Hi Dear Readers,
My mom is having her second surgery this morning and I’ll be at the hospital until this evening and back tomorrow for a few hours until she’s released. I’m going to get preachy for a minute.
Women: do your self breast checks. Go to your yearly check ups. Tell your OB/GYN if something feels weird, lumpy, the breast skin feels different, if anything is sore or hurts — your doctor has heard EVERYTHING before and will not think you’re being silly or overreacting. Get your mammograms when your doctor tells you your the age to get them.
Men: ask the women in your life if they’ve had their mammograms. Just ask. It’s not embarrassing. Ask your mother. Ask your wife. It’s not something you probably talk about, but you should.
Don’t be afraid. Arm yourself with information.
My mother’s tumor was small. Too small for her doctor to feel, but the mammogram caught it. We were told she was fortunate the tumor was found early because after a biopsy, it turned out to be a cancer that spreads. She had a lumpectomy last month that went fine, but at her post-up her oncologist told her that the cancer had spread to nearby tissue. It was not the news we were expecting.
Today she’s having a mastectomy with reconstruction. Without having her mammogram, her cancer could have spread to other organs. The mammogram saved her life. Unfortunately, cancer runs rampant on that side of my family. My Mammaw Patsy was one of 5 sisters. Including her, four have died from cancer. There is only one left. She knows she has cancer, but is choosing to not to do anything about it. It makes me sad. It hurts my heart that she is choosing fear when she could choose what’s hard and be treated and in turn, have years left with her children and grandchildren.
Being brave and tackling anything is hard. Being brave is hard. Sticking your head in the sand is no way to live. Fear is a killer. About anything. Literally. But anything being brave for is worth it.
I joke a lot with my friends and in this weblog, but this is not a joke. And I care about all of my Dear Readers. Make that appointment. Get screened. Get the mammogram. Buying the pink scissors and the pink whisk and the cute pink eye masks with ribbons on it, it’s cute. Fine. Buy the stuff if you want to, but hell. See your doctor. Get the mammogram. Be brave.
kerryfaler.blog 