A few years back I had surgery for Ewing's sarcoma, then chemo, then radiation. I barely made it out of that long tunnel. I thought it was really over, that I'd said goodbye to the word "cancer" for good. I did fine for a few years like that. And then this time the news came from my chest. Breast cancer.
The chemo pushed my body into early menopause, so I'd been taking hormone medication the whole time, and I never skipped a checkup. Right up through last year they told me I was clear, so I figured my body was finally free of hormones. Turns out, when they actually opened it up, that wasn't the case. I'd been on the medication for about five years, so I can't say it never crossed my mind that maybe I should have stopped around then. But what good does it do to keep clinging to what's already past?
Still, the saving grace is that the routine checkups caught it early. Not putting it off, going in every time it was due, is what ended up saving me. The trip to get screened is never exactly easy on the mind, but days like this remind me I really can't afford to skip it.
People say breast cancer is something you just need to treat properly. When I think back to my first Ewing's sarcoma diagnosis, my mind went completely blank back then, and I sat there in a daze for a long while. But this time, strangely enough, I'm calm. Numb, maybe is the word. Having been through it once, my heart doesn't shake as much.
I got past a disease they said had a 30 percent survival rate and made it all the way here, so this one, with its rate above 90 percent, actually puts me at ease. I'm in no position to be scared of it, since I've already walked a far rougher road once before. The day after tomorrow I'll gather my records and go in for that first appointment. One more hurdle, and I'll get over it step by step.
What I've written here is just one person's experience. Everyone's condition and treatment path is different, so please be sure to talk it over with your own doctor.