It's been four years since we learned. As always I accompanied my wife to her annual mammogram. We had been doing this for the past dozen years. I would sit in the waiting room while my wife would go into the radiology department and have her annual mammogram. I would typically read through a Readers Digest or whatever was available and before I could finish half of the book, my wife would be done. This time was different. I sat and read the book from cover to cover, then another, then another, then another. Finally my wife emerged and said "They found something." As soon as she told me, she was taken in to another room for an ultrasound, and I waited for what seemed like eternity. Then the doctor came out and said they found a lump the size of a dime, and we should make an appointment with a surgeon for a biopsy.
The biopsy was scheduled for the following week. And then we waited another week for the results. The follow up appointment confirmed our worst fears, yet we had prepared for the worst. It was breast cancer, and it would have to be removed. Two weeks of waiting and then the lumpectomy came along with sentinel lymph node biopsy. Another week and we knew it was in the lymph system. The terrible call came from her surgeon while we were shopping. We left the shopping cart in the aisle of the store and came home. Now came what we thought would be the hard part. Little did we know.
We were scheduled for a bilateral modified radical mastectomy. When it was done we thought "Wow, we made it!" Again, we had no clue. Chemotherapy was waiting for us behind the curtains.
Six months of chemotherapy followed. Loss of feminity, loss of hair, loss of appetite, energy, sexuality, being. Hospitalizations, pneumonia, anemia. The list was endless.
All together, I shaved my head at least a dozen times in support of my wife. I still wear a pink ribbon on my suit lapel to show support for those who have been affected by this horrible disease.
Now here we are four years later. We still see the oncologist every six months. I say we, because we are a team. Husband and wife. I have learned so much from my wife during this episode in our lives. I have learned strength beyond what I could have imagined. I have learned you can't run out of tears. I have learned to be humble. But most of all I have learned to accept what God gives you, and not be selfish, and to trust whatever hand you are dealt, and to play it to the best of your ability.
I have learned that I am stronger than I thought. I learned that warriors wear pink.
