Silver-Lining

Week 7: Over the weekend I noticed that my implant was leaking. Well, so much for a perfect biopsy. I called the radiologist, who told me to call my plastic surgeon. I called my plastic surgeon only to hear a recording that he was in the process of closing his practice. Leave a message and send a written request if you want your chart. Geez, what now? So I called my cancer surgeon. I knew the saline wasn't going to make me sick, and since the implant wasn't causing me any pain or discomfort. she said not to worry about it. I made an appointment to come in anyway because she had to exam me for surgery to remove the new mass. Still not using the "c" word at this point, and I don't mean "Christmas" despite the time of year. Tues Dec 8: Doreen Gentzler and crew were coming over to interview me. Minutes before they arrived - literally - the phone rang. Turns out the pathology report came back sooner than expected. "It's cancer." My heart sank. There was a knock on the door. It was Channel 4. We introduced ourselves and I told them, "your timing is perfect. I just found out I have cancer again. So your news story really did save my life." Tears welled-up and I almost lost it when I spoke those words, but I quickly regained my composure. I had to get ready for my interview...

And there it was, the silver-lining of inspiration. Had I not seen the news that night, I might've been on my way to the grave for a reason that could've been avoided.  I had a purpose now: tell women to pay attention to their bodies and monitor their health whether they think they need to or not.