I didn’t really take what I thought was my small “cyst” seriously.  Needless to say, it grew.  It grew ever so slowly, but it still grew.  I had what many have had and continue to have today, carcinoma in situ and it had spread to my lymph nodes.  I was facing Stage II breast cancer and the prognosis was poor.

I was devastated and my thought was that I didn’t have any choices in this “fight.”  I was told, at some point, I could view this as  one of the best things that could happen to me…I’m not sure I’d go THAT far, but it DID open my eyes and made me realize several things.  I realized that I did have choices, one of them being my attitude, another was that I still had the ability to fight.  I could be angry and depressed, which probably wouldn’t help me in this endeavor or I could dig in and fight, day by day.  I chose the latter.

After surgery, and a grueling regimen of chemo, every three weeks for over four months and then radiation treatments daily, I was cancer free.  I had done it!  It may sound like it was short and sweet; easy to beat…it was not.  I learned a lot throughout my “battle”, about myself and the disease.

I learned that I am a STRONG woman, one who wasn’t ready to “lie down.”  I learned that I shouldn’t take things for granted, like my life and health.  I learned that cancer did not care how old I was, it didn’t care that I was in good shape, exercised and ate right.  (Although it did work in my favor)  Cancer is not discriminative, in the least.

It has been over 14 years “clean” for me and I am thrilled to say that I am not just surviving, I am THRIVING.  I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all of you surgeons, hematologists, oncologists, nurses and staff, in particular Dr. Elaine Chottiner, Dr. Robert Cropsey and Dr. Cynthia Browne.  Without them, their skills, advice and compassion, I wouldn’t be where I am today.