My heart is breaking...
I have to say that even though I'm not too keen on my job, I work with some pretty amazing women. When I glommed on a garage sale one of my attorneys was having, she introduced me as her friend, not as her "secretary" or "assistant"--but as a friend.
Another of my attorneys was diagnosed with breast cancer last December. She went through chemotherapy, lost all of her hair, her eyebrows, eyelashes, and finished her last treatment about a month ago. Throughout the entire ordeal, she carried herself with grace, and with strength, and with determination that she WAS going to beat this cancer. And we knew she would. She had her PET Scan a few Fridays ago, and called me to tell me the news as soon as she found out: Cancer Free!!!! I cried when she told me, and the fact that I was the second person she told (she told me the news after she told her beau of 16 years) honored me more than this woman probably knows.
I found out today that when she went to her regular doctor for the follow-up appointment, he referred her to a Radiologist--which was no big deal, since she knew that she'd probably need some radiation follow-up treatments. However, what her radiologist told her was not what she expected to hear.
Her radiologist believes that the cancer began in her chest wall, and spread to her breast. And that she'll need daily radiation treatments for seven weeks. And, her radiologist is also saying that the only way to really beat this thing is to have a radical mastectomy, and take part of that chest tissue, too. The PET Scan report also used the word "metastases" which is always scary when you're dealing with Cancer.
My heart breaks for her--not because I don't think she has the strength to deal with this news, because she does. She's one of the strongest women I've had the pleasure to know. My heart is breaking because she was able to feel like the other shoe wasn't going to drop, that she was home free, that she had a little more discomfort to endure, but she was done. Her life had been revolving around CANCER for so long, and since she received a clear scan (interpreted by her main doctor), she would be able to focus on what she wanted to focus on. And now this. The shoe doesn't just drop, it plummets.
And I won't be here to be a daily support for her, to do whatever I can to make her life just a little bit easier.
I will, however, be her friend.
posted by Chauntelle @ 12:33 PM
2 Comments:
I just received an update...part of the problem is, they think that the cancer began in her chest, and may have moved (or, that scary word "metastastized") to her breast. And the problem with that is, the treatment for each kind of cancer is different, and the return rate for each different kind of cancer is different. So--as she may not have had breast cancer, what kind was it? And will the treatment for breast cancer kill that kind of cancer? And will it come back?
Right now the PET Scan still shows no trace of cancer, but still...the fact that she may have been treated for the wrong type of cancer is nearly unforgivable, and again, knowing that you had something classified as "metastastized" and no one told you....
To give you an idea of what kind of woman she is, she still can laugh and joke that the "worst" thing about this whole thing is...she lost ALL her hair, and it's coming back on her chin first.
She sounds like a remarkable woman. As are you, Seester!
Post a Comment
<< Home