hope. Many many women who have discovered lumps have successfully been treated. So there is a very good chance this happy woman will go on to survive and thrive without her breasts.

I wish her the best and hope that if I get news like this, I”ll remember her positive attitude and it will help me recover as it will help her.