The Healing Path: Cancer Information and Community

I’d never been a “pink” sort of girl.  When I was little, my favorite color was yellow; it defines my disposition–sunny, optimistic and “it all happens for a reason.”  Until breast cancer.  

I was diagnosed at 44—a mom with 2 and 5 year old little boys–one month after COVID shut us all down.  I had a hard time finding the silver lining, especially when friends started sending me ALL THE PINK THINGS.  Pink socks, pink notebooks, pink mugs, pink blankets, pink candles.  There were breast cancer and pink ribbon gifts in every shade from bubble gum to fuschia.

I’m writing this from my chair at the chemo infusion center.  It’s not all sad—and that’s the story I want to share.  There are lots of us who need a tragedy to change. 

I found a lump in March of 2020, a month after the pandemic lock-down and 1 month after my “all clear” mammogram.  A giant tumor was hiding behind dense tissue.  It happens 20% of the time they said.  I wondered how that was ever an ok statistic?