Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Jumping the hurdles


We all have hurdles in life -- those nasty little surprises that seem to come from nowhere and knock you on your butt. I've had a big one recently and it's sucking the life right out of my muse. It's hard to be creative when you're in a state of shock.

My mom, my best friend and confidante, was diagnosed with breast cancer last week.

We have no history of the disease in our family -- at least not on her side, so it wasn't something I really considered possible. Luckily they caught it early during her yearly mammogram. She went in for a biopsy with the assurance that only one in ten turns out to be malignant. Her response: "Well, I'm a ten!"

Honestly, she's taking the news better than I am. I've been wallowing and fretting something awful. I mean, how terrible would my life be without my best friend? Sure, I have my kids and husband, and we're all very close. But that mother/daughter relationship just isn't something I'm ready to lose. Not sure I'll ever be ready.

So I'm in the midst of jumping this hurdle, trying to follow my mom's lead and just take it one step at a time. She's amazing. If nothing else, I know her faith and her attitude will pull her through whatever comes next.

In the meantime, I've decided to do what I can to make a difference. And there's something you can do, also. Go to the Breast Cancer Awareness site and click on the link there. The sponsors will donate one free mammogram to women who can't afford them. It only takes a minute of your time; there's nothing to join; nothing to buy. You could help save someone else's mother, sister or friend.

1 comment:

Marianne Arkins said...

OH.... I'm so sorry. My mom had breast cancer -- almost 40 years ago! She had a mastectomy, and is healthy, happy and 75 years old.

Your mom sounds like a fighter, so just give her lots of hugs and think positive. That's half the battle (Oh, and get your own mammograms -- they suggest that relatives start mammograms twenty years younger than their mother was diagnosed. I've had them since my early twenties.)

K? (((hugs)))